The vex hinges are very useful but can be quite big. They have a groove every 1/2 inch similar to the metal that should aid in cutting it. Does anyone know what happens if you cut one along the groove? Why else would they have those grooves?
P.S: Has anyone tried using hinges on scissor lifts before?
Hello,
So Last year, I don’t remember doing it, but i ended up with a Cut vex hinge, we cut it straight down the middle. One of the problems is that sometimes, the metal rod holding the two joints together, would slip out. We solved it by “Butterflying” it, meaning taking a little of the rod, hacksaw straight down the middle a little, and bend both halves of the rod, to hold it in place. I would not recommend using a hinge for two main reasons; you first would be offset from the standard sized holes, and secondly be vulnerable to lots of Wobbliness from the instability of the hinge. Just my opinion, but just do some testing, i may be wrong 
Be very careful if you “butterfly” a rod like that. If you don’t have a sharp bend in the split pieces, and instead have too much of a “slope” on the pieces being bent out, your splayed ends can jam in the hinge and cause your mechanism to lock up. Just sayin.
You can cut hinges along those grooves just like any other piece of metal, however, I would suggest cutting it more towards the middle and filing down the edges. This gives you that support on both sides, otherwise its basically useless. As crudely photoshopped below, cut on the black lines, that way you keep the extra bit of metal (In Red).
http://i.imgur.com/034ruuz.jpg?1
Also, when you cut the hinges, sometimes the hinge pins will come loose and fall out. I cut a few and only one of the pins kept falling out so I just didn’t use that one. I never went to the trouble of finding a good solution, shaft collars are heavy and after thinking about it for awhile I’ve changed my mind and don’t like butterflying. Its crude and not good to work with.
How do you plan to implement these on your scissor? If you give us some more info we can help.
Yes. We did. We didn’t have any real problem at all.
It is not difficult to find a cut hinge that does not have it’s pin falling out.
I’ve always pulled the pin out and hit the tip of one end with a hammer to make it a bit wider than the hole. If the hinge is vertical put the hammered end at the top.
This should be clear, but just to emphasize: you keep the left-most and right-most parts of the hinge when you cut it this way. The center section will be (nearly, if not totally) useless, as the pin will “want” to fall out.