Advice needed for sliding door project run amok

I am building a cabinet with sliding doors (due to space constraints). It is 36" high, 74" long and made from cherry plywood. I got 1/4" cherry for the sliding doors that are to run in a sliding door track I purchased from Rockler.

The plywood I made the doors from was the wrong choice. It started warping and it very difficult to fit in the sliding door track. The rest of the project is complete but I need to find a better choice for the sliding doors (something that is stable and straight). I finished the doors the same as the cabinet(50/50 blend of Watco natural oil and poly followed by two coats of poly after the watco blend had fully dried) but clearly I need to changes horses. Do you have any suggestions for me?

TIA.

Dick Snyder

Reply to
Dick Snyder
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Dick Snyder wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

If I understand you correctly, you're running the 1/4 ply directly in the track?

I don't think that will work - plywood is not rigid enough for that sort of purpose. Usually when the door runs directly in the track, it's tempered glass, which is very rigid.

For a wooden door, I think you're going to have to build a frame around the panel with 3/4 solid lumber, and use sliding door guides, like these:

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John

Reply to
John McCoy

Did you finish both sides of the ply? If not, it WILL warp. Also, is there a way to "frame" the plywood with something like a metal channel (finished in oiled broze or something that doesn't stick out too much from the cherry?)

Reply to
clare

When I read the reviews of the track on the Rockler website, everyone had used 1/4" plywood directly in the track. The picture on the Rockler website showed bypass glass doors. I think I will call Rockler on Monday to see what they have to say. I got my plywood from a very high turnover dealer here in eastern Mass so I assume I just made a bad choice of wood rather than buying crappy wood. I think I will call them too to see what they have to say. I don't have enough room in the bypass to use

3/4" plywood. I am kind of stuck with my design.
Reply to
Dick Snyder

I did not finish both sides but even before I finished it, the wood was warping. I had (foolishly) hoped that the upper and lower track would straighten things out. I just replied to another poster than I will call Rockler on Monday to see what they have to say as well as my (excellent) plywood supplier.

Reply to
Dick Snyder

I have used 1/4" ply without problems but only smaller doors (up to 18"-24" high).

I have also used it in bigger doors with the same result as you. In fact, I have 4 cabinet doors - about 36" tall - in an upper cabinet in our laundry room with that problem but they are frame & panel, not sliding. I posted about them many months ago, the general consensus was that it was the frame warping, not the ply. I disagree, they will be remade someday.

Even in smaller doors, I have had occasional minor problems. My fix was to glue a piece of wood across them at top & bottom. That works but you need enough space between them. The best solution is to use thicker ply, same caveat about space.

For a non-warping panel for your current needs, I would suggest Masonite (hardboard). It is butt-ugly but can be painted nicely. Or covered with wallpaper. Or even veneered (both sides). In either case, should you go that route, search out hardboard that has NOT been made on a screen; that results in one smooth side, one rough. You would want both to be smooth (or at least I would).

Reply to
dadiOH

I think I now understand why all the reviewers of the Rockler bypass door sliders were able to use 1/4" plywood. Their doors were not as big as mine.

I do not have enough space between the doors to put in a stiffener. I am going to call my plywood supplier to see if they have any better ideas. Otherwise I may go with painted hardboard.

Thanks for helping me understand why I got the warping.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Snyder

In a situation where the enclosure is complete and the thickness of the doors has been defined as 1/4", no more, no less; I'd recommend glass for the door material. You could have the glass frosted, smoked or whatever, but if you insist on wood doors you have some demo to do and some more design work.

Good Luck.

Reply to
Gordon Shumway

Always finish both sides of plywood panels.

While the fact that you didn't may not be the entire reason the 1/4" ply warped so badly, it is most certainly a contributing factor not in you favor.

What grade was the ply?

Lower grades of 1/4" plywood are notorious for turning into potato chips, particularly if they are subjected to sunlight and wet conditions on only one side (even on the ride home to the shop, but a plywood grade like A-1 usually gives you a better chance.

There are some ways to solve the problem if you have enough clearance.

Might want to consider salvaging your investment by making 3/4" frame and panel doors, with the top and bottom door rails having a 1/4" tongue that fits in the groove.

You should be able to cut a tongue quickly and easily with a table saw, and since it it won't be seen, it doesn't have to be pretty.

You could even make frame and panel doors 1/2" shorter in height, then glue nail a 1/4" strip on the rails in the appropriate location as a tongue.

Be creative ...

Reply to
Swingman

Yeppers. I put the strip in the center but OP could put it on the edges.

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Reply to
Max

There are two doors, each 30" high and 37" wide. They need to be able to pass by each other so that half of the shelves are open at a time. The shelves will store cook books etc. I don't see yet how frame and panel doors would be able to pass by each other in the space (depth) that I have. My current thinking is to find some other 1/4" thick material that is stiff and would allow me to keep my basic design.

Reply to
Dick Snyder

Dick Snyder wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

This is a bit of a long shot, but if you have a source of

1/16" veneers you could try making up your own plywood. Put the two inner layers at 45 degrees to the outer layer (and 90 degrees to each other, of course), and use epoxy (West System or System Three or similar) to glue it all together. You'll want to glue it up on something flat, and have another something flat to put on top together with a bunch of weights while the glue dries (and plastic wrap between so you don't glue your panel to it). The result will be a lot stiffer than any commercial panel.

Otherwise I'd be tempted to go with Gordon's suggestion of frosted glass.

John

Reply to
John McCoy

If the design permits, go for it.

Doesn't sound like that option would break the bank.

Reply to
Swingman

Possibly you could put the stiffener on the front side of the front panel and on the back side of the back panel. But whether you can remove the warp is uncertain.

Reply to
G. Ross

My depth space is very limited. I don't have room for two 3/4" doors

Reply to
Dick Snyder

----------------------------------------- As others have suggested with 1/4" plywood, you can't get there from here in this application.

IMHO, you have the following choices:

1/4" hardboard, two sides good and painted. 1/4" etched safety glass. 1/4" smoked acrylic sheet complete with finger holes.

Of those 3, my choice would be the acrylic.

Lighter in weight than glass, safety is not an issue.

Only you can determine if painted hardboard will provide the necessary esthetics.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

I like the smoked acrylic sheet idea the best. I will contact my local glass place on Monday. Thanks.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Snyder

Not really, my parents had a setup like that, and it has lasted for 50 some odd years. I still have it in my shop. I took the doors off when I put it back, but just to check, I put them back in today. Still good.

They can last.

Not sure why you needed to buy the track, these were just grooves in the bottom and top of the carcass.

I don't know a way to fix it.

Reply to
woodchucker

I hope you held your plywood flat or straight up and down and clamped when you got it.

The changes in humidity from shipping and such require something to stabilize it.

I have had similar problems with ply, I have been clamping all ply to a rack vertically oriented so it won't twist ever since.

Thin ply is a tough one. I am sure the oil did not help. I am sure it is still wet inside.

Reply to
woodchucker

Your kidding right? You must always finish both sides of whatever you work on. you need it to get the same humidity all around. Sealing one side allows moisture to directly come in to the untreated side and thats all that needed. You must seal the edges too.

Reply to
woodchucker

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