Bi pass cabinet doors hardware or track

[Craig D Peltier]

What do I use? I have seen track that comes in 4 and 6 foot. Is that all I need?
Also is 3/4 too thick for the door frame with a 1/4 panel inside or should I use 1/2 hard maple with the 1/4 panel.
Its for a bookcase, the doors are about 24 wide and 15 inch tall. Theres two doors.

Thanks

[Mark Rios]

3/4" will work fine. You should be able to buy a bypass track kit at one of the BORG's and cut it down to fit.

Make sure you show us pics of your project. :D

[Paul Girouard]

#2: What do I use?

#3: I have seen track that comes in 4 and 6 foot. Is that all I need?


#4: Also is 3/4 too thick for the door frame with a 1/4 panel inside or

#5: should I use 1/2 hard maple with the 1/4 panel.

#1: Its for a bookcase, the doors are about 24 wide and 15 inch tall. Theres two doors.

Thanks

#1: So your doors will be what 12 1/2" or so wide?

I think I'd use swinging doors , hinged doors , so you could accually get at the books . 12" to view , reach in , etc is pretty small.

#2: Hard way to start the post , eh? Maybe #5 should have been #1?

#3: Sure you'd need two each 2' lenghts IF the track is for bia-pass doors.

#4: It may be it depends on the track and how you detailthe doors for the track and how the track is designed .

#5: Depends on alot of things your not telling us.

If the Queen had balls she'd be King eh:rolleyes:

[Craig D Peltier]

#1: So your doors will be what 12 1/2" or so wide?

I think I'd use swinging doors , hinged doors , so you could accually get at the books . 12" to view , reach in , etc is pretty small.

#2: Hard way to start the post , eh? Maybe #5 should have been #1?

#3: Sure you'd need two each 2' lenghts IF the track is for bia-pass doors.

#4: It may be it depends on the track and how you detailthe doors for the track and how the track is designed .

#5: Depends on alot of things your not telling us.

If the Queen had balls she'd be King eh:rolleyes:

Each door is 24 inch.
Very simple, bi pass doors. No swinging.No books. Just a simple question.

There is a couch in the way , its just to store laptop case and laptop sometimes. So sliding is the only way.
Not very helpful tonight huh? Just alot of criticism. THX

[Craig D Peltier]

3/4" will work fine. You should be able to buy a bypass track kit at one of the BORG's and cut it down to fit.

Make sure you show us pics of your project. :D

Thanks Mark, I was just wondering if there was other hardware besides two plastic tracks that the doors fit into.
I guess I will find the right track and make doors accordingly.

[Paul Girouard]

Each door is 24 inch.
Very simple, bi pass doors. No swinging.No books. Just a simple question.

There is a couch in the way , its just to store laptop case and laptop sometimes. So sliding is the only way.
Not very helpful tonight huh? Just alot of criticism. THX

I read your question wrong , eh it happens :o

And some of it was helpful, most of the door thickness will be answered by the track you find or design around. The 1/2" would look and be lighter , so I'd look for track that would work with 1/2" thickness door frames.

[Paul Girouard]

Thanks Mark, I was just wondering if there was other hardware besides two plastic tracks that the doors fit into.
I guess I will find the right track and make doors accordingly.


Theres lots of track out there google U.S. Industrial Fasteners of Arizona, Inc. a cabinet supply house that will sell to the general public. They where helpful when I was in Az. on vacation and told me they had no problem with shipping to me in Washington state .

Good luck.

[Charlie Plesums]

My alarm went off on 2 - 24 inch doors, implying a shelf that is near 4 feet long. If it is well supported, fine, but I won't make an ordinary adjustable shelf that long.

[Craig D Peltier]

My alarm went off on 2 - 24 inch doors, implying a shelf that is near 4 feet long. If it is well supported, fine, but I won't make an ordinary adjustable shelf that long.

Thanks, no its a solid maple shelve dadoed and glued in. Bookshelve is 58 wide with center divider.

[Jamie Buxton]

Why are you buying track? Make it yourself. It is a few passes on a tablesaw with a dado blade, or with a router and an edge guide. If you make it yourself, it is the same species as the rest of the cabinet. The grooves may even be made in a piece of wood which also is part of the structure of the box. You also get to decide the groove dimensions to fit your door size.

[Jamie Buxton]

The sketch below shows a cross-section through what I think of when you say bi-pass cabinet doors. Is this what you mean? If so, there's no need to buy track. There's two doors shown. They fit into grooves cut in the bottom and top of the cabinet. Notice that the upper grooves are taller than the doors. You install the door by sliding the top edge up into the upper groove, and then drop it down into the lower grooves.

[Craig D Peltier]

The sketch below shows a cross-section through what I think of when you say bi-pass cabinet doors. Is this what you mean? If so, there's no need to buy track. There's two doors shown. They fit into grooves cut in the bottom and top of the cabinet. Notice that the upper grooves are taller than the doors. You install the door by sliding the top edge up into the upper groove, and then drop it down into the lower grooves.
Thanks, how do you make them slide smoothly? The cabinet bottom will be plywood.The top of the door will ride under hard maple. So I guess I could make some maple boards maybe 2 inch wide, leave a gap about 1/4 in middle or less , then dadoe. How deep minimum in bottom you think 3/8 tack and glue them in. Maybe rub a little beeswax on doors and in track. Sound like it will work. Doors are only 15 inches tall.

[Kevin Groenke]

I am at the moment sitting next to a pair of 21"w x 42"h x 1"d bypass doors with true divided lights. These are constructed almost exactly as Jamie outlined/diagrammed. I can post some detail pics if it helps.

The doors are rabbeted top and bottom so the dados are only 1/2 the width of the door thickness, this allows for minimizing the gap between the doors. The top dados are ~1/4" deep, the bottom only 1/8" deep in order to minimize the amount that the door has to "raise and drop" to be installed/removed. Wax alone would probably be sufficient, but I put strips of UHMW tape on the bottom of the doors to facilitate sliding (these doors slide VERY smoothly and easily) There are also wheels/glides that can be applied to or mortised into the bottom of the doors, but I don't think they would be necessary unless you've got a really heavy door. I don't know that it's important, but as I built these, the only contact area at the bottom of the doors is actually on the TOP of the faceframe, rather than in the bottom of the groove. I think I figured it would slide better and be less likely to rack and bind this way.

Stick to hardwoods for the doors and tracks, The tracks on mine are basically a faceframe applied to a plywood carcass.

I use UHMW tape for all kinds of stuff, mcmaster carr is the most amazing outfit/catalog on the planet.

Strong and Slippery UHMW Polyethylene Tape
http://www.mcmaster.com/
catalog page 3328
# 76445A761 -or similar

skip the hardware, much more elegant without

g'luck
-kg

[Craig D Peltier]

I am at the moment sitting next to a pair of 21"w x 42"h x 1"d bypass doors with true divided lights. These are constructed almost exactly as Jamie outlined/diagrammed. I can post some detail pics if it helps.

The doors are rabbeted top and bottom so the dados are only 1/2 the width of the door thickness, this allows for minimizing the gap between the doors. The top dados are ~1/4" deep, the bottom only 1/8" deep in order to minimize the amount that the door has to "raise and drop" to be installed/removed. Wax alone would probably be sufficient, but I put strips of UHMW tape on the bottom of the doors to facilitate sliding (these doors slide VERY smoothly and easily) There are also wheels/glides that can be applied to or mortised into the bottom of the doors, but I don't think they would be necessary unless you've got a really heavy door. I don't know that it's important, but as I built these, the only contact area at the bottom of the doors is actually on the TOP of the faceframe, rather than in the bottom of the groove. I think I figured it would slide better and be less likely to rack and bind this way.

Stick to hardwoods for the doors and tracks, The tracks on mine are basically a faceframe applied to a plywood carcass.

I use UHMW tape for all kinds of stuff, mcmaster carr is the most amazing outfit/catalog on the planet.

Strong and Slippery UHMW Polyethylene Tape
http://www.mcmaster.com/
catalog page 3328
# 76445A761 -or similar

skip the hardware, much more elegant without

g'luck
-kg

Thanks for all that info. I like the rabbett idea. Where you said the contact isnt in the bottom of groove at all but only the the top of frame? What do you mean? How did you manage that.

Thanks

[Kevin Groenke]

What I meant is that weight of the door is carried by the top surface of the bottom face frame rather than the bottom of the dado.

Notice in the attached illustration that the doors do not extend all the way to the bottom of the dado, the weight of the door is carried by the white UHMW strip and the dado serves only as a guide.

[Jamie Buxton]

What I meant is that weight of the door is carried by the top surface of the bottom face frame rather than the bottom of the dado.

Notice in the attached illustration that the doors do not extend all the way to the bottom of the dado, the weight of the door is carried by the white UHMW strip and the dado serves only as a guide.

It seems to me to be a drawback that the front strip of plastic is visible when the doors are closed. If instead you put it down in the bottom of the dado, it would serve the same purpose and be less obvious. If you make the dado deeper than your illustration, it gets a long way out of sight.
And, of course, if you let the bearing surfaces be hardwood, there's no issue about visibility.

[Kevin Groenke]

The UHMW tape is translucent plastic only .0065" thick and is applied to the bottom of the door, so it isn't visible unless I take the door out and flip it over.:p I don't recall exactly why I was disinclined to let the doors slide in the bottom of the dado, but accumulated dust/dirt and grime impeding easy movement seems like a good excuse at the moment.

kg

[Jamie Buxton]

The UHMW tape is translucent plastic only .0065" thick and is applied to the bottom of the door, so it isn't visible unless I take the door out and flip it over.:p I don't recall exactly why I was disinclined to let the doors slide in the bottom of the dado, but accumulated dust/dirt and grime impeding easy movement seems like a good excuse at the moment.

kg

Ah. I misunderstood the tape to be stuck to the carcass, not the door.

[Gary Muto]

I am at the moment sitting next to a pair of 21"w x 42"h x 1"d bypass doors with true divided lights. These are constructed almost exactly as Jamie outlined/diagrammed. I can post some detail pics if it helps.

The doors are rabbeted top and bottom so the dados are only 1/2 the width of the door thickness, this allows for minimizing the gap between the doors. The top dados are ~1/4" deep, the bottom only 1/8" deep in order to minimize the amount that the door has to "raise and drop" to be installed/removed. Wax alone would probably be sufficient, but I put strips of UHMW tape on the bottom of the doors to facilitate sliding (these doors slide VERY smoothly and easily) There are also wheels/glides that can be applied to or mortised into the bottom of the doors, but I don't think they would be necessary unless you've got a really heavy door. I don't know that it's important, but as I built these, the only contact area at the bottom of the doors is actually on the TOP of the faceframe, rather than in the bottom of the groove. I think I figured it would slide better and be less likely to rack and bind this way.

Stick to hardwoods for the doors and tracks, The tracks on mine are basically a faceframe applied to a plywood carcass.

I use UHMW tape for all kinds of stuff, mcmaster carr is the most amazing outfit/catalog on the planet.

Strong and Slippery UHMW Polyethylene Tape
http://www.mcmaster.com/
catalog page 3328
# 76445A761 -or similar

skip the hardware, much more elegant without

g'luck
-kg
That's really nice work.
I've seen some China cabinets that use sliding doors but have been biased toward hinged doors. This discussion makes me rethink that.
Thanks for the photo and info.