Thanks for the suggestions - they were great & have given me second thoughts about the design. I was at one time leaning towards a lift tray but couldn't quite get myself there as the support tray concept was "sexy" and I was thinking of the wow factor. Simpler is better, plus it's easier and less costly. You guys have convinced me - thanks.
It just makes much more sense to use the manual lift tray, plus not having such expensive hardware is a more acceptable option for me. I like quadrant hinges and will use those, or perhaps (3) butt hinges, along with a nice lock - a feature that really is important to her. I'm thinking a box that is 12"W x 9"D x 8"H (don't know if this proportion fits the standard guidelines or not). The height should allow for a small recess in the cover for a mirror and the depth should allow a 5" deep tray to allow her to see the bulk of her items below & to grasp one near the front without having to lift the tray, whereas she will lift it to access the items in the rear.
Fred, I like the idea of resting the tray on pins - easy & clean appearance. Plus I won't need a blind groove for the tray support on each side of the box.
I'm planning on using quadrant hinges as I think the length of the hinge will provide better support front to back.
Mike that is a great tutorial - very impressive indeed! You should publish that, if you haven't already. I am book marking this for future reference. I was going to print this, but 53 pages was a bit long to print.
I have made perhaps a only a dozen boxes, starting with band saw boxes then "graduating" to hinged boxes. They managed to come out well and I enjoyed making them. As a hobbyist I prefer smaller projects that don't last too long and don't require more than 2-3-4 at a time. My impatience with repetition drives me towards new projects.
I think one of my favorite boxes was an 8-sided design in which I used a bird's mouth router bit that worked well for these joints - very durable. For this box I'm going to use a miter lock router bit (haven't used before) thinking that will provide a stronger joint than a regular miter joint. In the past I've used splines to strengthen miter joints, but think I won't have to with the miter lock joint.