Replies

1. 
   bjpearce | Aug 06, 2003 03:45am | #1

   Piet

   If your suggesting that the book case itself be a door, you'd need bl***y great hinges!

   Ben

   Sounds like a great idea!

2. 
   Lar55 | Aug 06, 2003 05:27am | #2

   Piet,

   Not sure which, but a few years ago I toured the house in Amsterdam that Anne Frank stayed in.  They have either a bookcase with a door that opens to a stairway or the whole bookcase moves, can't remember which.

   Good luck,

   Lar

3. 
   jhausch | Aug 06, 2003 05:58am | #3

   Search around here and at Breaktime for "hidden door".  I think I recall some other threads about this.

   If you really want to support a bookcase and allow it to move, you may want to consider having it pivot rather than swing.  You could build quite a support structure into the bottom of a bookcase and have the weight all transferred to a central thrust bearing.

   Steelkilt Lives!
4. 
   Fingrs | Aug 06, 2003 06:09am | #4

   Hi, Piet.  When adding a deep door with shelves (kind of bookshelf in reverse) to a 6 foot tool cabinet, I installed a rotating caster on the bottom of the door opposite the hinge side.    This provides support for quite a lot of weight, probably about the same as you'd see in a bookcase.  You can get some pretty heavy duty casters that are low profile so the gap between the bottom shelf and the floor is not excessive.  Or you can wrap the botton with base molding and no one would know the caster is there.  Let me know if this isn't clear and I'll post a photo.  Regards.

5. 
   ian | Aug 07, 2003 02:54pm | #5

   I know what you mean and have examples in British films.  What you have described is usually called a concealed door (try a google search)  As another poster suggested the door could be pivoted on a thrust bearing.  Alternatively, you could use hinges designed for strong room doors.  The main constraints will be making a door frame sufficiently strong and rigid to support the door's weight - this is likely to be a challenge as most interior walls and floors are likely to be too light weight (ie too flexible) to support the door's mass. 

6. 
   robkelly1 | Aug 08, 2003 08:38am | #6

   Sometime in the last 2 or 3 issues, Cabinetmaker magazine featured a shop that made them, and told where to get the hardware. I don't save the magazine so I can't help any further.