Sliding door cabinet- need tips!

[wreckwriter]

I need to build a cabinet, very simple, to cover an existing chest of drawers. Since its just a cover it won't have a bottom, will be lifted onto the chest of drawers. The main purpose of this is to cover the old but servicable drawers and provide a bit of extra surface for laundry folding. It will live outdoors but under cover, protected from rain and sun.

I built a cover for the water heater previously and plan to use a similar design for this; 2x2 white wood frame, 1/4" beadboard plywood for the sides and 3/4 ply for the top. Whole thing will be primed and painted.

My question involves the front of the unit. I would like to use sliding doors, sliding both to one side will give access to drawers on one side, and vice-versa. I'm not sure exactly how to do it though.

Can I simply cut or route slots in the upper and lower 2x2s and stick the doors in between? If so, should I use a router or a dado stack? I have both but have not yet used either....

I'm thinking to use 1/4" plybead for the doors, simple finger holes for sliding them. Allowing for primer and topcoat latex, how wide do I need the slots to be? 3/8"?

Thanks for any tips.

[RayintheUK]

I would like to use sliding doors, sliding both to one side will give access to drawers on one side, and vice-versa. I'm not sure exactly how to do it though.

Can I simply cut or route slots in the upper and lower 2x2s and stick the doors in between? If so, should I use a router or a dado stack? I have both but have not yet used either....

I'm thinking to use 1/4" plybead for the doors, simple finger holes for sliding them. Allowing for primer and topcoat latex, how wide do I need the slots to be? 3/8"?

Thanks for any tips.

You certainly can rout or dado channels in the 2x2s, but don't forget to rout the top one deeper so that the doors can be inserted enough to clear the bottom 2x2 then locate in the bottom channel without falling out of the top one. The fragile part of the construction will be the wood remaining between the two parallel channels - if that gets broken, the doors will become real sloppy.

Over here, you can buy ready-made upper and lower channels for screwing to the upper and lower rails, both in metal and extruded plastic. Perhaps you can get some over there? It would certainly make the job easier. The plastic alternative would probably be better for an outdoor situation.

Regarding the width of the slots, I would think that the paint is only going to add thousands of an inch (unless you're really slapping it on with a 6" brush!), so 5/16" should be ample. A little candle wax along the bottom edge when dry will work wonders too. See what ready-made channel is available, then get the door material to match those - even quicker! HTH

Ray.

[wreckwriter]

Thanks Ray. You mean like this stuff: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=228013 , right? It just screws on I take it?

I see Rockler has them in wood. That might be nicer: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?O...GDGLDADADADBDB

[LarryG]

I should probably begin by noting that I don't much like sliding doors, whether on cabinets or closets. They never seem to work quite right and I don't like the look of having one leaf forward of the other.

That said, Ray has pointed out most of the pros, cons, and caveats.

Although it would require modifying your design, if there's sufficient clearance on both the left and right side of the cabinet, you could make the door one large panel and have only one track groove. To access the drawers on one side, you'd slide the panel so that half of it is hanging out in the breeze and half of it is still in the track, covering the drawer stack you're NOT trying to get into. Simple to build, simple to use. Of course you will be able to see the edges of the door panel, and the ends of the tracks grooves; that may or may not be acceptable to you.

[wreckwriter]

Sliding isn't my favorite either but for the intended use it seems to fit best. I considered hinges but was concerned about sag since the wood will be thin. I would also have to create some sort of catch in the middle. I think the sliders will be the simplist thing to build and use without as many future worries.

The single sliding door won't work due to side clearances with a wall and with the water heater.

At this point I'm thinking to go with the wood track from Rockler unless there's a reason the plastic would be significantly better. Since they're Maple they'll surely outlast the white wood and plywood that the rest will be made of and I'll be able to paint them to match (other than the insides of the tracks themselves).

[RayintheUK]

Thanks Ray. You mean like this stuff: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=228013 , right? It just screws on I take it?

I see Rockler has them in wood. That might be nicer

Yep, that's the stuff I referred to. The hardwood is nicer (and the picture is the right way up - the plastic is shown upside down!) and should be fine for the use you intend.

Ray.

[wreckwriter]

Yep, that's the stuff I referred to. The hardwood is nicer (and the picture is the right way up - the plastic is shown upside down!) and should be fine for the use you intend.

Ray.

Thanks Ray. I think I'll order up a set of the wooden ones. They're pricier but nicer and I trust Rockler to ship fast. The plastic ones aren't sold by amazon but by an affiliate store.

[gmack5]

My concern would be with humididty in the Air affecting the dimensions of your tracks!
With the Plastic ones, that would not be a problem.
Besides, they're less than 1/2 the price!

I'd use "Tempered" Hardboard for the Doors, smooth both sides, sealed and painted to suit yourself.
Just remember to put a small rounded surface on each bottom corner to keep the door from trying to dig into the track.

You must also be aware that the track must be absolutely clear of any dirt that would affect the sliding action.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rockler had the plastic ones as well as the wood ones, think I'd check before making your final descision.

[wreckwriter]

Thanks for the tips. The humidity concern is legit, I hadn't thought of that. Rockler does have plastic tracks but only in 4' length, not sure if that's long enough (yea, need to measure but still in planning stage).

I'm not familiar with "tempered hardboard". Is there another name?

[gmack5]

I'm not familiar with "tempered hardboard". Is there another name?

Hardboard is the "generic" name for a product called "Masonite", but because the manufacturing organization was sold to another firm and the original company still holds the copy-right on the word "Masonite", we now call it "Hardboard".

There are two different kinds of Hardboard, one is smooth on one side and looks like it was dried on a screen door on the other side.

The other one is smooth on BOTH sides (no screen doors). And there are two different types of Hardboard, tempered and untempered and two different thickneses, 1/8" and 1/4".

The untempered stuff is not good for use outside, the tempered is often used to make "Jigs and Templates" and other Woodworking stuff

I'm sure this is a lot more than you wanted to know about Hardboard, but I couldn't help myself.

[wreckwriter]

Great info! Thanks much

[jabe]

Aloha all,

Check out Woodworker's Hardware; www.woodworkershardware.com
They have a great selection and usually cheaper than Rockler. They have a good selection of sliding door hardware. I just purchased some for my present job, sliding doors on one of the cabinets was requested by my customer. The ones I bought, the upper & lower guide/runners need to be inserted into a 35mm holes. I'm building faceless Euro style cabinets and I do have a Blum hinge boring /press machine to make the 35mm holes. A drill press can do the job or you can buy a Euro-drill Concealed-hinge Boring tool model 100-B from McFeelys. I used this Euro-Drill tool b4 getting the Blum machine.
Like most of members, I rather not use sliding doors on cabinets.

[wreckwriter]

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

[wreckwriter]

OK, I went with the plastic tracks. What's the best way to attach them? There's no room for screws or even nails so I figure it has to be glue. What would work well for plastic to wood? Perhaps Cyanoacrylate?