Project Information
Here are a couple of boxes made from a very old table top I managed to salvage. I suspect it may be some sort of mahogany. The banding and corner highlights are all made from rock maple. I have used a simple wooden hinge that I have been working on and one box uses the Rock Maple as the hinge material. I was interested to see how this contrast would work. Either way, I think the rear view of the hinge has nice clean crisp lines.
The geometry of the hinge is important so the lid only opens to about 95 degrees. Here are a couple of pictures of the hinge detail.
The grooves were cut using a 16 mm dia ball nose cutter and the cutter was taken to a depth just short of 8 mm to ensure that the lid and base did not bind. The centreline of the cutter was offset 5 mm from the rear face of the box which then gives the correct opening angle of about 95 degrees
The centre piece of the hinge is glued and screwed into the base and the screws cannot be seen.The two short hinge pieces are then trimmed to the exact length required.The brass pins are from 3/16"rod and the real advantage of this hinge design is that absolute alignment accuracy is guaranteed between lid and base.
I originally planned on fitting brass locks with keys but thought better of it and took the easy route just fitting some polished stone discs into the lid. One box has a hardwood burl as the lid medallion insert and the other has an Art Deco pattern insert I made from mulga and beefwood.
The boxes have been finished with a burnishing oil being applied with a 1200 grit wet and dry finish.The close grain of the suspect mahogany polishes to a beautiful silky finish.
The boxes are lined with a pigskin suede leather.
The boxes measure 250 mm x 155 mm x 80 mm high.
regards
The geometry of the hinge is important so the lid only opens to about 95 degrees. Here are a couple of pictures of the hinge detail.
The grooves were cut using a 16 mm dia ball nose cutter and the cutter was taken to a depth just short of 8 mm to ensure that the lid and base did not bind. The centreline of the cutter was offset 5 mm from the rear face of the box which then gives the correct opening angle of about 95 degrees
The centre piece of the hinge is glued and screwed into the base and the screws cannot be seen.The two short hinge pieces are then trimmed to the exact length required.The brass pins are from 3/16"rod and the real advantage of this hinge design is that absolute alignment accuracy is guaranteed between lid and base.
I originally planned on fitting brass locks with keys but thought better of it and took the easy route just fitting some polished stone discs into the lid. One box has a hardwood burl as the lid medallion insert and the other has an Art Deco pattern insert I made from mulga and beefwood.
The boxes have been finished with a burnishing oil being applied with a 1200 grit wet and dry finish.The close grain of the suspect mahogany polishes to a beautiful silky finish.
The boxes are lined with a pigskin suede leather.
The boxes measure 250 mm x 155 mm x 80 mm high.
regards