NN

"Nonny"

06/07/2010 2:53 PM

MDF door

Sorry about the new thread, but I marked the thread as read and
then decided to reply. In a previous home, I had a 42" doorway 8'
tall between a storage room and my garage. I wanted the large
opening to move equipment in and out easily and had no intention
to pay "whatever" a commercial door would cost. I made my own
door using 2 sheets of birch faced high density board, together
with a single sheet of MDO in the middle. The door was thus
2-1/4" thick. For interest, I routed in, using a 3/8" veining
bit, detail that simulated a 5-panel door.

My concern was the strength of the particle board material when it
came to holding the hinges I felt I needed. To solve this, I
stood the door upright on my table saw <shudder> and my neighbor
and I used the blade fully extended to cut a kerf in the center of
the hinge edge of the door. I centered the kerf and inserted a
full length piece of 3" wide, 1/8" thick steel, screwing it fast
from the store room side in probably 20 locations along the door.
Then, I used overlay (gate-type) hinges to hang the door, bolting
through the door and its steel insert.

The rest was just typical addition of hardware, using an extended
rod between the knobs.

Nonny

--
On most days,
it's just not worth
the effort of chewing
through the restraints..


This topic has 2 replies

GR

Gerald Ross

in reply to "Nonny" on 06/07/2010 2:53 PM

06/07/2010 6:14 PM

Nonny wrote:
> Sorry about the new thread, but I marked the thread as read and
> then decided to reply. In a previous home, I had a 42" doorway 8'
> tall between a storage room and my garage. I wanted the large
> opening to move equipment in and out easily and had no intention
> to pay "whatever" a commercial door would cost. I made my own
> door using 2 sheets of birch faced high density board, together
> with a single sheet of MDO in the middle. The door was thus
> 2-1/4" thick. For interest, I routed in, using a 3/8" veining
> bit, detail that simulated a 5-panel door.
>
> My concern was the strength of the particle board material when it
> came to holding the hinges I felt I needed. To solve this, I
> stood the door upright on my table saw<shudder> and my neighbor
> and I used the blade fully extended to cut a kerf in the center of
> the hinge edge of the door. I centered the kerf and inserted a
> full length piece of 3" wide, 1/8" thick steel, screwing it fast
> from the store room side in probably 20 locations along the door.
> Then, I used overlay (gate-type) hinges to hang the door, bolting
> through the door and its steel insert.
>
> The rest was just typical addition of hardware, using an extended
> rod between the knobs.
>
> Nonny
>
Sounds like a heavy door. I once made a couple of hollow core doors
using 1x frame between two sheets of thin plywood. They were still in
good shape when I moved 3 years later.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

I'm here to question all your answers.




Rc

Robatoy

in reply to "Nonny" on 06/07/2010 2:53 PM

06/07/2010 3:23 PM

On Jul 6, 6:14=A0pm, Gerald Ross <[email protected]> wrote:
> Nonny wrote:
> > Sorry about the new thread, but I marked the thread as read and
> > then decided to reply. =A0In a previous home, I had a 42" doorway 8'
> > tall between a storage room and my garage. =A0I wanted the large
> > opening to move equipment in and out easily and had no intention
> > to pay "whatever" a commercial door would cost. =A0I made my own
> > door using 2 sheets of birch faced high density board, together
> > with a single sheet of MDO in the middle. =A0The door was thus
> > 2-1/4" thick. =A0For interest, I routed in, using a 3/8" veining
> > bit, detail that simulated a 5-panel door.
>
> > My concern was the strength of the particle board material when it
> > came to holding the hinges I felt I needed. =A0To solve this, I
> > stood the door upright on my table saw<shudder> =A0and my neighbor
> > and I used the blade fully extended to cut a kerf in the center of
> > the hinge edge of the door. =A0I centered the kerf and inserted a
> > full length piece of 3" wide, 1/8" thick steel, screwing it fast
> > from the store room side in probably 20 locations along the door.
> > Then, I used overlay (gate-type) hinges to hang the door, bolting
> > through the door and its steel insert.
>
> > The rest was just typical addition of hardware, using an extended
> > rod between the knobs.
>
> > Nonny
>
> Sounds like a heavy door. =A0I once made a couple of hollow core doors
> using 1x frame between two sheets of thin plywood. They were still in
> good shape when I moved 3 years later.
>


Yup, and if you play your cards right, you can fill the voids with
extruded Styrofoam adding rigidity when the panels are glued with the
appropriate adhesives. The door would become a torsion box. Very
stable.


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