Anybody ever use this type of invisible hinge?

John Pollman

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Rochester Hills, MI
Hi folks,
I'm working on a design for a hall bench and would like to use concealed hinges for the lid. I found a type at Woodcraft that I think would do the job. I've never used them before though and thought I'd see any of you have, and how you liked them.

I'll probably have a horizontal piece of 1x that will butt up against the back side of the lid. Then I can drill a hole into that piece and the lid and then install the hinges. Here are the ones I'm looking at...

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2001076/10375/soss-nonmortise-hinge-for-34-panels.aspx

Any input will be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I've used them quite a bit, and the Soss type. What I don't like is that their alignment has to be dead on. There is no adjustment. They can be overloaded by the size/weight of the door/lid.



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i havnt used them john but know some who have and like mike says there a pain to align,, as for a lid on a hall bench i would suggest the spring loaded type so that litte fingers wont get in trouble. like they use on hope chests and toy chests..
 
True, I hadn't thought about those issues guys. I think I'll look for another option. I may be mistaken, but I think that I remember seeing a hinge that installs in a biscuit slot. Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure out something.
 
As mentioned, the phrase "Easy to Install" and SOSS don't go together in my experience but, I'm sure you can get good at anything if you do it enough ;-) The challenge with a concealed hinge and a load like a chest lid is leverage at the connecting point. The hinges shown have about 5/8" of penetration into a hole where they could be epoxied. Asking a pair of these tiny connecting points to handle a lid of say, 18" x 38" x 3/4" material seems out of scope. The barbed hinges have the same limitations and are designed for lighter duty.

I agree on your quest for a hinge that doesn't take center stage when the lid is lifted; or worse, when its closed. There are some nice ones out there but $25 - $50 is not an unusual price for a set. I like these if the "look" fits in with the style of your piece. Or avoid hardware altogether like so:

test-1.jpgtest-2.jpg
 
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Those bottom two drawings gave me an idea Glen. Thanks!

The hinges won't have to support a lot of weight. I've got an idea of how to do it that the lid will be completely supported across the front and probably 95% of each end. Just a good hardwood 1/2" dowel glued into the lid on each rear corner that would fit into a machined slot on the side support pieces would probably work fine. I like trying to find ways to do things differently than everyone else. :)
 
I've used them on a boxes that I did overlapping lids on. I drilled the holes in the side areas prior to installing the lid, then cut the lid loose about mid point of the hole depth, which left them aligned perfectly. Even have done this with locking mitered corner joints like on the humidor below:

https://plus.google.com/photos/118439887436548433410/albums/5230850243145305873?banner=pwa

If you're splitting the lid opening itself, then you could drill the holes in one area prior and cut across the depth of the holes, you just may have a glue joint near that split.
 
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