Problem building a Thomas Jefferson revolving book stand
71Atlas
| Posted in General Discussion on
I am building a replica of the Thomas Jefferson revolving book stand. I have all of the parts completed and starting to do a trial assembly but the swinging book support does not want to hang straight down.
I am confused in trying to get the book holding panel to hang straight down from the hinge. I have attached a photo of how the panel swings away from vertical when the hinge is attached. The panel is 1/2 x 12 x 12. I think that if I chamfer the top edge of the panel about five degrees it might force the panel to swing back more but I don’t want to mess up a finished panel.
Would this be the way to fix the problem?
Mike in PA
Replies
Hi Mike, The panel will naturally hang that way due to the hinge placement. There's really nothing you can do to get it to hang plumb on it's own. It appears that there are hooks or latches at the bottom in the original photo that are probably used to keep the panels in a vertical position when closed. That would be a good solution in your case.
Good luck, it looks like a great project. Mike
Position of hinge pin
Mike, It appears that the offset hinge pin is the center of gravity. Hard to tell from the photo but the shelf appears to hanging 1/2" out of plumb fron the center line of the hinge pin. Maybe try a temporary spacer (1/4") on the insde of the hanging shelf where the hinge is mounted. This would move the center of gravity over the center of the shelf. May a different hinge may be in order??
Gary
Thanks for your comments. I have decided to make small wooden latches to hold the trays closed. This seems to be the simplest solution.
Mike
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