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Latch for Box Lid

  • 22-05-2025 10:47PM
    #1
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭


    That's it. At its simplest. The devil, as ever gentlemen, is in the detail

    Open box, right? Inside, 2" below the lip are horizontal batons, all round. Lid consists of a matching frame, made to drop in, onto the batons. Top of the frame is a sheet of tin. Flush fit. Frame inside. Tin, resting on boxes lip. Clear? Lovely. Now we can get on 🙂

    How in hell do I keep it On, please, lads??? This is a question that's tested me. It's a chicken coop. I don't want to be strapping it on. But, once ye actually start to examine it? It's tricky!

    I need to stop predators. Yet, it needs to be quick, doesn't it? There's no where for a usual bolt to shoot, see? Hooks unhook. All I keep trying to think of is 'Bolts Through …' 😐️ Mortice Door Bolts sort of idea?

    Anyone? Please? 🙏



Comments

  • #2
    greasepalm
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,001 ✭✭✭greasepalm


    Photos might help or a cement block on top



  • #3
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123476276#Comment_123476276
    P1010001.JPG

    Here's one I took earlier. Actually just so I could sit and stare at the damn thing, myself! 😁 Saved me keep having to jump up and stride back out there, to remind myself.

    Just ignore the bit of wood and wire mesh to the left. That wood's not fixed. But, it's sitting an inch to the right of where that side of the Frame will be. That wire is laying pretty much at the level the tin will be. And, using ship lap, ye see the awkward bloody edge?! 😬

    I'd swear I conspire against myself in these things! 😂



  • #4
    10-10-20
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,110 ✭✭✭10-10-20


    Hi ya Stigura! Nice work!

    What about a bolt-on trailer latch?

    https://www.securefixdirect.com/trailer-latches-740-c.asp

    Foxes don't have opposable thumbs, so they can't operate those latches. 🙂



  • #5
    The Continental Op
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,465 ✭✭✭The Continental Op


    I get fed up with paying a fortune for metal fittings so this is how I make closures for chicken runs. The door panel has a lip on the bottom so it comes off completely.

    IMG_20250523_094643[1].jpg

    I have a load of hardwood off cuts I use for making them the catches.

    On vertical panels that might fall open (the one above is at 30 degrees) I use two catches so it needs both turning to open.

    Wake me up when it's all over.



  • #6
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123476667#Comment_123476667

    " Trailer Latch "! 🤦‍♂️ If ye knew how long I've spent, dreaming up new and wondrous terms for things that hold things shut, on amazon!

    Actually, I came up with the next best thing. They're on another coop, and working passably. But, god, they're '*cheap*'. Those are twice the price and look like they were at least made outside of a cave! 👍️ (Might well grab some, just to have to hand!) Thanks!

    Sadly, I don't think even they'll do here. Having slept on it; I really wonder if this isn't 'Stiguras Last Corner' I've painted myself into. Nothing ~ as a Top ~ for Anything to attach to, is there?

    Whoops!



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  • #7
    The Continental Op
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,465 ✭✭✭The Continental Op


    I don't bother with latches on the top of a lid. I just make it heavy enough so a fox can't get it off and the wind won't blow it away.

    The other thing I've done is put a couple of screw eyes each somewhere on a side panel and then use a bungee strap between them and across the door.

    Wake me up when it's all over.



  • #8
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123476858#Comment_123476858

    As to 10-10-20, mate; There is nowhere, is there? Look it. Tin 😕

    See, ye Toggle ~ which I have on the chick brooder / cage ~ is to stop a surface (vertical) falling Out. Yeah? So, theoretically, it can stop an equal surface lifting Up. Yeah? ….. So, where's that screw going? 👊

    And, that's it, see? Stigura ~ by some unfathomable stretch of that elastic imagination ~ has finally managed to screw Himself!

    Unless we can somehow invent a device of simple, native cunning.

    Put simply? I need to stop two bits of wood from going from 'side by side', to one rising. That's it. And, our starting point appears to be some 'Through Bolt' principle?

    Here's my Other coop, lads. There's my original latch. See? Works. But, 10 10's look better.

    P1010001.JPG

    Problem is, see, there's no, second piece of wood for this sort to hold too. See? I'd originally cut a length of wood into two, symmetrical, wedges. That gave me both fixing wood And a 'Run' on the tin roof. I'm trying desperately to save Weight. Thought a less heavily framed lid could help.



  • #9
    The Continental Op
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,465 ✭✭✭The Continental Op


    How would this do?

    Link

    Untitled Image

    Edit> Or how about making something up like a car bonnet hood pins?

    image.png

    Wake me up when it's all over.



  • #10
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    Damn, that's Close, @The Continental Op !

    Just been down the stables, oiling the thing. (Staring at it. Racking my brain!) I've a mind to grab some of those latches, anyway. Just so nice. And, that fixing? Lends itself, doesn't it? Unfortunately; If ye go back to my photo? See how the ship lap comes up, like a fence? Well, the fixing needs that fence out the way. See? Won't fit. Not on This job.

    Now, those bonnet bolts? (Always wondered what they were all about!) That's far more the sort of lines I was Hoping for. I use those spring clip things on my normal bolts, round here.But, as above, see? Compare the idea to my picture? The actual Bolt component is a permanent fixture. Think about that. Fixed through …..

    No. But, that's much more the sort of concept I was looking for. Ye know, the sort of 'simple, once ye know how' sort of tricks they use, in the Amazon. To make bird traps 'n ting. Sneaky little triggers. Like that.

    Not happening, is it, lads? 🙁 No shame. Decades, I've probably had a passing muse about this. I've never come up with it.

    Oh well 🙂 What's a man to do? Just sent for a new Circular Saw! I'll just have to strip the whole top off, flat. That'll remove that entire Fence, round the top, yeah? Now we have a flat, square frame. 2x2. Plonk an equally flat framed lid On that? Latches have 2" up top and about 3" of sliced off ship lap below.

    I Think that works? Hinges! Hell, yeah! Almost forgot! On This design, because we Have No Fence ~ to retain the lid. We have to add hinges, so then, the Latches hold it Down. That works. My other coop's done similarly.

    Anyone want to talk chickens? All I seem to Do, these days, is mess around trying to make chicken things. They help keep me skint! 😁



  • #11
    Boardnashea
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 935 ✭✭✭Boardnashea


    Just drill a small hole in the side lip and into the lid and pop in a nail to stop it blowing off. Do it on 2 sides.

    A piece of stiff wire, instead of a nail, would allow you to put a ring on one end and keep it from getting lost with a bit of string.

    Fox proof, probably not raccoon proof!



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  • #12
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123477825#Comment_123477825

    Yeah. Was rummaging around with That one, last night, too. Work loose. Then, get tight. Wood reacting to RH.

    Then, I thought of a steel tube, to counter the pressures of the wood? Of course, nothing will 'Hold' in a smooth tube.

    So, we add a Thread. In fact, why not just smack a Screw through? Well, because I'm Not ~ realistically ~going to carry a screw driver and stand there, using it, time and again. People don't.

    See what I mean? 😁It's an absolute stinker. I've wrangled with it much of my life. I reckon it needs one of these " Secret Box Puzzle " things. Know what I'm saying? I reckon the Japanese might have something. I don't! 😂



  • #13
    Boardnashea
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 935 ✭✭✭Boardnashea


    It doesn't have to be tight. A bit of rubber/elastic across the hole would keep it in place



  • #14
    The Continental Op
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,465 ✭✭✭The Continental Op


    The final option is to put a brick on top of it 😀

    Wake me up when it's all over.



  • #15
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    Gentlemen! 😁 When a brick is Not an option …

    Grail.jpg

    THIS is what I need! 😍

    See? Tug. Twist of the wrist. Easier than opening ye front door! That's exactly the sort of dead basic, yet sneaky, 'simple; once ye know how' thing I was looking for / trying to convey 😎

    Now; How in hell am I going to knock up such a thing, usable with wood? 😶

    Principle's there. I'm off to sleep on it. Made progress, today 🙂



  • #16
    The Continental Op
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,465 ✭✭✭The Continental Op


    Go on make it really complicated you know you want to ;-)

    BeeGo Magnetic Safety Locks – 6 Locks & 1 Keys, Child Lock for Kitchen Cupboards, Cabinets & Drawers, Easy Install, No Drills or Tools Needed, Baby Proofing

    Wake me up when it's all over.



  • #17
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    Magnets got me excited there, @The Continental Op

    Advance on Bordnashea's nails. But, I couldn't really make anything of it 😕

    Ye catches, there? Lovely things. Simply nowhere to Put them, on this project. Thus I'm gonna show us all an appreciation shot ~ just flashing off my latest touch of progress 😁(Lid framed and hinged. Vents in)

    Coop.JPG

    More than that though, I've Tried to simplify everything with at least the one, up close and personal shot. I'm hoping Showing the wood forms I need to deal with may be more productive than Typing about them?

    Here then is where I need this Magic Bolt. It needs to sit on the Black face there. A face that's Scalloped at the bottom edge, of course! 😬 And it's 1/2" thick. K?

    Bolt Then has to carry on through the 1" wide White wood. 'Blade of the School Guillotine', if ye will? Point is to Lock that 'blade' fully down.

    Now, apply my Pull / Twist delights to all that? Longer pin. Otherwise? Helluva principle, no?

    Guillotine.JPG

    My finger nail is resting on the 1/2" thickness of the top edge of the Ship Lap. See the whitish line of the edge, 1/4" to the right? It drops 1" there, to the scallop. That's the inch I need to put a bolt through. ('Pin' sounds better.) Pull and Twist would be incredible 🙏



  • #18
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    I've just sent for some 16mm magnets, with holed centres. They even have the little screws 😎

    I've Never stopped ragging This one! 😁



  • #19
    monseiur
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,624 ✭✭✭monseiur


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123491352#Comment_123491352

    That looks more like a beehive that a chicken coop - are you sure you didn't get your blueprints mixed up😂



  • #20
    Stigura
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,632 ✭✭✭Stigura


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123503707#Comment_123503707

    Aha! You may well laugh, Now, Monseiur! I however, am feeling really quite smug! 😁 Today, sir, I actually Tested my scheme with the Magnets! And, would ye believe? I honestly reckon I've Cracked It! 😎

    Yeah, sod it. I forget this Is the DIY board. And that's exactly what I've been talking about. I keep thinking I'm about to get smacked, for going off topic, talking about a chicken box which I'm DIYing. Heh.

    Small though? About two foot square, the box. Yeah. Agreed. If I were talking RIR? I too would be wondering how ye'd ever squeeze more than two in there! 😂 Nah. MEG's. My mental little bantams. Very small. Very upright little birds. Live and breed in these set ups. I'm brooding four, as we speak ~ In a canary cage! 🤣



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