Stainless "piano" hinges

[stevebrownell]

Has anyone used stainless paino hinges for hatches? I'm considering adding two access panels to a console I'm building and want a cleaner appearance than off the shelf plastic hatches, so I'm going w. glassed wood, to match the console itself. I can only find these hinges in 6' length, and was interested if anyone has used them for this type of application. Did not know if cutting a hinge would screw it up, or if shorter lengths are made. So far, no luck locating hinges that are in the 24" range. Jamestown Dist. carries the 6' variety for <$20, btw.

Thanks, and yes, pics on the way.

[other tom]

Simple to cut it at any length with a hacksaw. Cut at the edge of one of the opposing tabs. metal blade, hold the hinge in vice.

[Capt Chuck]

Steve

As othertom said, easy to cut. Just file off the burr edge.

I used them on my access hatches also:

[warthog5]

Depending on the blade in the hacksaw, they tend to jam or jump around a little. I use the wiz wheel to cut them. I've done many of them this way. It's faster, cleaner and easier for me using the wiz wheel aka cut off wheel.

follow as the guy's said above about where to make the cut. It will not fall apart or screw it up.

[stevebrownell]

Warthog, other Tom, Capt. Chuck,

Thanks x3. The tips and pics. confirm it, I'll use a h.s. tool to cut to length, install away. Many thanks.

Never ceases to amaze me that at least 5 people on this site have been down the same road with repairs to various parts of their boats already.

[other tom]

use a dremel to polsih and round the cut edges of the hinge...

[RS]

To summarize, you can use a simple hacksaw and a file to smooth the edges. Like others here though, I prefer the tool that will work the quickest, make the most noise and create sparks. Not necessarily in that order. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]