Push click spring mechanism thing... some suggestions please

Sawdust=manglitter · 23 Jul 2017

So I recently made a box for a friend of the OH with 'concealed' dowel pin keys/locks (see below photos), but I couldn't think of any other realistic way to get them to work apart from drilling the hole all the way through to the bottom and have to push them up from the bottom to remove them.

Anyways, everyone loved the box, and I've been asked to make another. So with box 2.0 I would like to make some improvements. Instead of having to push the dowels up through a hole in the bottom I have in my head some sort of spring mechanism thing that you could push the dowel into place and it sits snugly, then to open you push it down a bit and it pops the dowel back up with enough of a protrusion to lift out.

I have thought about maybe somehow trying to somehow canabilise some clicky pens for the mechanism and try to jury rig it in place, but not sure if that would work.

Would canabilising something like the catch in the below link work?
https://www.locksonline.com/Magnetic-Pr ... gLQAPD_BwE

Can anyone think of an alternative way of doing this? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

sunnybob · 24 Jul 2017

looking at the picture, you have to lift the pin out and then slide the box lid sideways, yes?

Then just reverse your thinking on the pin. have the pin captive and always in ther UP posistion untill the lever is depressed, pushing the pin down enough to clear the lid.
Drill a blind hole for the pin, use a biro type spring underneath to hold the pin UP. Then drill sideways into the pin hole and insert a lever to pull the pin down while the box lid is swung out.
You dont need two pins on that box, one will hold it fine.
I have some pics of a similar mechanism. it will take a while to get the pics onto this forum now, I'll be back in a while.

sunnybob · 24 Jul 2017

This is the box closed, with the brass locking pin holding the swivel lid in place

Here you can see the operating lever. I made it out of brass rods, screwed into the side of the locking pin, running in a slot in the side of the box (hidden by the lever), the biro spring in under the locking pin.
So pushing the litle heart shaped button depresses the pin while you swing the lid.

boardgamer · 24 Jul 2017

Use rare-earth magnets to hold the lid in place?

Sawdust=manglitter · 24 Jul 2017

That's a very neat idea sunnybob, thanks for the suggestion. Maybe if the wall was thin enough then rare earth magnets would work instead of an external lever, maybe making a key with a magnet on it or something?

Also since posting the original link above i then noticed the following product on the same website which may be perfect for my original idea too...
https://www.locksonline.com/Mortice-Cir ... -1031.html