Newbie Help

[Michelle Halford]

I poured my hubby a nice new ceramic chess set that's larger than your standard set. So that led to needing a board/case for them. I'm about half way through cutting out the pieces and I have no clue what type of hinges to use to get a flush close on the case but an invisible line when the board is open. Can anyone help? And if so, where online can I find them? Thanks in advance.

[dave toney]

If the sides are thick enough Soss hinges are simple to install, all you need is the right size drill.
A regular hinge will need to be recessed by half its closed thickness on each side in order for the box to be flush when closed.
Dave

[Jerome Hanby]

Any chance that you would consider making another set of chess men for sale? I've wanted to build my wife a custom set and have decided I lack the artistic talent to make the men. I picked up a set of Maple and Walnut men off of the bay (the same wood I'm using for the board) but they are nothing special.

[Michelle Halford]

Thanks for the advice Dave, I'm looking them up now.
@ Jerome...I don't plan on making another set for quite some time. My pieces are ceramic, I poured them, cleaned them, had them fired and painted them. There are people on eBay and online selling the same set I made. If you're interested, I can give you some of the sites. I haven't learn the lathe to make my own wood ones yet.

[Jerome Hanby]

I have used the lathe just enough to know I'll never be able to make them <g>. I'll search the 'bay for them, thanks!

[Michelle Halford]

Here are some pictures of some of the steps of my project, maybe this will help with the suggestions. Thanks again all!

[Greg Portland]

Michelle,
Can you give us a little more detail as to where the pieces are going to be stored and how it forms a box with the board? From the 1st picture, are you making an octagonal box (holding the pieces) that will then snap onto the playing surface? It's not clear to me as to where you're intending to place the hinges.

Great work so far, keep posting pictures!

[Michelle Halford]

The chessboard case will be an octagon when opened to play. So the the hinges will be used to fold the case in half, holding the pieces and locking them away. Similiar to this one but on a larger scale and with a bit more flare..lol!

[Neil Brooks]

Am I thinking about this wrong ?

You should be able to "simply" mortise in a set of hinges so that they DO go bye-bye when the box is opened, no ?

Great work, BTW !

[Michelle Halford]

Thanks Neil, I had to look up mortise because as stated in the title, I'm a Newbie...lol! So I see what you mean. My case measurements are 32" x 17" x 8" so what size hinges would I need and how many?

[Neil Brooks]

Michelle-

That's a good question. In my opinion, though, you can pretty much do what you like, on that question. I'd probably use two or three standard brass hinges -- similar to this:



OR



And be done with it.

But you won't have a heavy load ON these hinges, so ... you can pretty much go to your local hardware store, and pick something that you like, aesthetically, for the project.

It seems to me that it's less critical which hinge you choose than it is to be sure that it's well and properly installed.

Good luck !

[Michelle Halford]

Neil,

I'm not sure what you would call a load but these pieces have a 2" base and range in size from about 4 5/8" to 6 3/4" tall they're ceramic. The case its self is made of mahagony and the board walnut and maple, so it's not too light either.