How to avoid children's fingers being caught in heavy lid?

[jarko]

I built a (heavy) chest that is kept outdoors to store my children's toys (I learned a lot of lessons from this build, such as the importance of rebating hinges..).

I am concerned that my daughter is going to shut the lid on her and/or her brothers hands and wanted to ask advice on the best way to avoid this from happening, with the following setup:

A simple solution would be to lock the lid and only open/shut it when supervised - however I would prefer to give them the opportunity to access their toys whenever they want.

Another solution would be to add some feet or stoppers to prevent the lid from closing fully - however I would prefer to keep rain and/or spiders away from their toys.

Another solution would be to use soft close hinges to stop the lid from closing quickly - however I don't think they would work well with the current hinged setup or weight of the lid (marine plywood cladded with decking timber).

Is there another solution I am over looking, or how would others solve this future problem?

Thanks

[JacobZ]

Hi @jarko,

Thank you for your question on how to stop little fingers getting caught in the lid of your toy chest.

I'd suggest adding some pneumatic stays such as these Prestige Silver Pneumatic Stays. These will help serve three purposes; they'll assist with opening the box, they will hold the lid open, and they will slow down how quickly the lid closes so there shouldn't be any slamming of little fingers.

Depending on the weight of the lid, there are stronger options such as these Goliath Gas Struts. These are often used with toolboxes and canopies on work utes, so they are a great option, but they may be a bit overkill for your purpose.

Let me know what you think. 

Jacob

[jarko]

Thanks for the suggestion Jacob,

How would I install the either the stays or the gas struts?

I've not used them before.

The struts look like they need brackets first 

[JacobZ]

Hi @jarko,

You might like to have a look at How To Install Door Hinges And Gas Struts for some guidance on the process for installation. I believe the Prestige 250mm Silver Pneumatic Stay is the struts used in the demonstration.

They both require similar brackets to install, however, the Goliath Gas Strut Brackets are sold separately as they are often purchased to replace existing struts that have broken. 

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[jarko]

Perfect, thanks!