Greetings,
New here and an amateur so appreciate all your time and advice. The photos provided are at an earlier stage of work of the bottom area I am having difficulty with.
I have gotten myself into a bit of trouble with how I designed a Jewelry box for my wife and am not sure how to proceed. Specifically with the “flap” or front plate to access the drawers. I took he concept of an old antique trunk. There is the bottom section, as pictured, with 3 sides dovetailed together and a 4th “side” which is intended to be a fold-down front which provides access to 4 drawers. The top section (not pictured) will hinge and open up like an old trunk would, with an upper tray. This is latched to the bottom plate. When you unlatch the top you can then fold the bottom piece down.
The issue I am having is that the bottom of the front plate, when closed, is designed to be flush to the bottom of the box itself and also aligned to the top “lid”. Typical hinges raise the plate up 1/4″ or so, which then means the top and bottom do not align and it does not look like a flush box. Further complicating it is that unless a hinge is completely flush to the wood, the bottom drawer does not have clearance to be pulled out.
So
A) The front-plate must be able to fold flat, including the hinge, so the drawer can come out.
B) When put back into place the bottom of the plate must be flush with the bottom of the box so it looks as though it is a complete side and aligns to the top without a gap.
I cannot start again as I have used 120 year old maple barnwood as part of the charm/unique nature of the piece and have no more supply.
I have thought about trying a butler hinge or piano hinge, recessed into the plate, but am still unsure this will provide both A) the clearance needed for the drawer while B) not raising the level of the front or binding.
Would either of these hinges work? Or does someone have another suggestion.
I have also considered using some form of arm or quadrant hinge to lower it from the sides but there is either not enough wood to work with or space with the drawers fitting tightly.
Any advice is appreciated.
Kind Regards
Replies
I’d suggest a rabbet on the hinge side to drop the flap down and make clearance for the bottom drawer. Make the rabbet the thickness of the flap plus a tad, then mortise the hinges. That way when the flap opens it drops clear of the drawer but when closed looks flush to the box.
On thé RH side of this Pennsylvania spice box you can see I’ve put a full notch along the hinge side and on the LH a partial rabbet to accept the latch side of the door. So something like the LH side which in your case is where the hinges would go. Since it doesn’t look like you’ve out a bottom on the box yet, it could easily be done. If you don’t want a joint/seam to show, add some moulding.
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