I am interested in building a bench for my narrow back hall/entranceway. I want to make something that folds down for the kids to remove their shoes, and then springs gently back up to store against the wall when not in use.
I think am going to make it out of oak slats, and I will probably have front legs that pivot up flat against the bottom of the bench when up, and then fold down with gravity when lowered. I can have a support to hold up the back of the bench attached to the wall, so the hinge will not need to hold the weight of the people sitting on the bench.
I would like a hinge that has enough springiness to fold up on it’s own, but not too much, so the weight of a small child can hold it down easily. Also, safety will be very important, so no scissor type mechanisms that could trap small hands.
If anyone has a link to a hinge that might do this, or an opinion of a different approach to the problem, I would appreciate the help.
thanks,
ar
Replies
Fold-down bench
We are looking to do something very similar to what you described. Did you ever find any hardware that would work for this?
As you know, any spring type hinges strong enough to lift the bench, want to slap it to the wall as it folds up since gravity has less effect the closer the bench is to the wall, but the spring rate is the same. One way to keep the bench from slapping the wall is to use one of the small shock absorbers that is made to be inletted into one surface and a small plunger sticks out an inch or so and contacts the bench somewhat close to the hinges - say less than 4" away from the hinges - to let it fold up softly. The main problem is still if the springs are heavy enough to lift the bench it will be hard for young kids to pull it down. That style of shock absorber is also somewhat spendy - maybe $100 for new or $50 for industrial surplus (see surplus center.com)
If spring hinges are going to be used, those made for doors are adjustable and readily available everywhere.
Another option involves gas springs such as used on rear automotive fold up doors/windows - but as you know all pinch points need to be kid proof so that becomes more difficult. Additionally you'd have the gas springs exposed so it wouldn't look as clean as it could.
There are spring assists made for opening chest doors and whatnot, which is just what you need as far as lifting the bench is concerned since they have more spring pressure when the bench is down and less pressure as it raises, but they do create pinch points so I don't know if I'd recommend them unless there is a design that doesn't have the pinch point.
It sounds like what you need is something like this http://www.hardwaresource.com/hinges/SPECIALTY+HINGES/Chest+Hinges+-+Box+Hinges+-+Lid+Supports/Toy+Box+Lid+Supports/Toy+Box+Lid+Stay+Torsion+Hinge
Having said that I've never used them so I can't say.
Instead of building it like a chair, build it like a shelf.
Instead of having a spring hinge, use steel cable and a counterweight - you will have much more control of the resistance then.
Here is my idea:
Build a seat that is hinged where the seat meats the back. It folds up to the wall. On the outside of each end, there is a cable attached to the seat bottom at the front edge of the seat. The cable goes through a pulley at the top rear of the seat back. Under the back the cable connects to a counterweight, which would be a long block of wood attached at both ends to the two cables.
When the seat is up, the block hangs down to nearly the floor. When you pull the seat down, the block goes up under the seat. The cables support the front edge instead of folding legs.
To guid the counterweight, you just need a couple dowel coming down from the seat back going through holes in the counterweight. To prevent "slamming" at either stop, set a couple of the soft close cabinet insets at the top and bottom of the counterweight guide path.