How to Make a Spring Hinge

Insert a thin nail into one end of a pin hinge. Push the nail through until the pin inside the hinge comes out the other end. Set the pin aside and separate the two flat metal halves of the hinge assembly.

Draw a rectangular shape in the metal halves of the hinge with a pencil. The rectangle should be placed in the middle of where the two halves meet. Cut out this design with angle nippers. The resulting hinges should have a small hole between them, leaving an empty space in the middle of the tube where the spring and pin will go.

Place one end of the hinge pin in a vice. Place one end of the music wire in the same vice next to the pin and tighten so neither can move.

Grasp the loose end of the music wire with pliers. Wrap the wire around the pin so the coils are as close together as possible. Coil the wire until the coil is a bit shorter than the portion you cut out of the metal hinge. Finish the coil so the end of the wire comes in the exact opposite direction as the beginning of the wire. Remove the wire and pin from the vice. Snip each end of the wire with the angle nippers so the ends are 1 cm long.

Lay the two metal hinge halves flat on a hard surface. Align the halves, and place the newly-coiled spring in the empty space you cut out of the hinge. Thread the original pin back through the tube created by the hinges and through the new spring. Install the spring hinge in furniture and other projects.