Created Jun. 9^th, 2021 · Published Jul. 24^th, 2022

Getting the hinges done (version 3)

Previously, I had attached white ABS profiles to the outside of the hinge leaves, which are screwed to the door, so that the drill holes for the wires are hidden and the hinges have a clean end edge. I have now made cutouts in this white ABS for the screw heads. I also added a dot of ultra-strong epoxy to the sides of the knuckles to hold the splitted and shortened pins in place and have a flat surface for the silver spray paint.

Cutouts for the screw heads
Dot of glue to fix the pin
Preparation for spray painting

Wires through the hinges

Section titled Wires through the hinges

Before I could permanently attach the hinges to the door, I had to run the wires through the hinges that I would need for power and data transmission from the main shell to the door. I needed 3 data lines for the touch sensor breakout, 1 data line for the NeoPixel LEDs, and 2 wires for +5V and GND. Since I could run 4 wires through each hinge, giving me the option of adding 2 more wires, I decided to add a small push button below the EMRG light. The wires I used are particularly flexible copper strands.

Touch data wires and +5v
EMRG button, NeoPixel data, GND
Wires passed through the hinges

Attach the hinges to the door

Section titled Attach the hinges to the door

I ran the cables through the center holes in the recess for the hinges and screwed the hinges to the door. I then applied ultra-strong 2-component epoxy to close all the gaps and permanently attach the hinges. I tried not to get too close to the knuckles with the glue so that the hinge blades would move freely.

Wires through the center holes
Hinges attached to the door
...with a thick layer of epoxy

Sand, fill, repeat

Section titled Sand, fill, repeat

After the glue was dry, I sanded the hinge side smooth. In the process, I inevitably damaged the paint on the hinge knuckles, which means I had to touch up here again afterwards. After sanding, I applied a coat of filler/primer spray, sanded again, applied filler again... until the hinge side looked good to me.

Damaged the paint on knuckles
Sanded the hinge side flat
Before applying filler paint
After applying filler paint
More filler required here
Repainting the knuckles

It took quite a while to get the side with the hinges ready for painting it silver (didn't take photos of all intermediate steps). When spraying the knuckles silver, I tried to apply only a very thin layer of paint, and I moved the knuckles while the paint was drying to prevent the paint from sticking between the knuckles.

Spray painting silver metallic

Section titled Spray painting silver metallic

While working on the hinge side, I also sanded and painted the left, right and back sides of the door panel again to avoid visible seams between the different layers of paint. I finaly spray painted the silver metallic color and clear coat finish. A few minor blemishes were left, but the hinges were essentially finished: