[DonVoigt]

Rich,
All good and true points.
Just a couple ideas.
-you can mill a common piano hinge to make it more narrow, you have the machine! And you will have to mill relief for the hinge to fit flat.
-the home supply stores around here have very nice oak boards in all sizes- and well cured.
-look for an old hardwood table leaf, at a yard sale or where ever

I've not yet found a latch that didn't look "chintzy", still looking.