Here are 2 methods of hinging.
First way is to make cuts part way(1/3-1/2) into the top of the branch with a knife and then start pulling the brach down slowly and if it is wanting to hinge only on one or two the cuts, deepen the cut(s) that aren’t wanting to hinge. Then you can wrap the the cuts with grafting tape for a faster healing and to keep it from breaking there.
The second method, you have to be more careful with breaking it, useful for branches that need pulled down a lot.
Cut the underside and the branch half way through and another cut taking out a wedge (make sure to get as much of the wedge out as possible, so it isn’t like you cut out a trapezoid). Don’t get too greedy and try cutting too wide of a wedge out to make too sharp of a hinge anly at one spot, but you can do another hinge anothe inch or two out farther for even more of hinges the more you want to bend the branch. Avoid top cuts like from the first method near where you cut the wedges otherwise it can fracture down the branch and break. You can wrap too to help with a little bit of the stability and to keep water out or keep it from drying.
Always shorten the branch whenever you do hinges, because a hinge always weakens the branch for a little while before it heals, and you don’t want to have so much weight hanging on it or as much to catch wind.
Here’s a branch that was hinged before. The tree doesn’t look pretty, because it has had several ordeals of cows wrecking it.
