The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING

SLIDING FLUSH DOORS (WOOD)

Sliding actions for light flush doors suitable for sideboards, free-standing cupboards, etc. are shown in 233. The doors are usually composed of laminboard, particle board, etc. edged with hardwood all round (the top and bottom edging can sometimes be omitted in laminboard without detriment) and face veneered in the usual way. Figure 233:1 shows a two-door layout, 233:2, 3 alternative placings for three doors and 233:4 four doors; the arrows give the direction of travel. It will be noticed that in every case the doors overlap by the minimum amount necessary, from 3/4 in (19 mm) to 1 in (25 mm), otherwise the openings to the cupboards are restricted; while the gap between the doors in the thickness is kept as fine as the type of track and the projection of whatever handles are chosen will allow. Grooves about 3/16 in (5 mm) deep are also cut in the carcass sides to receive each door in its closed position, but these are often omitted in cheaper work. The layout for this type of door should be done full size, and the open and closed position of the doors carefully studied. In 233:1 the doors are equal in width, but the edge of the front door does not line up with the centre of the carcass. If the width of this door is made equal to the opening beside it then the the rear door will be correspondingly larger, which will automatical­ly restrict the cupboard opening. In practice, the unequal appearance of 233:1 in a fairly long carcass is not noticeable with fairly quiet straight-grained face veneers, but might pose problems with very ornamental veneers, and a compromise will have to be made. Additional­ly, the position and projection of the handles will have to be watched. In light free-running doors it hardly matters if the rear door is masked by the front door in the open position, for the rear door can still be moved with light pressure of the finger-tips, but the handle-grips must be unobstructed in heavy doors. Buffer stops may also have to be fitted for very heavy doors otherwise pinched fingers may result.

SLIDING ACTIONS

Various sliding actions are illustrated. Figures 233:5, 6 show the standard fibre track composed of a strip (A) and a nylon or plastic slider, two of which are mortised up into each door groove. The door tops can be held in position with lengths of fibre track or hardwood strip fed into the grooves. The rear track is fitted first, fed in with the door in position and lightly pinned, followed by the front door. Figures 233:7, 8, 9 show an improved method which slides more easily as it is top hung. Two forms of slider,

2

4

3

233:7A mortise, and 233:7B face fixing, are shown, also two forms of top channel (233:8). The door bottoms are held in position by nylon studs (233:9) located in the centre of the carcass opening, and leaving a flush floor surface. Other methods are shown in 234. In 234:1 the doors are tongued to slide in grooves with sufficient extra length in the top tongue for it to be lifted up and dropped down into the bottom groove. Figure 234:2 uses hardwood strips in lieu of fibre track, 234:3 plastic or metal plates screwed on at the back of each door; 234:4 the section of another type of plastic plate rounded at the tip for easy travel. Pivot pins which are recessed into the door thickness and also slide in grooves are shown in 234:5, with 234:5A a spring type in which the pin is depressed and clicks into position and is intended as a semi­permanent fixture, and 234:5B with a projecting lug which enables the pin to be depressed, thus releasing the door from its groove. A pivot bolt which works on the same principle is shown at the top of 234:6, together with a plastic slider which rides over the base track without the necessity of mortising in the slider as in 234:6. Other uses for pivot pins and bolts are shown in 234:7 and 7A, which illustrate a concertina door with pivots top and bottom sliding in grooves in the carcass, and the separate leaves linked with brass piano hinges, and in 234:8, which shows a lift-up sliding flap. An enlarged detail 234:8A shows the pivot pin mounted on the carcass sides, engaging in grooves in the flap. In the inset (234:8B) two pivots either side are used, preventing any side rock as the flap is raised up. The grooves for the pivots must be stopped at the top and the flaps slid in from the back of the carcass.