Rule joint

[TRITON]

Theres a shop near me i know the owner of you deals in 'antiques' or unusual things to be more exact and he has a drop leaf table that he's replacing the top middle part(not the leaves) with some iroko and was asking about borrowing a router to cut in some unusual hinges.
Im cool with that though suggested maybe flap hinges would be easier for him to fit, and the unusual hing fits into a pocket, which is really close to the outside edge and breaking out might be an issue. Though at the time i did suggest a rule joint.
The problem with a flap hinge is its going to leave a gap between the middle section and the leaves which might by unsightly.

So I think something like a rule joint as well as flap hinges would be more akin to the age of the table, and means theres no unsightly gap.

I've not cut a rule joint, but i know the principle and how it would be cut and that to make things easier you can use a round over and cove router bits

But my question is, is there anything special in these cutters, or is it just matched to the thickness of the timber and standard bits will do the job and it doesn't need to be a specially matched pair, which I doubt he would be interested in buying just for the one job.

 

[baldkev]

I would think as long as the cove and round over bits have the same radius, it'll be fine? Ive seen that sort of arrangement and it had a square 4 or 5mm top portion where the surfaces met, with the cove and roundover underneath

 

[Peter Sefton]

I covered these hinges briefly in an article I wrote for F&C several years ago, yes a matched pair of router or spindle cutters or moulding planes.

https://www.peterseftonfurnituresch...Choosing-the-right-hardware-Part-1-hinges.pdf
Cheers

Peter