Broken piece of custom hardware... Fabrication?

cybertron

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 13, 2002
Messages
1,071
Hey guys, I'm not really sure where to turn here, but my rack has these barrel hinges and one has busted off, so I'm trying to figure out where to get another from. It's a real simple piece of metal bent into a tube with a tab on the end, but I honestly have no clue what kind of company would do this. I've seen companies online that will let you send them cad drawings and they will fabricate products for you, but I cant seem to remember what that is called. I've done a search for 'metal fabrication' in my local area, but I'll have to wait until monday to get a hold of anyone.

Any help is much appreciated. And just an FYI, it's impossible for me to do this myself as I don't have the physical ability nor the mechanical tools. And these hinges are MASSIVELY hard to bent with even Large C channel pliers.

Pictures of non-broken hinges:
hinge1.jpg

hinge2.jpg
 
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draw it

I can probably hack up something that will work for you, might not be the prettiest thing
 
It's just a simple barrel hinge. Take good hinge down to Lowes or Home Depot and find a hinge that will work.

Or simply replace it with one that will do the job in fit.
 
It's just a simple barrel hinge. Take good hinge down to Lowes or Home Depot and find a hinge that will work.

Or simply replace it with one that will do the job in fit.

Its mounted on a steel computer rack, it has to be identical unless i'm to redrill the holes on the unit which I'm unable to do. I have looked at home depot, and they dont have the same thing unfortunately.
 
so draw it, I can't very well build it without a drawing
 
Just wanted to post an update. I couldnt draw the piece to save my life, so I just took it to a local machine shop and they had the genius idea of just welding a piece of tubing to a flat tab. So here is the end result. To make the matter even better, they didn't change me a penny to do it. :)

2012-11-07_16-33-30_124.jpg

2012-11-07_16-34-43_386.jpg
 
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Some times you just can't beat walking in a locally-owned business and asking for help. Excellent results! I'd be sure to post on any local sites you may have about how great they were to help increase their business. Too many people only post bad experiences...

:D
 
Awesome the Local shop helped out. Return the favor and throw some work there way. Im sure they would appreciate it, I know any and every buisness needs as much buisness as they can get.
 
Still should have given them at least a few bucks.
 
better yet, show up around quitting time with a half rack
 
Still should have given them at least a few bucks.

I worked for 8yrs at a large locksmith company that would sometimes do little jobs in the shop for free - specifically because the customer was polite, and everyone was in a good mood, and it didn't cost any appreciable amount in materials - just a few moments of labor.

We would be offended if the customer forced money on us... kinda ruins the moment, so to speak.

Sure, they could offer - which was nice, but if the shop says "No problem", you just thank them and pay them back with good feedback, recommendations and repeat business later on.
 
I wouldn't have forced money either, but I still would have tried to give them something for their time and matrials.
 
Some times you just can't beat walking in a locally-owned business and asking for help. Excellent results! I'd be sure to post on any local sites you may have about how great they were to help increase their business. Too many people only post bad experiences...

:D

Yeah, i was going to give them a plug here, but figured since most aren't local to Atlanta. But either way, I'm posting on their google maps reviews or whatever. Fantastic shop.
 
I worked for 8yrs at a large locksmith company that would sometimes do little jobs in the shop for free - specifically because the customer was polite, and everyone was in a good mood, and it didn't cost any appreciable amount in materials - just a few moments of labor.

We would be offended if the customer forced money on us... kinda ruins the moment, so to speak.

Sure, they could offer - which was nice, but if the shop says "No problem", you just thank them and pay them back with good feedback, recommendations and repeat business later on.

Yeah, exactly. I had my wallet open and was about to give him a $20 and he insisted no. You take away from peoples ability to "serve" you if you force money on them. I do work for people all the time for free(fixing computers, etc, etc, etc) and I enjoy the pleasure of helping out my fellow man.

The funny thing is, he's probably going to get a lot more business from me now because that simple gesture made me Want to use them for something, and I can already think of 2 projects I'd like to run by them, and I'm sure I'll spend $500+ on both.
 
Yeah, exactly. I had my wallet open and was about to give him a $20 and he insisted no. You take away from peoples ability to "serve" you if you force money on them. I do work for people all the time for free(fixing computers, etc, etc, etc) and I enjoy the pleasure of helping out my fellow man.

The funny thing is, he's probably going to get a lot more business from me now because that simple gesture made me Want to use them for something, and I can already think of 2 projects I'd like to run by them, and I'm sure I'll spend $500+ on both.

I hear ya...

Be sure to post pics of these projects if they are PC related!
 
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