hello all,
i am building a chest based on an alan peters piece i saw in an old fine woodworking. the top overhangs about an inch and a half on all four sides. i’m wondering how to hinge the top so i can maintain a tight fit between top and chest.
can i simply mortise the hinges into the chest and the lid, and expect them to function properly?
my other question is about the hinges themselves. the sides of the chest should end up being about 3/4″ thick. however, the top is fairly hefty, as it is planed concave. projected thickness is probably 3/4 or so center, and about 1 1/4 on the edges to accomodate the curve (top only…) is there a butt hinge i can use that is narrow enought to be mortised into the sides and support the weight of the top?
hope i’m describing this well, wish i had a scanner….
i guess i’m looking for a substantial hinge with leaves 3/4″ wide or less…
looking forward to your input…
-kit
Edited 1/18/2003 1:32:18 AM ET by VANDERPOOCH
Replies
Have you seen the Feb. 2003 FWW yet? It has an article by Mike Dunbar about hinges and lid supports for chests. The hinges on page 47 look like they'd be a place to start.
It sounds like you could use an 'extruded butt hinge' VP, either brass or all steel, but I'm not 100% sure of that answer from your description. You can certainly mortice such hinges in to both parts, by the sound of it.
If you're concerned (rightly) about the lid folding open and putting too much stress on the hinge knuckle, perhaps adding a stay might solve that problem.
Can you tell from the original article how Alan Peters' hinged the lid-- assuming your piece is a close copy? That would be a good pointer.
Alan Peters is absolutely no bloody slouch. He's one of the best of the contemporary designer/makers, and might even make that local parochial hero Krenov and his twee, dinky, cabinets look a bit dopey.
That should set off a few howls of anguish-- I hope so. Go ahead guys. I love a good humdinging scrap. Slainte.
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The poster formerly known as Sgian Dubh
Edited 1/18/2003 12:59:32 AM ET by RichardJ
how did you know i trained with krenov? not gonna get me that easy....
i couldn't tell how mr. peters hinged his, if at all. it has a shot taken at a diagonal, and one from the side, but none show the back, where the hinges would presumably be. by extruded hinge do you mean piano hinge? that's an obvious one i hadn't thought of for some reason. i guess i'd prefer not to have the whole length hinged, though it would be strong. i do plan on having something to stop the lid from tearing the hinges out. i'm not too worried about this , though, since it will be at the foot of the bed. mr. peters' work definitely wows me. the guy knows "the way..."
dunc, i thought about strap hinges, but they just don't sem to fit the design well. too damn big.
'Extruded butts' is a description for high quality traditional hinges, VP. They feature two leaves and a knuckle, and more often than not the hinge pin is steel, and the leaves are often brass, which might have to be polished for a preferred appearance.
Standard house door hinges with the knock out pins are 'butt' hinges, but mostly they are of low quality, certainly they are regarding appearance. A piano hinge is of the same general type, but long, and usually plated over steel.
If you ask for a 'solid extruded brass butt hinge' at your local hardware shop, and they look at you as if you came from Mars, then they have no idea what you are asking for. Garrett Wade(sp?) sell a small selection of reasonable examples. They do have a website, although I've forgtten their URL. Slainte.Website
The poster formerly known as Sgian Dubh
i just hadn't heard butt hinges called that before. what i've used in the past have mostly been brusso, but they are all fairly small. can't remember what we use to use at the boatshop, hated it though, because much of the hardware was gold plated. horrible to work with and looked like @%$# to my eyes...
maybe i'll send away for a couple hardware catalogs....
thanks for the input. no-one bitten on the krenov thing, yet.
Brusso is "the" name in brass hinges for woodworking. A Google search will get you a boatload of sources, but a lot of them don't carry the full line. I thought I remembered seeing a Brusso web site once, but I can't find it now.
RJ - I wouldn't say that I like to be contrary just to be contrary, but some people who have argued with me will disagree.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm going to agree with you on Krenov. Besides being twee and dinky, way too many of the cabinets by his students look alike. There are two in the Feb. 2003 issue of FWW, one on page 87 and one on the back cover, by different makers, and both of them were instantly identifiable as Krenovian. I admit there may be an Alan Peters "look" too, that I just haven't noticed.
Another thing I don't like about the Krenov cabinets is that they don't look like they could stand up to an active five year old. I can just see the kid come booming around the corner not watching where he's going, clouts the cabinet with his head, it bounces off the wall and falls down. CG too high for the spread of the legs. But I see a lot of furniture in FWW that wouldn't stand up to an active five year old. :)
My gawd, Unc. The more we exchange banter, the more I like you, ha, ha. D'you like being a contrary voicer of opinions too? Slainte.Website
The poster formerly known as Sgian Dubh
Richard, I'm thinking the lack of response to the Krenov thing might be because there are lots of folks out there who agree with you. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" -- to a point -- and I think we've reached that point.
David"The world that was not made is not won by what is done" -- Mundaka Upanishad
Give it time. Not everybody checks in on the weekends.
Me included!
David"The world that was not made is not won by what is done" -- Mundaka Upanishad
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