I'm building an entertainment center and want some input before I start
on something that won't work.
Location considerations allow me a size of 48 inches wide and 23 inches
deep. SWMBO requires that the doors retract completely into the case.
My doors would be 24 inches (approximately) and have to retract into a
case that's only 23 deep with 3 to 5 inches being lost to the pocket
door slides....deep breath.... That is unacceptable.
My thought was to make the doors with a piano hinge so they would fold
onto themselves and then only be 12 inches wide. But will this work?
If I fold them in, they won't fold flat because the folding half be
butting into the pocket door slides. If they fold out and flat would
there be clearance to get past the door slides?
Luckily, I haven't started building this yet and I haven't purchased
any door slides. My only solution may be to make the cabinet deeper
but that will take some fancy talking to you know who....
Any help would be appreciated.
Bryan
What about a tambour door (like a roll-top desk, but sideways)? Can
the back of your entertainment center be curved? Rockler and I'm sure
many other places have pre-made tambour doors and individual parts to
make your own.
Alternatively, how high is your entertainment center, and would it work
to use a door that slides back into the top? More like an overhead
garage door, with either a tambour or pocket drawers.
I know these don't directly answer your question, but maybe a totally
different idea could help (if SWMBO approves, of course). Ferinstance:
I've been planning a cedar-lined blanket chest, but also want to use it
as a coffee table, so I didn't want to have the top hinged, but wanted
more storage than drawers would offer. I was having trouble coming up
with a good design in my head, until my SWMBO suggested a door that
lifts up or drops down. Why didn't I think of that? Sometimes I guess
it just takes someone to think outside the box. Or blanket chest, as
the case may be.
Good luck,
Andy
Thanks Andy,
Tambour door crossed my mind but I'm not sure what the size limitations
are. It will be 56 inches high (53 opening) so I don't think a tambour
door would work very well at that size. I suppose this would be easier
if I've ever used pocket door slides or had one to look at.... Maybe I
just need to give Lee Valley a call and order what they tell me I need
and see how it's going to work.
Bryan
I think your first instinct is good but you need to change where the
doors break.
Take the 24" doors and make an 18" and 6" door joined with the piano
hinge. The hinge axis will be on the inside. Then add a magnet catch to
hold the 6" door against the 18" door once it's opened.
This allows you to use standard flipper hiinges/sliders. This also
breaks up the front of the case into 4 pieces but the center 2 are
equal in width to each of the outer pieces. This symmetry might be too
much so you could play with some sketches. Perhaps 15" and 9" to make
the 24 would be a better balance.
Yep. the inset for the hinge is about 2 1/4. Test out the setup on
blank wood before you commit to holes in the door. I just did a set and
it took about 6 tries to get the holes in the right place. The hinges
have some in out and up adjustment screws but they only give you a few
16ths of adjustment so you need to be pretty close with the hinge
location to start.
Bryan,
There was a post this past month where someone showed how he made folding
doors that slide back into the cabinet - exactly what you're doing. In
fact, he showed how to do both types. I don't have the time right now to go
looking back at the posts but if you DAGS using keywords like "folding
doors", and variations, you should be able to find the article. It may have
been pics posted in a.b.p.w.
Bob S.
"DamnYankee" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm building an entertainment center and want some input before I start
> on something that won't work.
>
> Location considerations allow me a size of 48 inches wide and 23 inches
> deep. SWMBO requires that the doors retract completely into the case.
> My doors would be 24 inches (approximately) and have to retract into a
> case that's only 23 deep with 3 to 5 inches being lost to the pocket
> door slides....deep breath.... That is unacceptable.
>
> My thought was to make the doors with a piano hinge so they would fold
> onto themselves and then only be 12 inches wide. But will this work?
> If I fold them in, they won't fold flat because the folding half be
> butting into the pocket door slides. If they fold out and flat would
> there be clearance to get past the door slides?
>
> Luckily, I haven't started building this yet and I haven't purchased
> any door slides. My only solution may be to make the cabinet deeper
> but that will take some fancy talking to you know who....
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Bryan
>
On 15 Oct 2005 07:55:22 -0700, "DamnYankee" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>I'm building an entertainment center and want some input before I start
>on something that won't work.
>
>Location considerations allow me a size of 48 inches wide and 23 inches
>deep. SWMBO requires that the doors retract completely into the case.
>My doors would be 24 inches (approximately) and have to retract into a
>case that's only 23 deep with 3 to 5 inches being lost to the pocket
>door slides....deep breath.... That is unacceptable.
>
>My thought was to make the doors with a piano hinge so they would fold
>onto themselves and then only be 12 inches wide. But will this work?
>If I fold them in, they won't fold flat because the folding half be
>butting into the pocket door slides. If they fold out and flat would
>there be clearance to get past the door slides?
>
>Luckily, I haven't started building this yet and I haven't purchased
>any door slides. My only solution may be to make the cabinet deeper
>but that will take some fancy talking to you know who....
>
>Any help would be appreciated.
>
>Bryan
If this will be a built in, rather than free standing, you can take
the sheetrock off the wall area behind the pockets and let the door
and slides go into the wall cavity.
The top picture on the linked page shows a cabinet that picked up
quite a bit of depth in the center by cutting into the wall behind.
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/page14.htm
Tom Watson - WoodDorker
tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/ (website)
I would think you would need some of the door exposed for the hardware, at
least a couple of inches. I showed an alternative to flipper door hardware
and how to do retracting doors on a TV cabinet I built several years ago .
The post is still on "Alt binaries pictures woodworking " see the post by
Mike Hide ,it might offer some ideas, and it certainly is a more asthetic
solution than the flipper door hardware .....
"DamnYankee" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm building an entertainment center and want some input before I start
> on something that won't work.
>
> Location considerations allow me a size of 48 inches wide and 23 inches
> deep. SWMBO requires that the doors retract completely into the case.
> My doors would be 24 inches (approximately) and have to retract into a
> case that's only 23 deep with 3 to 5 inches being lost to the pocket
> door slides....deep breath.... That is unacceptable.
>
> My thought was to make the doors with a piano hinge so they would fold
> onto themselves and then only be 12 inches wide. But will this work?
> If I fold them in, they won't fold flat because the folding half be
> butting into the pocket door slides. If they fold out and flat would
> there be clearance to get past the door slides?
>
> Luckily, I haven't started building this yet and I haven't purchased
> any door slides. My only solution may be to make the cabinet deeper
> but that will take some fancy talking to you know who....
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Bryan
>