There are many different reasons why you might want to attach two pieces of plywood with a hinge. Maybe you need to have a portable base that you can walk on and push a wheelbarrow across or maybe you need to attach a door to a plywood frame. Whatever the case may be, hinging together two pieces of plywood, although not overly difficult, does need to be done right.
This is exactly what we are going to teach you right now.
How to Hinge Two Pieces of Plywood
Before we get started, there is one thing we need to clarify. When we talk about attaching two pieces of plywood with a hinge, the goal here is to allow those two pieces of plywood to rest flatly against each other when folded together. This means that the hinge has to be installed in a certain way to ensure that both pieces of wood can rest flat against each other.
Step 1: Choose the Right Hinges and Screws
The first step here is to choose the right type of hinges for the job. The best type of hinge to use for this purpose is the butt hinge. This butt hinge is mortised into both pieces of plywood, which therefore allows them to rest flat against each other, both when folded and unfolded.
Don’t worry, we will explain exactly how to make these mortise cuts in your plywood. The best type of butt hinge to use is a ball bearing butt hinge. These are very strong and can easily hold onto two pieces of plywood.
Something else that you could possibly use here is a piano hinge. These are much longer and are of course designed for piano lids. This is a good choice to go with for lighter applications, such as folding desks and toy boxes. However, the ball bearing hinge is the hinge type of choice for this purpose, so this is what we will work with.
In terms of the best screws to use, basic screws will work just fine. For the most part, when you buy hinges, they will come complete with the appropriate screws. Just keep in mind that the screws should be long enough to penetrate at least halfway into the plywood, but not so long to penetrate out the other side.
Step 2: Line Up the Plywood and Choose the Location of the Hinges
A lot of your success here is going to have to do with measurement. Therefore, First off, you need to line up two pieces of plywood as you intend to attach them. Make sure to put a bit of thought into this. You will then need to do the same thing for the hinges.
For instance, if you are attaching a large piece of plywood, you might want to have three separate hinges, one at the top, one in the middle, and one at the bottom.
Keep in mind that if you are using something like a piano hinge, a single one might be long enough for a fairly large piece of plywood. Now that you have lined up your plywood and chosen a spot for your hinges, use something like a pencil to outline where they will go.
Step 3: Score the Outline for the Hinges
Remove the hinges, and now get out your scoring knife. You can use a scoring knife, a carpet knife, or even a utility knife. The point here is that you now need to score the outline of the hinges into the plywood. Remember, the point here is to ensure that the top of the hinges, those flat plates, are completely flush with the rest of the plywood.
This is required so that the two pieces of plywood can then fall together without any space in between them. Therefore, you need to score the plywood as deep as the hinges will go. In other words, if the plate of the hinge is 5 millimeters thick, you will need to score down 5 millimeters. Start with a very small line, and then keep testing to see if your line is as deep as the hinge is thick.
Step 4: Measure and Use a Chisel to Make Mortises
With your score lines done, you now need to make the rest of that mortise. To do this, you are going to want to use a small wood chisel and a hammer. You have already created the outline for this mortise, and now you need to hollow the rest of it out. Once again, work very slowly, because you don’t want it to be much deeper than the hinge is thick.
Once again, if the hinge is 5 millimeters thick, then your mortise joint also needs to be 5 millimeters deep. Therefore, remove a little at first, put your hinge in place, and see if the top of it rests flush with the plywood. If it does not yet rest flush, keep chiseling away more. Do keep in mind that chiseling away slightly too much is better than chiseling away too little.
Step 5: Insert the Screws
All you have to do now is to put the hinges in place and insert screws as required. Now, some people may recommend that you first drill pilot holes. However, plywood is fairly thin, and chances are pretty big that you will end up going through the other side with your drill. Moreover, plywood it’s fairly soft to screw into, and also holds onto screws very well. For this reason, you really don’t need to make any pilot holes.
Once you screw the hinges in, you are done.
Mistakes to Avoid, Tips & Tricks
Before you get started with your task, here are a few extra tips to keep in mind:
- Remember that different hinges will be of different thicknesses, especially those two plates that attach to the wood. Therefore, when you make the mortise joint, it needs to be exactly as deep as that plate is thick.
- This job, although quite easy, does require a good deal of precision. It is, therefore, best if you take a lot of time to measure and to mark the spots where the hinges will go.
- If you see that the plywood is splintering or splitting when you go to insert the screws, stop immediately, and then make pilot holes before you insert the screws.
Summary
As you can see, attaching two pieces of plywood with a hinge is not overly difficult.
With that being said, you do of course need to have the right kind of hinge, and you need to follow all of those steps as listed above. This is especially the case when it comes to ensuring that you attach the hinges properly so that the two pieces of plywood can lay flat against each other when they are folded together.