Hidden Bookcase Door

[Jeremy Kargas]

Just wondering if anybody knew of where I could find good some information on building a bookcase that acts a door. I've seen a few examples through google, but nothing that got too in depth. I thought I had seen some information in one of the woodworking magazines, but I can't seem to find it. Thanks in advance.

Jeremy

[Peter Pedisich]

try this...

http://www.garymkatz.com/Charts/pivot-bookcase.htm

[Dave Richards]

You need to find an old haunted house and get a first hand look. :D

I think I've seen something on that kind of door before but I don't know just where. If I can find it, I'll post.

You might see if you can find anything on hinging very heavy doors. Maybe not specifically bookcase related. I expect you'll be looking at pivots top and bottom with thrust bearings taking the load. If the pivot is center front to back on the case, that will make the geometry easier to help you avoid conflicts between case and opening.

Ah, Peter beat me to it. ;)

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I built one that covers a door......

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/hidden/where_is_da_door1.jpg

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/hidden/ta_da1.jpg



http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/full_up.jpg

Don't mind the goof in the pics...........

The biggest thing was to build it in such a way that it is rock solid, so to do that, you are going to need a door frame that is beyond anything you would normally have for a normal door, as a bookcase full of books, is not light.

The bookcase/door itself has to be really well made too, and then you have to decide how it will operate. I cheated and put one caster under my shelf, as it runs on the concrete floor, but if you don't want to do that, then you will have to have some serious hinges.

I built one a while back, as a hidden door, I used a piece of pipe as the hinge bolt, the full length of the bookcase, held in place on top and bottom, as well as three places in between, then the bookcase was mounted onto the pipe. I used a long threaded rod with a turnbuckle to keep the bookcase square, but I think it would still sag a bit over time, which can be removed with the turnbuckle.

basically you have to over engineer just about every aspect of the bookcase/door, but it can be done for sure.

Pics if you give it a go!

Cheers!

[Dave Richards]

Stu, is that door for a safe or an emergency escape in case Godzilla decides to eat Tokyo again? :D

[Jeremy Kargas]

Definitely a Godzilla Panic Room. Someone should definitely market one of those in Tokyo. You never know when Godzilla will strike next! And what kind of a reptile would even think to look behind a bookcase!

Thanks for the replies. My idea was to use the hinges as basically a pivot point only and use casters on the bottom. The one problem I am trying to figure out is how to conceal the hinge. The bookshelf is going to have to be recessed and I'm not quite sure the best way to conceal the hinges would be.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/hidden/ta_da1.jpg



If I decide to rob Stu I'll know where to go.

[Lars Thomas]

I wonder if it could slide out of the way on the heavy duty drawer slides. Tool crib sells some really long ones. This way you wouldn't have the racking issue.

[Chris Padilla]

Jim Tolpin has a book out about Built-in Furniture (sorry, don't recall the exact title) and he shows a pretty good bookcase door but it doesn't really go into much detail about the mechanism except to note that the builder designed something very, very heavy duty (and thus expensive). Still, it was pretty cool!

[Todd Burch]

The best bookcase/door I've seen, and I've seen several, does not pivot or swing, but slides back and forth. No racking issues, no sagging, no weight considerations (worth mentioning), no worries.

Think of it as a pocket door and you are well on your way to designing it in your head.

Todd

[Cory Newman]

I saw some at a recent parade of homes and intend to build one based upon it. It used a full length piano hinge.

try www.decoradoors.com/index.html (http://www.decoradoors.com/index.html)

[Ben Grunow]

Never built one but seen many and all of them were racked or hard to move except the one with the caster to support the end of the cabinet. It made a small amrk on the wood floor so I think the material that the wheel is amde of should be carefully selected and I would use a pivoting caster instead of a fixed one.

I would think that a center pivot instead of a hinge at the edge would make these much easier to move and build. I'm interested since I plan on putting one of these in my house. Maybe a 2" pipe with some brass washers at the bottom the bear the weight and allow rotation. Solid framing attachment points would be a must as well (LVL blocks between joists at bottom and top) to be sure that the bookcase will not move or sag over time. Please post whatever solution you decide on. Thanks. Ben

[Jamie Buxton]

If you want the door to swing, you'll need heavy-duty pivots which carry the weight directly to the floor, not hinges. Pivots are what are used on big doors in retail and commercial buildings; check them out the next time you walk through a glass door into a department store or the like.

Rixson is one of the big names in pivots --- http://www.rixson.com/ . One web site which has some pivots is http://www.hardwaresource.com/Store_ViewCatLevel3.asp?Cat=25 .