Bench Lid Hinge

[Scott Welty]

Hello-
I've made this bench but now I'm a little stuck on how to hinge. As you can see I've made a u shape frame and the lid sits inside of that. I've tried with a piano hinge screwed to the edge of U and edge of lid but the odds of getting it lined up so that the lid sits flush to the U shape when closed are essentially zero. Impossible to get at the screws conveniently when the hinge goes into both edges. Plus the fact that the plywood lid is (of course) slightly thinner that the 3/4 inch thick U-shape makes this tricky. My goal was to not have the hinge show (much) on the top surface.

megan bench expanded 3 inch.jpg

Standing by for the usual helpfulness.

Scott

[Jamie Buxton]

How 'bout cup hinges? Y'know, the hidden hinges used on kitchen cabinet doors? They'd give you adjustability.

There are also hinges intended specifically for bench lids. For instance https://www.hardwaresource.com/bench-seat-hinge.html. Google with "bench hinge" for others.

[glenn bradley]

A simple option although parts of them sit proud.

[Lee Schierer]

It is not hard to get perfect alignment at all. I've done it twice on Deacon's benches like this.
deacon1.jpg
What I do is to first center the hinge on the edge of the bench and align the barrel of the hinge so it is perfectly flush with the top surface of the seat. Then I mark a hole at each end and the center and install screws. I mark and drill all the remaining screw holes. Then I remove the hinge and do the exact same thing on the lid portion. I install all the screws on the lid side of the hinge and then go back to the bench and install the three screws I started with then all the remaining screws.

To compensate for your thinner plywood lid, glue a thin piece of wood along the inside bottom surface of your lid to hide the edge of the piano hinge.

[Scott Welty]

Lee
Brilliant! I already have hinge installed on bench side. As you say remove it and attach to lid keeping hinge flush with lid top. install there and then back onto the bench.

IT. COULD. WORRRRRRRRK!

THANKS,
Scott

[Lee Schierer]

Lee
Brilliant! I already have hinge installed on bench side. As you say remove it and attach to lid keeping hinge flush with lid top. install there and then back onto the bench.

IT. COULD. WORRRRRRRRK!

THANKS,
Scott

Make sure you install the hinge on the lid with the proper end to end offset to allow the lid to fit properly in your opening.