Secret Book Shelf Door

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mcluma
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Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by mcluma »

Secret Book Shelf Door

My wife bought about 2 years ago these double secret bookshelf doors. They were originally to be fitted as access doors to our library. We later decided against this, due to the fact we wanted more light into our hallway and changed the design that all the doors leading off the hall ways are to be double doors with glass panels, which meant we weren’t going to use these doors in their intended place
The doors in question

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Doors1 by mcluma, on Flickr
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Doors3 by mcluma, on Flickr
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Doors4 by mcluma, on Flickr

And the other side of the doors

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Doors2 by mcluma, on Flickr

As we got underway with the refurbishment of our house we midway changed the ground floor layout. Originally we planned a double internal garage with at the back of the garage the plant room and Gym. Walls and doorways got build, and as these are structural walls they couldn’t be moved without a cost aspect. In the new lay-out the garage is to become our new lounge.
So a solution had to be found for this doorway into the Gym


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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr

Which we had and that are the secret bookshelf doors!

So after the floor was screeded the walls plaster boarded and plastered I set about to fit these doors.
Originally they were fitted with 3 hinges each. Now there was no way I was going to use these hinges.
1) The door weighs a hefty 100kg (or so I think, as it was more then I could lift) so this was not going to work with just 3 hinges (no ball bearings)
2) The door is to open outward, so the hinges had to be changed and would then be seen from the inside
I found the solution in using these Hafele floor hinges

http://www.hafele.co.uk/Hafele35a1/Imag ... 760P1.JPEG

These are rated up to 150Kg

Here the doors in position to show what it’s going to look like

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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr
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The doors are bigger than the current opening, and to give it that “bookshelf “ feeling I had to build a frame to hold the doors

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Here the floor pivot hinge fitted on a 30mm threshold, This will enable later on the carpet to be fitted and still being able to open the door. I should have done the threshold in oak, but I didn’t

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And the top pivot hinge fitted

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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr

With the doorframe done its fitting the other bits to the door. Had the help of my son to move the door about
Here the bottom floor hinge receiver fitted (flush with the bottom rail)

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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr

And the top hinge

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On this photo you can see the little hole in the style, this gives access to the screw to adjust the hinge in and out

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Door is fitted and adjusted

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The action is SOOOOOOOOOO smooth, and the whole door, despite its weight can be moved with just one finger – I really like these floor hinges

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Time to make it look more like a bookshelf, the sides are build out of oak, which will be stained darker later on, this will then match the rest of the furniture of the room

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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr

We have two of these doors, and we like symmetry, I fitted the other door at the other side of the room.

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As I was working to a tight schedule with the carpets being fitted, my wife already started with staining the unit dark oak

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First coat of staining done

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Inside of door to white

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Prep work for fitting the crown moulding

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Here the crown fitted

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First coat on the crown and second on the sides of the unit and prep work underway for fitting the rads

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Yesterday the carpets got fitted, so here is the final product .

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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr


Over the weekend I will be fitting the electric door opener with a concealed button (pictures and video to follow
Thanks for looking
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thebigdaddy81
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by thebigdaddy81 »

WWOOOOWWWWW, Absolutely Fantastic,,, :mrgreen:
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Bikergirl
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by Bikergirl »

They are fantastic! Personally in my house I would have them in the light wood, but if the rest of the furniture is dark it will look stunning.

Love the floor hinges, too.
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by moderator6 »

You can get away with the dark colour in a place that size :wink:

I think it looks stunning :thumbright:
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work
rough cut
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by rough cut »

they are awesome i really really want them in my house now
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big-all
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by big-all »

i started to loose the will to live at the begining
i thought a fairly tacky but fun idea :lol:
i thought out off context as 2 single units there is no way they will look anything special-------


















----- how wrong i was well done amazing job :lol: :lol:
we are all ------------------still learning
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by breatheasy »

They look great !... nice and bold against the white :thumbright:
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nick200
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by nick200 »

Looks great, always seen them but they would not work in our house. In yours and in that room they look great.
Nick

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mcluma
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door - continued

Post by mcluma »

Secrete Doors Part II – The automation

What is a secret door without a secret way of opening it?

I have been thinking about voice recognition, etc, and as it’s all very cheap to do, and boards are readily available, I have chosen for a less elaborate solution (I hope) I will go for a double knock on the door solution – I bought a clap-on-clap off module board that has the option for single or double clap and switch for pulse or toggle mode. (Still have to see if this works out of the box, otherwise I have to get some more relays fitted to ensure the pulse mode works for me

I bought an electric door opener (as you expect from EBay) which was used, but in perfect new condition – the opener is specifically for swing doors
The opener has options for push and go – which is good for one side of the door, as you just push it lightly and the motor takes over. – So no switch has to be fitted on this side.

Here some pictures of the opener which is a kaba FDC – it has electric opening and electric closing

Here is the box as it arrived
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There is a lot of electronics and mechanics inside

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Had a quick test to see if it worked, which it did, its really smooth and very quit

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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by royaloakcarpentry »

They aren't secret any more lol
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by Wee Eck »

Impressive.
But am I the only one thinking... Josef Fritzl...?
mcluma
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Re: Secret Book Shelf Door

Post by mcluma »

Secrete Doors Part III – Fitting the opener

Fitted the opener last weekend, and it’s all up and running, action is smooth and very quiet.
Due to the structure of the door I could not fit it closer to the door, and to ensure the full travel of a 90degree opening was still obtained I had to fit a little block on the door, another option would have been longer rods, which could still be an option as I have some stainless steel rods laying around. But for now I am happy how it works.

I also had to fit a piece of oak above the door to fit the opener to
1 this is part of the door trim, and
2 as there is a concrete lintel above it is difficult to put screws in, so I fitted the unit to the oak,

What I still need to find at a reasonable price is a hydraulic damper. The door is so heavy and this closer does not have a deceleration adjustment build-in to slow it really down for the last 5 to 10 cm of closing, so there is a little bounce when it hits the door post

I have seen these dampers, which are specifically for swing doors, but at a price of £120, - I do not think I will go for that

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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr

This door gives access to a small hallway, which a doors to the back garden, and Gym
Here a few pics of the Gym – still have to fit the back-wall mirror but I managed to fit the TV last night.
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Untitled by mcluma, on Flickr

The TV I had planned to put there was just a tad too big, so we went with a slightly smaller one

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