Lid Stay Torsion Hinge

[Brandon Weiss]

I'm building a wooden toy box for my son. He's only 10 months old so naturally I'd like to protect his fingers from slamming lids. Rockler has the perfect item!!!....at a ridiculous price. Anybody have good experiences with anything cheaper that will prevent the door from slamming shut? I know there's no price on safety but using these hinges will double the cost of materials for this thing. Seems a little dumb to me if I can find a suitable alternative.

Don't get me wrong, I messed with the torsion hinges at Rockler a couple weeks ago. They are awesomely smooth and very well designed. I just wish they were cheaper.

[glenn bradley]

I hate it too when the right tool for the job costs so much. As I start looking for alternatives I always have to be extra careful not to set myself up for disappointment. By that I mean that I will sometimes finally find 'something else', it will be 65% of the cost of the 'right' item and it will bug me forever that I didn't spend an extra $XX.00 for the correct item.

In this case I think there are viable options. As you can see the same product can go for a wide range of prices:

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=40596&cat=3,41427,41390

http://www.sugatsune.com/products/productss.cfm?CATID=3&SUBCATID=1

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5432

http://www.thehardwarehut.com/cabinet_lid_stays.php

http://www.homeclick.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=332849&chnl=cse&ven=googlebase&cat=Hardware%3ACabinet%20Hardware&brnd=Sugatsune&itm=332849SDS-210-WHT|Sugatsune%20SDS-210-WHT%20SDS-210-WHT%20Soft%20-%20Down%20Lid%20Stay&CAWELAID=466252128 (http://www.homeclick.com/web/catalog/product_detail.aspx?pid=332849&chnl=cse&ven=googlebase&cat=Hardware%3ACabinet%20Hardware&brnd=Sugatsune&itm=332849SDS-210-WHT%7CSugatsune%20SDS-210-WHT%20SDS-210-WHT%20Soft%20-%20Down%20Lid%20Stay&CAWELAID=466252128)

[Greg Cuetara]

One of the things to consider in building a toy box is to not have a lid at all. There have been problems with kids getting themselves 'locked' in a toy box and not being able to get out and running out of air etc...I know I know toy boxes with lids have been around for a long time. I used to use lots of toys they now suggest not using or modifying to make them safer. It might also be easier and cheaper to build without the lid for right now. Maybe make a provision that you can add a lid in the future but leave it lidless right now.

Greg

[Kurt Cady]

I bought something at HD a few months ago at a ridiculous clearance price that might work. Bought a few of them cause they were like $0.25. When I get home I can try to find them.

Basically it is like a 1inch tall dampening piston. Maybe 3-4 of these would work if positioned right and the lid isn't super super heavy.

They were in the cabinet hardware section. I believe they were near the magnets that hold cabinet doors closed.

Worth a shot.

[Mike McCann]

These work great also. they are only 7 bucks a piece. you will also need a piano hinge.

http://images.rockler.com/rockler/images/26153-01-200.jpg

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=410&filter=toy%20box

[Doug Hobkirk]

I happened to have noticed the lid supports at Rockler and I thought they seemed quite amazingly slick. But $36-38 for two is quite a bit to me. They do come in different strengths - I would think you could use one with a regular hinge at the other end.