What should these sliding doors be made of?
August 26, 2010 8:08 PM Subscribe
I need to replace glass sliding doors in a cabinet, and would like to do it with something other than glass, because glass is heavy and doesn't want to slide. Can you give me ideas for materials that are lightweight, opaque or semi-opaque, and slidey?
I'm hoping for specific materials suggestions, not just "plastic" (or whatever). This is for a bathroom cabinet in a cottage-ish house built in 1945. The cabinet itself is wood and just has grooves in the wood to accept sliding doors. Replacing with swinging doors is not an option due to space constraints. Thanks!
I'm hoping for specific materials suggestions, not just "plastic" (or whatever). This is for a bathroom cabinet in a cottage-ish house built in 1945. The cabinet itself is wood and just has grooves in the wood to accept sliding doors. Replacing with swinging doors is not an option due to space constraints. Thanks!
Polycarbonate sheets, sold in a variety of sizes in stores such as Lowes or Home Depot, is pretty easy to work with. You can score and break it into the specific size needed, and it drills pretty easily too (if you wanted to install a little knob or handle).
If desired, you can paint one side and mount it backwards so that you look through the clear side to the "underside" of the coat of paint; this gives a nice glossy finish for very little work. I bet this would be a great, relatively cheap solution for your needs.
One caution: polycarbonate can scratch fairly easily.
posted by Menthol at 8:50 PM on August 26, 2010
If desired, you can paint one side and mount it backwards so that you look through the clear side to the "underside" of the coat of paint; this gives a nice glossy finish for very little work. I bet this would be a great, relatively cheap solution for your needs.
One caution: polycarbonate can scratch fairly easily.
posted by Menthol at 8:50 PM on August 26, 2010
Would you keep the glass doors if you could make them more slidey? I'm thinking of the old trick of rubbing bar soap on the runners of wooden drawers. I don't know whether that would work for glass-on-wood, but Mefites might have other ideas. Perhaps a slick aluminum track could be added to the wood?
Plexiglass* from a big box home improvement store is very cheap to try (I think a thin 4' x 8' pane cost me around $10, recently; thicker panes cost more), and they will probably even cut it to size for you in-store, so if you find yourself with lightweight panes that don't want to slide nicely, it won't have been a terribly expensive experiment. One thing to keep in mind: plexiglass is flexible, and larger/taller sheets will bow when stood on their edges. You may want to go for a thicker sheet to minimize bowing.
*I don't actually know my glass substitutes very well. I'm using the word "plexiglass" to refer to the kind of clear plastic sheet that an employee presented me with when I walked into my nearest big box home improvement store and asked for "plexiglass." It probably wasn't name-branded Plexiglas. I couldn't tell you whether it was acrylic, polycarbonate, or what.
posted by Orinda at 9:22 PM on August 26, 2010
Plexiglass* from a big box home improvement store is very cheap to try (I think a thin 4' x 8' pane cost me around $10, recently; thicker panes cost more), and they will probably even cut it to size for you in-store, so if you find yourself with lightweight panes that don't want to slide nicely, it won't have been a terribly expensive experiment. One thing to keep in mind: plexiglass is flexible, and larger/taller sheets will bow when stood on their edges. You may want to go for a thicker sheet to minimize bowing.
*I don't actually know my glass substitutes very well. I'm using the word "plexiglass" to refer to the kind of clear plastic sheet that an employee presented me with when I walked into my nearest big box home improvement store and asked for "plexiglass." It probably wasn't name-branded Plexiglas. I couldn't tell you whether it was acrylic, polycarbonate, or what.
posted by Orinda at 9:22 PM on August 26, 2010
I think a nice carved wood panel would look and work just fine. You can get veneered plywood in many species & thicknesses. Choose something that matches well with the rest of the cabinet & stain/finish it yourself. Perhaps cut out a stenciled shape in a pattern or design of your choice if you want something lighter or 'semi-opaque'.
posted by TDIpod at 10:25 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by TDIpod at 10:25 PM on August 26, 2010
How about keeping the glass, but fitting the cabinet with track and roller hardware? The googles aren't turning up a specific example right now, but I know they exist as I'm looking at one right now: the bottom of the cabinet is fitted with a 5mm wide metal track, with a metal insert with wheels sliding around on it. It doesn't look expensive, but I don't know where you would get one.
My concern with plastic or other materials is that you won't get much less friction, but the panel will be much lighter: it will be easier to derail when it gets stuck and you have to push it more to get it moving. At any rate, the weight of glass gives a much nicer feel, it is more durable, resistant to heat etc.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:02 PM on August 26, 2010
My concern with plastic or other materials is that you won't get much less friction, but the panel will be much lighter: it will be easier to derail when it gets stuck and you have to push it more to get it moving. At any rate, the weight of glass gives a much nicer feel, it is more durable, resistant to heat etc.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:02 PM on August 26, 2010
If it's an original fitting & you're looking for war/post war appropriateness, it possibly originally had simple masonite sliding doors. A quick google doesn't turn up the papered / textured variety often used for cupboard doors, but you may be able to find something locally.
posted by Pinback at 11:32 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by Pinback at 11:32 PM on August 26, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks all! The 3form stuff is very cool, and I think I might be able to find something there that looks appropriate in our house. Otherwise I think I will turn to one of the other Plexiglas-type products.
posted by HotToddy at 10:10 AM on August 31, 2010
posted by HotToddy at 10:10 AM on August 31, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jenny76 at 8:19 PM on August 26, 2010