Autolock Hinge or Spring Hinge

bob.bud

Newbie here and I am building a home for a large egg (yet to be purchased). I have come across directions that say the height of the lower shelf should be 17" if you have an autolock hinge or 15" with a springe hinge. Is the autolock hinge an aftermarket hinge, is it an option at purchase, or was it a design change?

DMW

Design change, all are spring hinge now.

bob.bud

Thanks DMW! 

stlcharcoal

Autolock is OLD.....like 15+ yrs.  I forgot about that one.

Before that was an over center type of hinge on both sides that you pulled with the ash tool.  I would just fling the lid open hard enough to get it to hold, but do it too hard and the old single function daisy wheel would go flying.  Of course you were hunched over since the stand only held the Egg 2" off the ground.

Thanks for the memories.

Little Steven

My first was auto lock. Great system till one of your drunken buddies tried to close it

bob.bud

This is how far I have come in two weekends. Purchased the materials on 4/10, started this thread on 4/11, a few interruptions here and there and the table is near completion. I need a few more coats to seal it up, a suitable piece to go in the square hole, and maybe a thinner piece of slate for the egg to rest. And of course, the purchase of a large BGE and the fun begins. That day will mark the end of a god run with my Traeger; however, the Weber Kettle may survive this change. Does anyone out there still use their kettle?

bob.bud

what, my other image did not make it... here it is.

bob.bud

ok... so I find myself challenged with the images

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Don't understand why people go to the trouble to put a paver/stone under the Egg when a simple table nest is all that is needed. Gotta realize some of the table plans out there are over 10 years old back when we had to find a slab of rock to protect tables.  I see this all the time.  Nice work on the table.

caliking

Nice work on the table.  And I still use my Weber kettle grills from time to time. 

bob.bud

@smittythesmoker a table nest will be used with my egg. The stone is there instead of deck all the way across to prevent fires from hot embers that I have read about. $7 for the stone and worth the investment in my book. Paranoid perhaps, but it is done, I cannot remove the stone as there is nothing but supports underneath. Thanks for the comment on the table.

ryantt

Table looks nice, and I agree $7 buys you a lot of fire prevention. 

otter

Yes, still have Webers, and use them once in a while 

JohnnyTarheel

Great looking table....

meat73

Nice job

jtcBoynton

Just in case you haven't seen the old style hinge system:

News2u

News to me, that's for sure. Old hinge system looks rinkie-dink, but none the less seems to have measured up all these years --- if that pile of goodies is any indication.  

fiver29

Here's a picture with the old autolock hinge.  First egg I bought came with the old hinge like above.  I took that off and installed the old autolock pictured below.  Before eventually upgrading the spring assist.

With the autolock you had to manually pull down the yellow handle to release the lock before you could lower it.

bob.bud

Finally, the first burn to play with temp control. I was able to to fire her up and hold temp at 225 for an hour, raised to 250 and held, and climbed my way to 350 stopping at 50 degree increments and held. At 350, I hate to say it, but my wife and daughter snuck something in the egg while I was taking care of things in the garage, and unfortunately, it is the unplanned first cook.

While pigs in a blanket aren't a bad snack to throw back with some brew, I promise to share more worthy cooks.