Rich Stevens
06-23-2006, 12:10 AM
Morning All,
I have come to a point in my blanket chest project which requires me to make a decision on which type of hinge to use. I am going all out to get the 'best' hardware out there that I can buy. This basically leaves me with one choice - Brusso. Feel free to recommend another make if you think I'm being too biased.
The blanket chest is a standard sized 40" wide x 24" high x 20" deep. Roughly the same size as a Thomas Moser unit. The thickness of the carcase is ~ 7/8" and the frame for the lid ~ 1"
I am making mine out of some nice Tasmanian Myrtle and given the work involved so far, I want it to look good and be faithful to a period piece design.
The way I see it, I think I have three options:
Standard butt hinges
Quadrant hinges
Lid supportsI can deal with standard butt hinges fairly easily but I am rather nervous about quadrant hinges and lid supports as both require a high degree of machining skill and accuracy to work properly - not to mention the risk of disaster by taking huge chunks of wood out in the process. I am too far gone in the process to have to remake another blanket chest carcase, if you follow me...
The dilemma I have with Standard butt hinges is I need to also have some form of lid support that looks the part. If I were use a Quadrant hinge, I'd have both the hinging and lid support integrated in one solution. On the other hand if I used a traditional butt hinge, I have two options - one is to not have a lid support (highly risky if the lid falls backwards) or use one of the aforementioned lid supports (I imagine only one would be required). Another alternative is to use a chain.
There are many of you out there that have traversed this ground before me - what would you recommend?
Here are some pictures of my little project...
Rockler.com carries a range of different components but for the most part they appear rather amateurish to me. These would be OK for a knock about toy chest for the kids to dump their toys in, but not this one... I'm not being too precious am I?
Thanks
Rich
Melbourne, Australia
I have come to a point in my blanket chest project which requires me to make a decision on which type of hinge to use. I am going all out to get the 'best' hardware out there that I can buy. This basically leaves me with one choice - Brusso. Feel free to recommend another make if you think I'm being too biased.
The blanket chest is a standard sized 40" wide x 24" high x 20" deep. Roughly the same size as a Thomas Moser unit. The thickness of the carcase is ~ 7/8" and the frame for the lid ~ 1"
I am making mine out of some nice Tasmanian Myrtle and given the work involved so far, I want it to look good and be faithful to a period piece design.
The way I see it, I think I have three options:
Standard butt hinges
Quadrant hinges
Lid supportsI can deal with standard butt hinges fairly easily but I am rather nervous about quadrant hinges and lid supports as both require a high degree of machining skill and accuracy to work properly - not to mention the risk of disaster by taking huge chunks of wood out in the process. I am too far gone in the process to have to remake another blanket chest carcase, if you follow me...
The dilemma I have with Standard butt hinges is I need to also have some form of lid support that looks the part. If I were use a Quadrant hinge, I'd have both the hinging and lid support integrated in one solution. On the other hand if I used a traditional butt hinge, I have two options - one is to not have a lid support (highly risky if the lid falls backwards) or use one of the aforementioned lid supports (I imagine only one would be required). Another alternative is to use a chain.
There are many of you out there that have traversed this ground before me - what would you recommend?
Here are some pictures of my little project...
Rockler.com carries a range of different components but for the most part they appear rather amateurish to me. These would be OK for a knock about toy chest for the kids to dump their toys in, but not this one... I'm not being too precious am I?
Thanks
Rich
Melbourne, Australia