Secret door
 

The next play, an Agatha Christie mystery, requires a secret door. I
put this one together today. The director's brief was a bit vague on
which way the door was to open so I made it so it was a minimum of
effort to rehang the other way. I had to use the stripey fabric on the
side to allow for the swing of the shelves, it will be painted to match
the walls and from 8 meters away it will look solid.

The pivot point is a bolt with extra large washers at the top and just
a long screw to swivel on at the bottom. I'll see how that works in
rehearsal, but it seems to be fine atm. It will need extra bracing to
'firm up' the sides but that will be easily acomplished with the
adjoining flats.

All was fun to do until I whacked my thumb with my hammer!

Mekon

Secret door
 

"Mekon" wrote in message
. ..
The next play, an Agatha Christie mystery, requires a secret door. I
put this one together today. The director's brief was a bit vague on
which way the door was to open so I made it so it was a minimum of
effort to rehang the other way. I had to use the stripey fabric on the
side to allow for the swing of the shelves, it will be painted to match
the walls and from 8 meters away it will look solid.

The pivot point is a bolt with extra large washers at the top and just
a long screw to swivel on at the bottom. I'll see how that works in
rehearsal, but it seems to be fine atm. It will need extra bracing to
'firm up' the sides but that will be easily acomplished with the
adjoining flats.


Very cool! That would be pretty neat to have in your house IF you had the
room to spare on the back side of the door to allow for the pivot swing area
required.


All was fun to do until I whacked my thumb with my hammer!

LOL, The tip of my longest finger on my left hand is still a touch strange
feeling since I tried to drive a 3" nail into the top of a post with 1 swing
of the hammer and used that finger to buffer the blow. About 7 years ago.

Secret door
 

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 05:21:10 GMT, Mekon wrote:

The next play, an Agatha Christie mystery, requires a secret door. I
put this one together today. The director's brief was a bit vague on
which way the door was to open so I made it so it was a minimum of
effort to rehang the other way. I had to use the stripey fabric on the
side to allow for the swing of the shelves, it will be painted to match
the walls and from 8 meters away it will look solid.

The pivot point is a bolt with extra large washers at the top and just
a long screw to swivel on at the bottom. I'll see how that works in
rehearsal, but it seems to be fine atm. It will need extra bracing to
'firm up' the sides but that will be easily acomplished with the
adjoining flats.

All was fun to do until I whacked my thumb with my hammer!

Mekon

Very cool... Hope you'll send a picture after it's ready for the play..

Kind of funny... the friend that I pass your posts along to has a large,
built-in entertainment center in his house that swings out to reveal a storage
room..
Coincidence? I think not...


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Secret door
 

mac davis explained :
On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 05:21:10 GMT, Mekon
wrote:

The next play, an Agatha Christie mystery, requires a secret door. I
put this one together today. The director's brief was a bit vague on
which way the door was to open so I made it so it was a minimum of
effort to rehang the other way. I had to use the stripey fabric on the
side to allow for the swing of the shelves, it will be painted to match
the walls and from 8 meters away it will look solid.

The pivot point is a bolt with extra large washers at the top and just
a long screw to swivel on at the bottom. I'll see how that works in
rehearsal, but it seems to be fine atm. It will need extra bracing to
'firm up' the sides but that will be easily acomplished with the
adjoining flats.

All was fun to do until I whacked my thumb with my hammer!

Mekon

Very cool... Hope you'll send a picture after it's ready for the play..

Kind of funny... the friend that I pass your posts along to has a large,
built-in entertainment center in his house that swings out to reveal a
storage room..
Coincidence? I think not...


Me either :)
Once you make one, you have to start thinking of the possibilities!

Mekon

Secret door
 

After serious thinking Leon wrote :
"Mekon" wrote in message
. ..
The next play, an Agatha Christie mystery, requires a secret door. I
put this one together today. The director's brief was a bit vague on
which way the door was to open so I made it so it was a minimum of
effort to rehang the other way. I had to use the stripey fabric on the
side to allow for the swing of the shelves, it will be painted to match
the walls and from 8 meters away it will look solid.

The pivot point is a bolt with extra large washers at the top and just
a long screw to swivel on at the bottom. I'll see how that works in
rehearsal, but it seems to be fine atm. It will need extra bracing to
'firm up' the sides but that will be easily acomplished with the
adjoining flats.


Very cool! That would be pretty neat to have in your house IF you had the
room to spare on the back side of the door to allow for the pivot swing area
required.

Yeah, I didn't put the 'hinge' at the end as I was worried about the
sag that this heavy sod would cause. And the theatre co can't afford
those expensive no sag hinges. The bolt was cheap and should last the
12 shows.

Mekon

Secret door
 

On Tue, 9 Oct 2007 09:41:00 -0500, "Leon" wrote:

Very cool! That would be pretty neat to have in your house IF you had the
room to spare on the back side of the door to allow for the pivot swing area
required.

As I mentioned to Mekon, my friend has one and it's very cool..

He bought an old home here in Baja and expanded/remodeled it... lots of nooks
and crannys later and one on the front of the house that used to be a porch but
is now part of the great room..
It's an "alcove" about 3 x 10' and he was going to make a built-in entertainment
center but decided it would be awkward... better to have the E.C. come out flush
with the walls, so he put hinges on one side and small castors on the other and
made the shelves double-faced..
Makes a cool little "secret chamber" and triples his shelf space...


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Secret door
 

I've always wanted a secret hiding spot in my house.
Maybe someday I'll have a house big enough to make one.

There's something about secret spaces that has intrigued me since I was just
a little Kate

K.

"Mekon" wrote in message
. ..
The next play, an Agatha Christie mystery, requires a secret door. I
put this one together today. The director's brief was a bit vague on
which way the door was to open so I made it so it was a minimum of
effort to rehang the other way. I had to use the stripey fabric on the
side to allow for the swing of the shelves, it will be painted to match
the walls and from 8 meters away it will look solid.

The pivot point is a bolt with extra large washers at the top and just
a long screw to swivel on at the bottom. I'll see how that works in
rehearsal, but it seems to be fine atm. It will need extra bracing to
'firm up' the sides but that will be easily acomplished with the
adjoining flats.

All was fun to do until I whacked my thumb with my hammer!

Mekon

Secret door
 

On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:06:54 -0500, "Kate" wrote:

I've always wanted a secret hiding spot in my house.
Maybe someday I'll have a house big enough to make one.

There's something about secret spaces that has intrigued me since I was just
a little Kate

K.

I've got one designed for our house, just have to buy the wood and build it..
lol

Basically, it's a bookcase in a corner of the great room... I was going to fill
it with 2 "normal" bookcases, but decided that we could pick up a little storage
space by making it a 2' x 3' x 8' high "box" with bookshelves on the 2 outer
sides and the back for storage shelves...
I'm thinking small castors, mostly hidden by the footboard... roll it out when
ya need to but stays hidden the rest of the time..

Storage is a huge problem for us since we moved, because the Mexican floor plans
are really open and bright, but you pretty much see everything in the place..

We had a 1,400 sf house in the states, plus a 2 car garage...
Our house here is 1,600 sf, including the shop..

The difference is the new house is 2 bedroom 2 bath and the old one was 3
bedroom, 2 bath with a den.. LOTS more closets and things to store stuff..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Secret door
 

"mac davis" wrote

Basically, it's a bookcase in a corner of the great room... I was going to
fill
it with 2 "normal" bookcases, but decided that we could pick up a little
storage
space by making it a 2' x 3' x 8' high "box" with bookshelves on the 2
outer
sides and the back for storage shelves...
I'm thinking small castors, mostly hidden by the footboard... roll it out
when
ya need to but stays hidden the rest of the time..


Reminds me of a kitchen we had at a house that we bought many years ago. We
had no storage for lids in the kitchen. It was a small kitchen and there
were no easy solutions. It had a drop in range and the only solution was to
build something under it. It had a recessed toe kick area with the molding
under the cabinet.

So I go poking under there with a screwdriver and flashlight to see if there
was any way to build something under there. I found a small crack and stuck
my screwdriver in it. I pried a little and was surprised that it moved. So
I go to work loosening this panel under the stove.

Well I worked at it a while and got it out from the stove a bit, I grabbed
it and pulled. To my astonishment, a drawer (on four small casters) rolled
out from under the oven.

Someone had already built the drawer I was thinking of building. I lived
there for two years before I discovered it. The people who sold us the
house did not know about it. It was well camoflauged. You would never be
able to tell by looking at it.

It was the easiest home repair I ever did! My wife had it full of lids and
pushed back under the stove in a matter of minutes.

Secret door
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:00:17 -0400, "Lee Michaels"
wrote:


Reminds me of a kitchen we had at a house that we bought many years ago. We
had no storage for lids in the kitchen. It was a small kitchen and there
were no easy solutions. It had a drop in range and the only solution was to
build something under it. It had a recessed toe kick area with the molding
under the cabinet.

So I go poking under there with a screwdriver and flashlight to see if there
was any way to build something under there. I found a small crack and stuck
my screwdriver in it. I pried a little and was surprised that it moved. So
I go to work loosening this panel under the stove.

Well I worked at it a while and got it out from the stove a bit, I grabbed
it and pulled. To my astonishment, a drawer (on four small casters) rolled
out from under the oven.

Someone had already built the drawer I was thinking of building. I lived
there for two years before I discovered it. The people who sold us the
house did not know about it. It was well camoflauged. You would never be
able to tell by looking at it.

It was the easiest home repair I ever did! My wife had it full of lids and
pushed back under the stove in a matter of minutes.

Pretty cool find!

I think they sell kits for that now, don't they?


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Secret door
 

"mac davis" wrote

I think they sell kits for that now, don't they?

I don't know about that, but for the past few years I've been putting toe
kick drawers in the kitchens I build. Folks really like them.

One of my owners tells me it's where she hides things from the maid's prying
eyes while she's at work.

I can believe it, with the shoe molding on they're invisible (and the
flooring crew usually manages to nail them shut when putting on the molding
if not repeatedly cautioned), and I use a sideways "L" shaped drawer pull
that you can't see even it you're on the floor on hands and knees ... you'd
have to know it was there.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/30/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Secret door
 

"Lee Michaels" wrote

Well I worked at it a while and got it out from the stove a bit, I grabbed
it and pulled. To my astonishment, a drawer (on four small casters) rolled
out from under the oven.



Was there anything in it when you found it?

What a neat hidey hole!
K.

Secret door
 

"Kate" wrote

"Lee Michaels" wrote

Well, I worked at it a while and got it out from the stove a bit, I
grabbed
it and pulled. To my astonishment, a drawer (on four small casters) rolled
out from under the oven.


Was there anything in it when you found it?


Just some old, ugly shelf liner in the bottom that was torn. That got
ripped out and replaced with some new liner. And the drawer was immediately
put to use.

What a neat hidey hole!

Secret door
 

Lee Michaels wrote on Friday :
"mac davis" wrote

Basically, it's a bookcase in a corner of the great room... I was going to
fill
it with 2 "normal" bookcases, but decided that we could pick up a little
storage
space by making it a 2' x 3' x 8' high "box" with bookshelves on the 2
outer
sides and the back for storage shelves...
I'm thinking small castors, mostly hidden by the footboard... roll it out
when
ya need to but stays hidden the rest of the time..


Reminds me of a kitchen we had at a house that we bought many years ago. We
had no storage for lids in the kitchen. It was a small kitchen and there were
no easy solutions. It had a drop in range and the only solution was to build
something under it. It had a recessed toe kick area with the molding under
the cabinet.

So I go poking under there with a screwdriver and flashlight to see if there
was any way to build something under there. I found a small crack and stuck
my screwdriver in it. I pried a little and was surprised that it moved. So I
go to work loosening this panel under the stove.

Well I worked at it a while and got it out from the stove a bit, I grabbed it
and pulled. To my astonishment, a drawer (on four small casters) rolled out
from under the oven.

Someone had already built the drawer I was thinking of building. I lived
there for two years before I discovered it. The people who sold us the house
did not know about it. It was well camoflauged. You would never be able to
tell by looking at it.

It was the easiest home repair I ever did! My wife had it full of lids and
pushed back under the stove in a matter of minutes.

I built one of those behind the rubbish bin drawer in the kitchen, as
yet no one but me knows it is there! Promise you won't tell?

Mekon