Hidden Door Bookcase - New Project

[am_monkee]

Also, you better dag gone well make it so that a certain book pulled out partially disengages the latch mechanism. Otherwise, you are wasting your time.

I disagree.  A bust of Shakespeare would be equally as good for the purpose.  Bonus points if it's this one:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1523/433/1600/batman.jpg

oh my god! shakespeare had a tracheotomy!

[AtomSmasher]

I'm definately planning on having the door open by pulling or pushing on a book, its pretty much a given for this type of thing.

I just received the two hinges I bought off ebay and they are beasts.  I can't imagine 4 of them will have a problem with the weight of the door.  I think I'm going to have some free time tommorrow, so I'm going to try and rig something up with scrapwood to see how much clearance will be needed for my door to swing open.

[flyguy1821]

If there is room, what about a piece of engineered lumber?  Much stronger than a 2x4 or 2x6.  Obviously engineered lumber is typically used on edge instead of I-beams but I have a workbench with 2 - 12 inch x 2 inch pieces and it is incredible. 

[Kremmit]

I always wanted to do this, too.  You rock for actually doing it! 

A kid I knew had a little, half-height door installed on the back wall of his closet, leading to the closet in the little brother's room.  Boy, did I ever think that was the coolest thing.

[flyguy1821]

I wonder if Michael Jackson used this same concept for his hidden door?

[AtomSmasher]

I have no idea what engineered lumber is, but I'll look into it and anyone else with any opinions on it, let me know what you think.  Reading up on door jams, it looks like there already should be two 2x4's in the door frame, so I think if I just add 1'' thick piece of plywood (actually two 1/2'' pieces) for added support along the side, top, and bottom, it should hold just fine.  Since the hinge is only recessed 2 inches, it will go through the plywood and partway through one 2x4 and should have the other 2x4 behind it, which won't be touched by the hinge, for added support.  I think that will be enough to hold it.

I'm also going to use two pieces of 3/4'' and one piece of 1/2'' plywood on the inside part of the bookcase so that it will be 2'' thick for the hinges and more then strong enough to prevent warping.

In my last post I mentioned building a test "door" out of scrap wood to see how much clearance would be needed.  I did do that a little while ago (basically installed a hinge in two 2x4 pieces, then a piece a wood sticking out that is what I expected the bookcase width to be and another piece on the end of that of what I think the depth will be, I can post a picture if thats confusing and you really want to know), and it looks like it will need around 1 1/2'' of clearance to swing open (I haven't measured exactly how much it will need yet, but I will before I start cutting any wood).  It's a little more then I hoped, but it should work out fine.

I'm also thinking I'm going to scrap the idea of adding cabinet doors to the bottom half of the bookcase.  Frankly I just don't trust my woodworking skills to make cabinet doors, and I don't know any place where you can buy custom sized unstained cabinet doors without it being too expensive.  I think a regular bookcase will look fine anyways.

I was hoping to go buy the wood for this project this weekend, but I seem to be coming down with a fever, so it will depend on how I feel.  Seems things keep popping up to keep me from getting going with this.  Last weekend I had to spend building a webpage and writing an on online ordering program for my business.  It wasn't difficult, it was just time consuming since I haven't programed in a couple years and never worked much with html or cgi, so I had to learn how to do it first.  Good news is our clients love it and we're already getting more business because of it 

I think I'm rambling now, but I have a fever so cut me a little slack   

[flyguy1821]

http://www.lpcorp.com/lvl/lvl.aspx


link for engineered lumber or LVL.  To get to the basics it is like plywood on steroids.  It is very dense and super strong.  Like I eluded to in my previous message many builders will use LVL to support loads in houses instead of the typical metal I-beam.   Although it is installed on its side and not flat.  I will say price can be a scary factor.  If interested check the local home improvement Store. 

[AtomSmasher]

I went and picked up some wood today, one 3/4'' sheet and one 1/4'' sheet of oak plywood.  Unfortunately they didn't have any 1/2'' sheets, but a 1/4'' sheet should still work for my purposes.  I know I will need at least one more 3/4'' sheet before I finish this, but at $40 a pop I decided to buy it when I need it. 

I'll spend the next week figuring out the plans and exactly what I will need to cut.  This will be a slow going project and most of the work will happen on the weekends, but even at a slow pace, it will get done.

[AtomSmasher]

Just thought I'd give an update.  I've now cut out most of the pieces that I will be using.  I have also glued together several pieces to make the 2'' beam which will be on the inside edge of the bookcase.  My next step will be cutting the holes in the beam for the hinges, which I will hopefully get to do this weekend.  Once that is done, I will assemble the bookcase, which shouldn't take long, and then I will need to start working on the door frame itself.  This will probably be my last free weekend for a while, so it will still be a while before I complete it, but at least I'm making progress.

[Nannuu]

Different from yours but it might give you some ideas if you aren't already too far along.

http://www.instructables.com/id/E4Z8XHRF1A4XXOA/?ALLSTEPS

[AtomSmasher]

Different from yours but it might give you some ideas if you aren't already too far along.

http://www.instructables.com/id/E4Z8XHRF1A4XXOA/?ALLSTEPS

If I had the room, I would of built a large bookcase like that with the middle swinging out, unfortunately I couldn't find a place to do it, which is why I decided to go with a door replacement.  Nice find though, its always good to have plenty of examples to refer to.

Unfortunately, I ended up not getting anything done on the project this past weekend, my brother-in-law (who is a plumber for the county) had the weekend free, so he came over and helped me install sprinklers in my back yard.

[myntik1]

Just wondering if anything happened with this project?

[AtomSmasher]

Well yes and no.

The bookcase is basically built and has been sitting in my garage for a while, although it still needs to be sanded and stained.  I got stuck trying to figure out how to get the molding to look good on the side with the hinges, and I set the project aside telling myself I'll eventually come back and finish it. 

I think I know how to make it work now and have been meaning to work on this again, but I keep setting it to the side and working on other things.  Cutting into the beams on the door frame around where I'll be installing this makes me nervous, which I think is why my subconscience keeps getting me to finish other projects first.

I still plan on finishing it at some point.

[ChadTower]

Just read through it... of all of the suggestions for reinforcing the stud, why wood?  Why not reinforce with metal?  You can easily attach properly rated hinges to a metal plate and have no problems supporting hundreds of pounds.

[chuckcom]

    Just found you and I know of a company here in Santa Cruz that manufactures the hardware for a hidden door with provision for well over 500 lbs. of books. It is called Reversica and you can check it out at .

[AtomSmasher]

    Just found you and I know of a company here in Santa Cruz that manufactures the hardware for a hidden door with provision for well over 500 lbs. of books. It is called Reversica and you can check it out at  .

Holy crap that is awesome.  I may request a quote for the hinge, but I'm betting its well out of my price range.

[shmokes]

http://www.hiddenpassageway.com/
http://www.woodfold.com/bookcase/residential.php