Hidden door

[Matty F]

I'd like to make one of those bookcases that is hinged to the wall and conceals a small door to the attic. I need somewhere to put another bookcase anyway. Basically it would be a piece of plywood or MDF 1500mm high by 1100mm wide with shelves attached to it. The books would weigh quite a lot so I'd better have large hinges. Some books on one side would have a concealed handle behind. Maybe I'd better have a small lip along each shelf so the books don't fall out when the bookcase is opened. Any other potential problems?

[Andrew Mawson]

1100mm

don't

Suggest a roller on the non hinge side to take the weight of books

AWEM

[NT]

Books are heavy, I'd make the opening as narrow as possible. Any sag would give it away. I'd look at a ply back, not weak mdf.

NT

[Adrian C]

Just thinking that it could be a heavy door to start moving, and once moving would make a bit of a thump including bad news for fingers if accidently caught in the frame.

So, either some closure dampening material or mechanical intervention/assistance?

Or, some electronics that responds to "open sesame!" maybe?

[Frederick Williams]

I can't help with the matter in hand, but bookshelves absolutely should not have a lip because books should overhang the shelf slightly so that they can be removed without the top of the spine being pulled on and thus damaged.

[The Natural Philosopher]

or a diabonal steel strap and shitloads of hinge at the top.

[Geo]

I think these things generally use a vertical pivot rather than hinges - with a large (hewn stone) counterbalance on the opposite side of the pivot. At least that is my memory from Saturday moning pictures... How about pivoting in the middle of the bookcase?

[Jim K]

visions of Scooby Doo monster chase scenes sprang to mind....;>))

Jim K

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Matty F saying something like:

Perhaps a pair of castors.

[Spamlet]

And it has always puzzled me why the bind hardbacks with the boards overlapping the pages thereby guaranteeing that the weight of pages pulls them off the spine in the end, even if you do leave them sticking out. Anyway, it is not the depth of the case that makes people grab the top of the spine, it's the tightness of the sides as they squeeze against contiguous books. Leaving them sticking out just transfers the attention of fingers to the bottom spine instead. Solution: bind books with flat bottoms, and handles: and have more shelves than books: sadly something against some unsung universal law...

S

[John Whitworth]

I agree about the lip, but have never (I think) seen a bookshelf where all books are overhanging the shelf slightly.

JW

[Spamlet]

--

That sounds more like it: and there may be another thing that is being missed. Presumably this door is not going to open outwards as the width of the shelves would prevent it opening if it was concealed amongst other bookcases. And an attic rather implies stairs are going to be in the way behind unless you have a bit of corridor going spare. Those old movie staircases generally led *downwards* or to horizontal passages.

I would also urge making the sides and shelves of proper wood, as I stopped our builder walling up an old doorway after a new one had been made when I realised the width of the wall was ideal for a bookcase. We used mdf for the back (we weren't hinging) and pine for the shelves and it has turned a dead end corridor wall into one of the most attractive features of the house. (And yes it was instantly full!)

Incidentally: sort your books by size, and then you can make most effective use of the shelf space and have shelves mostly the same distance apart.

S

[Adam Aglionby]

Sure the metalwork is absolutlely problem to yourself:

get round some of the precision joinery problems with facings that cover the oops bits.

Strangely enuff Americans have it down to a real business plan, would love a sliding fireplace :-)

[Matty F]

row of hinges. I have some 5 ply that I will use for the back. The hole in the wall is right next to where I want to put a ballustrade, and I can't narrow the door any more or I'll not be able to get things in and out.

[Matty F]

I have just decided that this will be a bookcase for paperbacks only. The shelves will be much smaller and half the weight.

[mark]

I've seen this done with a vertical pole taking the weight instead of hinges and was about 9" out from one side. Obviously this narrows the doorway and you may not have room for this. Didn't pay attn to the technical details at the time but I guess the pole had welded on flanges to take the weight. THe pole was within the book case and didn't show.

mark