Replies

1. 
   jackplane | May 27, 2004 10:36pm | #1

   Butt the bottom edge of the top to the hinge barrels. Scribe and mortice out the waste till the wood is flush with the hinge leaf. Now do the same on the desk side. You shouldn't have any problems unless the top or the desk covers the barrel. If you're not sure if you've sized the top correctly, leave it wide and trim it later. Better to adjust the walnut than to reset the hinges.

2. 
   MBL | May 27, 2004 10:40pm | #2

   Dear Joe,

   You could make a working mock-up of the hinging parts from scrap and figure out the details.

   Good luck.

   -mbl-

1. 
   Biscardi | May 27, 2004 11:53pm | #3

   A wonderful old cabinet maker showed me a trick about this once. He closed the hinge and put the two leaves of the hinge in a vise so only the barrel was sticking out. Then he tightened the jaws of the vise. This works very well. The lid and the desk fit better when the lid is closed.

   Frank

1. 
   Sphere | May 28, 2004 12:25am | #4

   that is referred to as a swaged hinge...FWIW 

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

1. 
   Biscardi | May 28, 2004 04:06am | #5

   Thanks. I know what to call it now.

   Frank

3. 
   OneofmanyBobs | May 28, 2004 04:52am | #6

   Just did that last week.  If the center of the hinge barrel is too far in, you get a gap at the bottom when the top is closed and the top will go too deep into the case .  If its forward of the edge, the top will underhang when closed.  Mortise the hinges so the center of the barrels are exactly on the edge.  The barrels must go up.  Unless you find hinges that open to more than 270 degrees, the top will not close if you put the barrels down.

   Take a piece of scrap as long as the desk and 6 inches or better in width.  Mortise the other hinge leaf into that so the surface is flush when open.  Keep trimming the rabbet where it sits into the case until it fits when closed.  The bottom edge then gets beveled so its vertical when closed.  Don't use hinges where the screw holes are too close to the barrel.  Those screws go into the bevel area and need to be shorter so they don't go all the way through the top.  Use that scrap as a pattern.  This is a very picky process.  You may need to do a couple scrap pieces before you get it right. 

4. 
   joinerswork | May 28, 2004 05:39am | #7

   Joe,

   As has been suggested, inletting the hinges is pretty straightforward.  Couple of things to think about:

    1) Shrinkage of the top and projection of the breadboard ends.  I generally miter the lid and the "top" end of the breadboard together, with a hidden spline.  Usually have three tenons on each end of the lid.  The tenon nearest the miter is glued, the middle tenon I put a spot of glue on, the tenon nearest the hinge edge of the lid I let float.  Allow for plenty of movement here.  What this means as far as hanging the lid, is that you need to make allowance for the breadboards to stick out past the lid when the lid has shrunk in the winter.  Could be as much as 3/16" if the lid is very wide.  So the gap between the lid and the desk writing surface needs to be this big.  (Unless you are hanging the lid in the winter...)

   2) The relationship between the angled desk ends and the lid.  The easiest way to deal with this is to make a full size drawing from the side, showing the writing surface, the desk end, the hinge, and the lid.  The critical thing is, the lip on the lid has to meet the end all along the desk end.  It is easy to have it bind, or worse, end up with a gap between the lip and end at the bottom of the lid.  The distance, measured up from the writing surface along the front edge of the case to the point where the slanted part of the end begins, ultimately depends on the diameter of the barrel of the hinge, the location of the center of the hinge (how far it sticks out from the writing surface), and the rabbet for the lip on the lid.

   3)  The funny angle needed for the desk lock (on the top edge of the lid) has to be matched by the angle on the underside of the top  of the desk.  Don't forget to allow for the lid to swell in the summer here.  Too much gap here though and the lock won't catch in the winter, even if the lip covers the crack.  A drawing helps here too.

   If you leave the lid a tad bit wide at the beginning, you can always joint off a sixteenth or two at the end and reset the hinges deeper if need be. (Just install one screw per hinge on the lid, then try for fit)

   A desk lid is one of those things that when it is done correctly, no-one thinks a thing about it.  If the lid is very long, you may want to think about three hinges, to help hold things in line.  Drawback is, that third hinge makes a bump in the middle of your blotter.

   Cheers,

   Ray

1. 
   javera | May 28, 2004 04:02pm | #8

   Thanks to everyone who replied. I'll probably take the advice and try this a couple of times on a mockup.  That should give me a good idea of how to position it.

   I'm always amazed by the depth of knowledge and willingness to help that is found on the board.

   Again Thanks to everyone.

   Joe