Hello All,
I am new to the forums, and thinking about joining FineWoodWorking as a member.
I have a question, and hope that someone can point me in the correct direction.
My wife has requested a jewelry cabinet with trays that swing out like the ones in the attached photos of an antique dentist cabinet.
I have been searching online trying to find out how to reproduce these, or even what this type of swinging tray is called.
So my questions to everyone are:
What theses types or swing trays are called?
What is the name/type of hinge in the photo?
Can anyone point me to a source for a hing of this type?
Thanks,
Daniel
Replies
I have heard them called swivel drawers or swivel trays. I don't know where to get hardware for them.
Here is a video of professional woodworker Tom McLaughlin making a desk with two swivel drawers. He makes his own swivel mechanism for this project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xImyFY56Qwk
Mike
That's a form of piano hinge, sometimes called continuous hinge. But unlike the standard piano hinge, the leaves of the dentist cabinet hinge are separated into independent hinges, one for each tray. They all seem to run on a single hinge post and one continuous hinge leaf - that attached to the cabinet wall.
I've looked at various hinge suppliers but can't find any piano hinges of that design. If your search also proves fruitless, I imagine it might be possible to buy a heavy-duty piano hinge length then take out the post, temporarily, to saw separate sets of hinge leaves from one of the continuous hinge-leaf lengths, threading them back on to the continuous hinge post with the continuous hinge leaf once separated......
Lataxe
Wow! That's a fantastic piece. My wife and I are always drawn to dental cabinets as well. Those old school dentists had the best taste in furniture! You might be able to recreate them with a milled steel rod, some bushings, and some spacers. Andy Klein made something akin to what I'm talking about... of course, his is a mammoth version! But you could scale it down... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U5hQWLWseM&list=PLBtl4Z2Fk7O16gUGv1tTWXURd-_WaP-5A&index=9
If you can find strap hinges of a proper size and take them apart you could use them along with Ben's steel rod and bushings idea for a ready-made way to both hang the drawers from the rod and fasten the rod to the cabinet.
Thanks for all of the replies.
I was considering making it myself, or getting a machinist to do it.
Yes, those dental cabinets are excellent pieces of work. My wife absolutely loves them.
Thanks again all.
Daniel
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