Folding Doors Part 1

This week I'm sharing a bit of the process that went into making the front framing and the beginnings the doors.   Not only is this framing acting as a supporting wall, but it also creates a track for the doors to run along.  I really had to try to make it square!


In case you missed it, the pieces I cut last week were maple strips in various lengths all 1/2" wide.

To start I made a track that the folding doors will run along. I took one of the pre-cut strips of maple from last week and centred it over the table saw blade at a low height.  I used a scrap piece of mdf as a jig to keep the piece I was cutting in place and kept my hands safely out of the way with scrap wood push sticks.

This technique resulted in a small channel the width of the blade.

I assembled the top and sides of the framing with glue and a small nail gun.  Keeping the piece with the channel in the middle.

My first attempt doors:
I started out my design in 1/4" MDF, positioning the edge over a low blade on the table saw to make a channel down the centre.

The resulting channel:

Slicing off the width:

The pieces:

Then I glued the sides and the bottom piece together, sliding in a piece of plexi.

I have yet to add the hinges and pins to follow along the track, for the pictures they are sitting in a dry fit.

Once I had built all 4 doors I experimented a bit with the colour and thickness. I felt like the ones I had just made were a little too thick.  Using my Silhouette cutting machine I cut these black frames out of card stock, just to get an idea of an overall look.  I like how the black helps makes the house look more modern.  And I decided to trim the MDF door frame width by half to match these card stock frames.

The new smaller frames:

So this week I'll be painting the frames and ordering hinges, as well as working on the smaller frames for the top above the doors.  I'm going to have to hunt down some good glass too.

The laser cutter is booked for Thursday!  So I'll hopefully have some exciting things to share!  Have a great week everyone!