toy box, soft close hinges ?

[big soft moose]

As most of you probably know, in march I'm going to be an uncle.

Originally I was "commisioned" to build a crib in the design bob put up , however due to the whims of fate this commision has now changed.

it appears that my parents in law are now buying a baby room set which includes a crib so that isnt needed

Instead I will be building a toybox ( I think in a sort of mini blanket box type design) to be dimensioned to fit accross the end of the crib and hold the babies toys, plus possibly blankets etc

This is going to be painted (swimbo is doing the mural painting , my breif is to build the thing and spray it with base coat) so material wise it will probably be in pine or poplar - mdf has been kyboshed as apparently it exudes chemicals that have been implicated in cotdeath.

So anyway - basically two questions

a) has anyone built anything similar - if so links to wips or pics would be great

and

b) one point that concerns me is how to hinge the lid(s) so that pipsqueak doesnt get his/her fingers trapped in a closing lid , all thoughts gratefully recieved

 

[woodshavings]

I have built a couple but sorry, no wip pics etc.
However I also had the potential problem of the lid trapping little fingers and purchased a pneumatic lid stay mechanism from Issac Lords. Worked a treat, my only problem was working out where to fit the fixing points to exactly counterbalance the lid. Eventually, it was by trail and error.
HTH
John

 

[OPJ]

Hi Pete,

I've still got a spare pair of those lid stays I bought from Rockler last year. Can't remember what sizes they are off-hand but, I'll have to have a look. Of course, whether or not these will work partly depends on the weight of the lid (...which we won't know until you've made it! :wink.

As it's being painted, you could get away with a few things (screws and plugs, for example). I would give some thought to the inside corners - if you had legs in your design, they'll get in the way (unless, perhaps, you put a large chamfer on each of the inside corners). You may be better off going down the frame and panel route, as I did with the blanket chest.

 

[p111dom]

I like Rutlands friction hinges for this.

 

[JoinerySolutions]

I recently had to fit some Howdens kitchen units and the hinges had clip on soft close fittings, they withstood some slamming trials :lol: maybe some trials on drop down lids are in order.
On my own build units I like the piston type soft closers that are either face mounted or set in a drilled hole in the carcase. The latter method could possibly be done in series starting close to the hinge edge then having the second start to contact as the first gets halfway and so on depending on lid weight.
Have you experienced those soft close hinges on loo seats? Seat and Lid are quite heavy but the hinges lower them very slowly. (and yes I do put the seat down after use as any gent' ought to :lol: )
Rob.