DIY Plywood Rail Hinge Plans (no video)

This is a set of plans for a guiderail hinge that I’ve designed and made for my 10MinuteWorkshop MultiFunction Table, or MFT.

A rail hinge attaches to an MFT-style bench (see my other listings for plans for those) and is a very convenient way to get the rail out of the way and your bench clear. Commercial rail hinges are usually costly (~£200 / $250) but this hinge can be made from around £12 / $15 of 12mm / 1/2” plywood - even at 2022 prices - and a little additional hardware; links to hardware used are also provided.

*** Edited to add: Rail Hinge Pivots are now available as an option, with hardware - no need to buy a pack of 20 dowel pins of clevis pins! Link below:- https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1244544860/rail-hinge-pivots-hardware ***

I made mine from Birch ply because it looks nice on video, but many of the prototypes were made from MDF and are holding up just fine.

NB: The plans are mostly aimed at Festool / Makita pattern rails - and their clones, Titan, Triton, Erbauer, Evolution etc… - but drilling positions are also provided for DeWalt rails. Mafell and Bosch rails can use the same fixing positions as the Festool / Makita rails but I have no source available for a bar that fits those rails. If anyone knows of one please let me know, otherwise I may look into having one made - let me know if that would be of interest.

The rail hinge is easy to make with basic tools, though it does require some care and precision whilst measuring and cutting. Because of this, in addition to the usual dimensional drawings, there are 1:1 representations to help drill the components accurately, and a thorough description (over 2000 words!) of the construction and assembly.

There is a public-facing YouTube video (out Friday June 17th at noon) that explains the ‘why’ of this build, as well as some of the ‘how-to’ but there is also a ‘Plans Plus’ version that includes a detailed step-by-step build video, available now for a small additional charge; probably worth it just to avoid reading 2000+ words… In all seriousness I’d recommend watching at least the public YouTube video before making a start.

As always, plans are provided for you to make the item for your personal use, the design is registered, and all rights are reserved. Note that plans are supplied as a digital download; if you checkout as a guest the confirmation email will include your download link, and this is the only one you will receive, so please keep it safe.

Thank you! Peter

www.10.minuteworkshop.tv

DIY MFT hardware video - https://youtu.be/za5B-XrSuH0

DIY MFT build video - https://youtu.be/223QALIbnRc

DIY Rail Hinge video - https://youtu.be/sHj5G6t1qvY