Metal hinges are problematic - we've found some alternatives

Metal hinges are problematic - we've found some alternatives

Metal hinges don't look right on our boxes. If high quality commercially produced metal hinges exist for small boxes we have yet to find them. Even if they did exist only a small number of designs would look good with shiny metal in the overall box design. We have addressed how our boxes attach with out using metal hinges in six ways. 

 

  • The first is an all wood hinge. These can be very simple yet elegant. Athough we are currently not making any boxes with wood hinges, an example can be found in our gallery page.

 

  • The second method is the fluted compression fit lid. Examples of this can be found through out our work. A good example would be Melissa's flower basket box.

 

  • The third method is the saddle top box. This is a box with a lid that sits balancing on the top and yet almost magically stays firmly in place if the box is tilted.  An example being Melissa's Sun Box. 

 

  • The forth method is popular among many in the 'maker' movement and that is the 'living hinge' or curfing. A good example being Melissa's Flap TopBox.

 

  • The fifth method is the magnetic latch. That is to say a lid held in place with magnets.  This can be a clean and elegant solution to attaching a lid on a clean looking design.

 

  • The sixth method is the 'flip top box' design. This design interpretation we resurrected from old commercial box lid designs from before the age of plastic. A truly amusing piece of simple mechanics found on the box pictured on this post.

 

We have seen a number of alternatives to metal hinges and encourage fellow box makers to explore them before creating boxes with crappy 15 cent hinges.

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