Sliding cabinet doors

[Roger Barga]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently making a CD cabinet that will be roughly 40" high x 30" wide and 6.5" deep. Given the tight space in which the cabinet will sit there is not enough room for hinged doors so I am considering sliding doors. I'll have two doors and each door will be 30" tall and 15" wide and slide on it's own "track" across the entire width of the cabinet. I have never built cabinet doors that slide, so I'm winging it here... My plan is to cut a 1/4" tounge on the top and bottom rail of each door, and cut a corresponding groove (slightly over 1/4") on top and bottom cabinet door frames. Seems simple enough but I'm concerned that I might be missing something, which won't obvious until the glue dries
(should I try for a tight fit or loose fit between the tounge/groom, use something in the groove to lubricate the door, is there hardware I can use, etc). I've searched but haven't found any articles on the subject, so any advice or suggestion anyone can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Roger

[Dave Brandt]

Roger,

I'm not positive, but I think it's Rockler that sells track for sliding doors. You just cut grooves (can't remember the width, but about 3/4") into the inside top and bottom pieces and glue in the plastic channels. The doors get inserted into the channels (one in front, one in back) and slide past each other, just like closet doors.

[Kurt Aebi]

Remember to Wax the slide bottom if you are going to use 1/4" grooves for the slides. Also remember to allow some room for the door to be able to be "Lifted" out rather than build it in solid. You want to be able to remove and install the doors without disassembling your unit.

My local ACE hardware store has aluminum track that I usually use, then you only have to make one dado to fit the aluminum track and also there is no variances in the dado grooves that would require some touch-up later. I've only done this for shop stuff where I was using plexiglass or paneling for the doors, so someone else may have a better idea, but this one works well for me

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Roger,

I would use the aluminum track or go for a Loose fit if you just dadoe the wood. If the fit is too tight this summer they will not be able to move! DAMHIKT I would also lube them with wax regaurdless of the track base.

just my .02

[Roger Barga]

Thanks everyone for your advice and pointers.
roger

Hi Everyone,

I am currently making a CD cabinet that will be roughly 40" high x 30" wide and 6.5" deep. Given the tight space in which the cabinet will sit there is not enough room for hinged doors so I am considering sliding doors. I'll have two doors and each door will be 30" tall and 15" wide and slide on it's own "track" across the entire width of the cabinet. I have never built cabinet doors that slide, so I'm winging it here... My plan is to cut a 1/4" tounge on the top and bottom rail of each door, and cut a corresponding groove (slightly over 1/4") on top and bottom cabinet door frames. Seems simple enough but I'm concerned that I might be missing something, which won't obvious until the glue dries
(should I try for a tight fit or loose fit between the tounge/groom, use something in the groove to lubricate the door, is there hardware I can use, etc). I've searched but haven't found any articles on the subject, so any advice or suggestion anyone can offer would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Roger

[Jim Williams]

Roger, I once built an entertainment center with a "sliding" shelf without using hardware to do the job. I simply cut my dado to a blind stop, and to a little wider slot than a dowel pin. I then drilled the back side of the shelf to take on a dowel and glued it into the shelf on either side. Next, I calculated where the front dowels needed to be to support the front of the shelf bottom. I drilled the holes, glued in the dowels and installed the shelf before adding the back. It worked great and I never had a problem with the dowels sticking due to the slightly oversized dados. Saved me a bunch of money for slides and saved me a bunch of money in the process. I then added a piece of matching oak to the front of the shelf to hide the front "pins" and the plywood edges. No one ever knew how I did it as it was all hidden by the shelf. Good luck no matter which way you go with your project and post pictures of your finished product.

[Roger Barga]

Hi Jim,

Thank you for describing how you built your entertainment center. I really like this approach because I don't have the room for hardware, not to mention the extra cost. I especially like the idea of using one or two dowels (slides) instead of cutting a tounge across the entire length of the cabinet door (I could easily see myself botching that). I will certainly post a photo when it's done.

Roger

Roger, I once built an entertainment center with a "sliding" shelf without using hardware to do the job. I simply cut my dado to a blind stop, and to a little wider slot than a dowel pin. I then drilled the back side of the shelf to take on a dowel and glued it into the shelf on either side. Next, I calculated where the front dowels needed to be to support the front of the shelf bottom. I drilled the holes, glued in the dowels and installed the shelf before adding the back. It worked great and I never had a problem with the dowels sticking due to the slightly oversized dados. Saved me a bunch of money for slides and saved me a bunch of money in the process. I then added a piece of matching oak to the front of the shelf to hide the front "pins" and the plywood edges. No one ever knew how I did it as it was all hidden by the shelf. Good luck no matter which way you go with your project and post pictures of your finished product.

[Jim Williams]

Roger,
Good luck with your project and please do post a photo of it and let me know when you do as I'd love to see it. Being an avid woodworker, computer geek of sorts, oil painter, and photographer I appreciate learning from others. In my case I had built an entertainment center years ago and didn't want to put in slides on a narrow shelf, nor did I want to build the shelf size up to hide it, so standing back and studying the situation came up with that idea. It worked for years and years never jambing nor coming undone. Be sure that you stop your blind dado no more than 3/4 of the way through your sides so your shelf doesn't tip like it would if you came almost to the edge. It came out far enough for me and like I said worked great! Good luck again, and can hardly wait to see it.

[PeterTorresani]

I'll have two doors and each door will be 30" tall and 15" wide and slide on it's own "track" across the entire width of the cabinet

One word of caution: With an aspect ration of 2:1 you might get some locking problems. Because of this, I would choose the absolute lowest friction option available.