Thread: Hinge screws for a thin box lid!?

11mm thick lid. 12mm long screws. I would grind 3mm off the tips of the screws and drill 9mm deep holes in the lid. The tip of the screw has bugger-all holding power anyway. If you drill a hole the same diameter as the screw shank they don't need to be pointy to screw into the hole.

What Jack said or fit a piano hinge, lots of small screws to do the job of a few bigger ones.

What Aldav said. A piano hinge is the way I would go.

Thank you for the suggestions. It shows me that I should have worked through the design before I started or at least before glueing up the box, rather than make it up as I go along trying to use material that's at hand. Maybe I should just stick to a lift off lid..... Thanks again

Originally Posted by Gillina

Thank you for the suggestions. It shows me that I should have worked through the design before I started or at least before glueing up the box, rather than make it up as I go along trying to use material that's at hand. Maybe I should just stick to a lift off lid..... Thanks again

I've learned a lot of woodworking by trial and error (ask me how I know!) and from YouTube. Making it up as one goes along is satisfying and working out problems as one goes is a wonderful way to learn.

There is a great book called "Basic Box Making" by Doug Stowe. I can't find a free PDF version on the net but there are some YouTube videos of his techniques from the book. Search for Basic Boxmaking by Doug Stowe on the YouTube platform.

Have you thought of using a wooden dowel hinge?

You could try roughing the brass up on the hinge with sand paper and just glueing them into the lid with something like Poly glue.

Or another way is glue the lid onto the box top and then saw it off around the red line. Plane it up and screw in hinges. That's a pretty common way of box making.
It also prevents the lid from cupping . It prevents the expansion and contraction of the top so seal it well both sides to slow that down. That type of design normally requires specific spacing of the dovetails . 1, to give the cut off top section good joinery and 2, to allow a saw cut to be made and still get a pleasing dovetail lay out look. In the old days a rip saw would do the cut by hand but now days a table saw with a 3 mm , or less, kerf works fast.

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Veneer inlay Australia has a wide range of brass slotted head countersink screws for sale contact Michael he will set you straight.

if you go for the sawn-off system run a steel screw in 1st to tap the hole then when you insert the brass screw use a dab of superglue to make a tight fit.

Cheers