Chest Hardware help - fold down door & top

[Matt Day]

I'm designing a "chest" of sorts for the end of our bed. The top will open to reveal a 6" deep storage area, and I want the bottom portion to have a fold down door, pivoting at the bottom. I think this would be called a "fall-front door". I've attached a picture of the draft.

My first question is the bottom door and what type of hinges I should use. I'm sure there a dozen ways to do it, but I've never done it and would like to see what you all have used and learn from it.

As you can see the chest will have short legs and the pivot will be a few inches off the ground. I'm worried if the door only opens to 90 degrees, that putting weight on the door could damage it. Therefore, I was thinking of using a hinge to open more than 90 degrees so the door actually touches the ground, or having some kind of support so it is strong at 90 degrees. I bet I could use some basic hinges or a piano hinge at the bottom, and some kind of side support, and a simple clasp at the top to hold it closed.

For the top, I was thinking either these since the top will have an overhang:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21288
I think I'd like a slow close top (though I hear some of them are a bear to install) so the top doesn't slam closed by accident. Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[Prashun Patel]

Can't help u with the fall-front, but for the top, those lid-stay torsion hinges are great. (After you get over the sticker shock). I have them on 2 chests for my kids and they work great.

A few caveats:

1) the screws that came with it were extremely brittle; half of them snapped upon install. I replaced mine with spax screws. The color is off, but nobody has noticed.

2) if I could do it again, I'd cut a small relief at the top edge of the front panel. This will protect yr fingers if someone tries to force the lid down (my kids have).

3) Don't bother with the install jig. These hinges are very easy to install with a typical straightedge, or you can make yrself an alignment block easily.

[Conrad Fiore]

Maybe something like this for the bottom.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1725

[Matt Day]

Prashun, thanks for the words of advice. I'll probably go with those hinges for the top. And advice on the calculator on rockler's site? Go a little high?

Conrad, that's what I was thinking. Thanks for the idea.

Anybody else have hardware suggestions?

Thanks

[Jamie Buxton]

For the fall-front door, you could use stays intended for drop-front desks. Here is a page with a bunch of them http://wwhardware.com/catalog.cfm?GroupID=Lid%20Stays%20and%20Supports&CatID=Sugatsune%20Lid%20Stays&showprod=1

There are others like this available.

Some of these are quite sturdy. If I understand your drawing correctly, the height of the drop-front may be only 10 inches, so it would be a fairly lever even if somebody did lean on it.

Most of these drop-front stays give you the correct mounting point locations for a horizontal desk surface. If you really want to make the door open more than 90 degrees, you'll have to move the mounting points.

[Prashun Patel]

Any advice on the calculator on rockler's site? Go a little high?

I actually went a little low (it said I needed 3 hinges on each chest. I went with 2). It works fine for me, but I can't advise that you do the same.