This is for the profusely apologetic and honorable gentleman at Handworks 2015 who proved that my chest lid stay was indeed poorly designed. I never moved the stay hole so the lid gets propped slightly closed instead of slightly open. The stay got knocked out, the lid swung back, the hinges ripped out taking a strip of spruce along with it.
The fix was easy. We ripped off the busted wood (it was too shredded to glue back in place) glued on a new strip and touched up the paint. About 30 minutes of work, total. And we didn't loose a single autograph. EA's chest is as good as new.
So, thoughtful gentleman, wherever you are, special thanks to you for fessing up, and more for reassuring us that woodworkers are far and away very honorable folks.
And yes, we did move the stay hole, so now the chest lid will slam shut if it gets knocked.
Which is worse? Slamming over backwards and ripping out a board, or slamming forward and breaking someone's finger? Slamming lids, either way, scare the dickens out of me. I don't like the over-engineered pneumatic lid stays but having a loose strap on a pin seems like it is asking for trouble. I wish I had a good solution to offer, but I don't. Maybe a toggle on the end of the pin?
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