Dinette Seat Locker Hinge

In order to get a clear view into the dinette seat lockers I need to remove the seat back cushion, then the seat cushion.

Then I can remove the wooden locker cover.

Sometimes however, I'd rather just reach under the seat and force the wooden cover up into the seat cushion - then wrestle into the locker to get what I want. The trouble with the latter method is that the wooden cover is a tight flange fit into the opening. It's next to impossible to get the cover centered properly over the opening because pulling it up disorients it's position.

So I decided that even though it was trouble and expense, I'd put hinges on the covers so I didn't have to center them when putting them back down. Of course one doesn't want bulgy hinges under the cushion so off I went to the hardware store to see what my options were. The visit to the store was not conclusive. I'd have to go back to the boat and re-evaluate the options.

To get a better feel for the geometry of the hinge action I used a couple pieces of duct tape where I was planning to mount the hinges. Those didn't stick well enough to get a feeling for how the hinge would act, so I ran a long strip of duct tape along the side, 1/2 on the wooden top and 1/2 on the hatch opening.

This 'temporary' hinge has been in place for 3 years.

And I'm not the least bit inspired to replace the duct tape with anything more permanent.