Locking mechanisms for boxes?

[BearTricks]

I'm making a hinged, lidded box for a friend. It's my first box so I'm keeping it simple. He needs it for a specific occasion however I'd like it to be something he can stick on a shelf and reuse.

He wants it to be lockable with a padlock. What's the best way to do this, where can I get the pieces and what do I google to find them?

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

Hasp and staple are the things that can be pad locked. You can get reasonably small ones, but still quite large for a box, more like a chest. You can get box locks, which may be more suited to what you want, though trickier to fit.

Mike.

 

[novocaine]

I'd suggest making your own hasp and stable from bent wire, you can add some flurish to the shape easy enough. can be made to fit the box that way.

 

[Biliphuster]

I too would suggest using a box or chest lock (they have hooks or rings which are engaged by a slide to prevent the lock body and the lock strike coming apart) if the box is for indoor use.

A E Squire make some very nice ones which I can recommend. Fitting a half mortice lock is not that much more difficult than fitting a hinge, and much smarter than a hasp and staple.

 

[hackery]

I use neodymium magnets which can be got in very small or big sizes and recess them into the top of the box and also the lid. The magnets for their size are super strong and really hold the lid shut and give the lid a superb snap action. I just buy mine from Amazon for a couple of quid. I tape of the very slight tip of drill bit to match the diameter of the magnet and drill on slowest speed and then press the magnets into the wood using my vise.

 

[hackery]

Sorry didn't see the padlock bit... magnets are still good but not in this case