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Does anyone out there have experience in designing/ building oversized sliding doors?
I’m searching for advice on the design of a 7′-4″ high x 6′-8″ wide x 1-3/4″ maple veneered solid core interior door- expecting an MDF core w/ solid rails, stiles, and blocking for hardware, plywood facing and veneer, assuming about 200 plus lbs.
The door mfr’s I normally deal with (some of whom are bidding on the remaining doors of the job) have told me that their equipment/press sizes preclude the creation of doors of such a size, and that they would be unable to warranty any such door against warping- not that a warranty was asked for in this particular case… they (understandably) just don’t want an unhappy customer.
The proposed door is to be hung on a face mounted industrial track permitting it to slide along and cover a 7′-0″ x 6′-4″ opening in that wall (to butt a perpendicular wall on the opposite side of the opening)- more of a sliding partition than a door. No securing hardware required, and not much concern with acoustic sealing when closed.
I’ve had no trouble finding appropriate hardware, just can’t find anyone to build such a door for fear of severe warping problems. While I can appreciate the dangers of a normally hung door warping, I fail to see that the dangers would be as great in the case of a non-latching top hung slider. How much warping am I looking at? Is it possible to warp an (mostly) MDF door enough to significantly affect the operation of its sliding track hardware?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
frugal
Replies
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b WBA At Your Service
We had trouble with a couple doors we did 2 years ago. In building a 3'0" x 7'0" door to match existing, our mill covered a sheet of 3/4" MDF with 1/2" (exact) x 12" x 7'0" white oak. We felt that the width of the boards combined with their 1/2" thickness caused the door to warp. We removed the boards and planed them to 1/4" and glued them to two layers of 5/8" MDF. No problems since, but I think I would have used MDO. I don't see why you couldn't do the same.
*I've seen such a door, in some art gallery in a "century" building (not as art, it was the door between two galleries). In any case, closer inspection revealed that it was, in fact, two doors joined together; annoying the curator brought me talking with the creative director who explained that the two doors were custom made with one half-width stile each which were jointed, then joined with a 1/2"x 3" baltic birch plywood spline runing the full height of the door. Looked really good.
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Does anyone out there have experience in designing/ building oversized sliding doors?
I'm searching for advice on the design of a 7'-4" high x 6'-8" wide x 1-3/4" maple veneered solid core interior door- expecting an MDF core w/ solid rails, stiles, and blocking for hardware, plywood facing and veneer, assuming about 200 plus lbs.
The door mfr's I normally deal with (some of whom are bidding on the remaining doors of the job) have told me that their equipment/press sizes preclude the creation of doors of such a size, and that they would be unable to warranty any such door against warping- not that a warranty was asked for in this particular case... they (understandably) just don't want an unhappy customer.
The proposed door is to be hung on a face mounted industrial track permitting it to slide along and cover a 7'-0" x 6'-4" opening in that wall (to butt a perpendicular wall on the opposite side of the opening)- more of a sliding partition than a door. No securing hardware required, and not much concern with acoustic sealing when closed.
I've had no trouble finding appropriate hardware, just can't find anyone to build such a door for fear of severe warping problems. While I can appreciate the dangers of a normally hung door warping, I fail to see that the dangers would be as great in the case of a non-latching top hung slider. How much warping am I looking at? Is it possible to warp an (mostly) MDF door enough to significantly affect the operation of its sliding track hardware?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
frugal
Large sliding door issues...we haven't had any.
We have several oversized sliding doors (10 x 12 ft) and the only material we found that truly worked was a product called Sing Core (it comes up when you Google it, it's a bit hard to navigate). It's kind of like Honeycomb, but more structurally sound. Won't warp, no distortion. They give a lifetime warranty, so far so good.
We're about ready to install an even bigger door. I'll post pictures when we have it put in.