I decided to do some experimenting with wood I had laying around and found that the egg needs to be raised 8 to 8 1/2" above the lower shelf to allow the hinge mechanism to clear the granite top when the dome is opened.I'm sure glad I didn't make that 5 1/2" high SS box before I put this all together. My egg is raised 8 1/2" as shown. I'm now going to make the SS box 8" high by 14" square and shim to raise box if necessary. All in all I'm very happy with the table but I do wish there was a way to have the egg sit about 2 1/2" lower than it does. At this point the only way I see that happening is if I cut the back side of the granite out to allow the hinge mechanism to clear.