Need help with what hinge to use

[taandctran]

My step dad made a box. The lid is really thin. We measured it and it was between 5/16 and 3/8. He wants a hinge that is mostly hidden. I have some 5mm barrel hinges and we looked at them and it is going to be really close to working without going through the top. To close to try. I was wondering if anyone knows of any other style hinges we can try. Thanks for the help ahead of time.

 

[DaveO]

You could try something like this
Kerf-Cut

The set up and tooling might be more than you want to do for a single box. But if you plan to make more, it is the easiest way to hinge a box.
Hinges can be an attractive part of the box if you choose the right ones. A full mortised Brusso hinge adds real class to a box, and are very well made (albeit, pricey).
Dave

 

[McRabbet]

You are right about the lid being too thin to accept a hole for your micro-barrel hinge (Soss recommends at least 1/2" for their 10 mm BH104 barrel hinge and 7/16" for their 8 mm BH084). One work-around would be to add 1/4" thick "accent" strips across the top of the lid parallel to the hinge locations to make the top thicker and then drill the 5 mm holes in the built-up top where desired.

Rob

 

[taandctran]

Dave,
I recommended those to him... Neither him or I have ever done anything with those. I figured that you would have to have as much thickness on those as you would with the barrel hinges.

 

[DaveO]

You always could use the kerf hinges installed at 90°. The kerf would be cut into the edge of the box side and the lid edge. Yopu also might check to see what depth the 5mm mini barrel hinges have to go to
Miniature Barrel Hinges

D'oh it sounds like you already did :eusa_doh: :eusa_doh:

HTH, Dave

 

[taandctran]

Dave, I really don't know exactly how thick a board has to be for these hinges to work. We just held them up and looked at them. We determined it was to close to try with out first looking at other options. I told him if he does decide to try it then try it on a scrap piece of wood the same thickness.

 

[Big Mike]

Thanh, I have encountered the same problem you are describing when my design sense did not take into account the hardware requirements. You can use the 5 mm barrel hinges but there are two things you may have to do. First you may have to remove most of the point on the brad point bit as it may protrude through the top of the lid even if the hinge does not. Secondly you can grind down one of the ends of the hinge so it fits into a shallower hole but it cannot be shorter than half the thickness of the lid as these hinges require a 45 degree bevel on the lid and the box body in order to work. Then it is just a matter of gluing the hinge into the recess in the lid with epoxy. But make sure you have it glue in the correct orientation so the lid opens and closes properly. Do not over glue or you will squeeze glue into the pivot joint and the hinge will cease operation. The slot hinges Dave mentioned are probably too tall for you application if the wood thickness is 5/16".

Another option is to cut shallow mortises in both the lid and the box and use leather for a hinge. Boxes in the olden days quite frequently were hinged with leather. Just a thought....

 

[dozer]

If the lid is that thin you might want to consider adding a thin strip all the way around the inside of the lid that will fit inside the bottom of the box and just make it a lift off lid.