A bookcase on hinges - is it feasible?

[chaoticbob]

I want to make a bookcase about 6 feet high, 3 wide and 10 inches deep. That's straightforward enough, but the trouble is I want to hang the thing on hinges so it pivots on the front left-hand side making in effect an inward (looking at the bookcase) swinging door. Think secret passages!

A back of the envelope calculation gives me about 200kg for the weight of the case with books.

Do you reckon this is feasible? If not I'll have to abandon the idea and go for a more conventional door.

Rob.

 

[Orraloon]

I would be looking at wheels to take the weight and hinges to swing on.
Regards
John

 

[dzj]

Since weight is going to be an issue, I'd make a box/ frame out of square steel tubing
and cover it up with a combination of ply/ veneer/ hardwood lipping...
As for the hinges, I'd use bearings. A thrust bearing at the bottom and a regular one on top.

 

[novocaine]

tactus do a 200kg hinge, I'd be more concerned about the joins at corners.
you maybe about to change your mind..
http://www.sdslondon.co.uk/tectus/tectu ... lsrc=aw.ds

I looked in to doing something similar, very quickly realised it was a metal frame job with decent bearings top and bottom on the pivot, not an issue for me but more work than I wanted go to.
the other option I came up with was a pair of heavy duty lazy susan slew rings, it would change your pivot point but that may not be a bad thing, also meant it could be all wood in construction (if that's your thing)

 

[novocaine]

or what Dzj said above as he can type quicker than me.

 

[Jacob]

Hiya Bob, We did just that at Scarthin Books some years ago, or at least - I came up with the idea and somebody else did the work. It's not only pivoted it's also curved, to cross a gap which doesn't line up.
The weight is also carried on a trunnion at the outer end, which makes the hingeing fairly simple, in spite of the mass.
I haven't looked at it for a long time but it's still there as far as I know. Might have been modified. It's up the stairs on the left - pop in and have a look.

I would be looking at wheels to take the weight and hinges to swing on.
Regards
John

Yep

 

[MikeG.]

I wouldn't be hanging this on hinges at all, but on pivots set into the floor and ceiling.

 

[Just4Fun]

I would be looking at wheels to take the weight

I saw something done that way and wouldn't recommend it. There were 2 problems. First, the wheel (actually a castor) supporting the outer corner made a mark across the floor that looked ugly. It would also give the game away if you wanted to keep the secret passage secret. Secondly, the floor where the wheel ran was not perfectly level, or the hinge was not perfectly plumb (or dropped over time), so the shelf tended to bind as it opened. I imagine it could be difficult to get that arrangement correct and reliable long term.

 

[dickm]

Off-the-wall (!) suggestion - would pivoting the case in the middle, rather than down one edge, be acceptable/feasible. Would get over the problem of cantilevering nearly 1/4tonne off one edge.

 

[custard]

Dump the books and get a Kindle?

 

[Eric The Viking]

Dump the books and get a Kindle?

Yebbut... It'll look a bit silly sitting all on it's own at the end of one shelf.

Coat... hat...

 

[RobinBHM]

I reckon it would work with ball bearing hinges. Ckass 13 hinges will handle 120kg, so why not just tit say 5 instead of 3?

 

[thick_mike]

Hiya Bob, We did just that at Scarthin Books some years ago, or at least - I came up with the idea and somebody else did the work. It's not only pivoted it's also curved, to cross a gap which doesn't line up.
The weight is also carried on a trunnion at the outer end, which makes the hingeing fairly simple, in spite of the mass.
I haven't looked at it for a long time but it's still there as far as I know. Might have been modified. It's up the stairs on the left - pop in and have a look.

I would be looking at wheels to take the weight and hinges to swing on.
Regards
John

Yep

Haha, I saw that “doorcase” last year when I visited the Peak District. Still going strong, and a memorable addition to a great bookshop.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Hi Rob.
Do you actually want it to be a bookcase or do you want it to look like a bookcase?
If you want a secret style door you would be better off using faux book spines like these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-rvxYU ... lBookWorks
http://www.ukhomeinteriors.co.uk/content/bookspines.php
They were very fashionable in the eighties and nineties and if done well can be very effective. There was an antique dealer in Cirencester called AJ Ponsford, who are no longer there but still trade in some fashion in Gloucester, anyway they used to make the spines and they had a faux door in their shop, it was the best I have seen with some books placed horizontally on top of others just as you would get in any bookcase making it look very natural. The spines are made of resin so the weight is not such an issue.

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks for replies. Since i 'upgraded' my laptop to Win 10 it won't talk to my phone, so I can't post a pic, which would make things clearer. So I'll try to explain as best I can in words what I want to do, in more detail than my original post.

The door in question will lead from the sitting room to stone stairs which go down to the cellars. The opening to the stairs is in a corner, so the the interior rear wall of the house also forms the wall of the stairwell. However, the stairs have been constructed so that the first step down 'intrudes' into the sitting room floor - a door fitted flush with the wall would leave a gaping hole in the floor. Hence my idea of making a swinging bookcase cantilevered from the from the rear wall at the front front corner of the case to cover the hole and also serve as a (secret!) door. I hope that makes a picture!

Although it seems there are hinges rated for this sort of weight - thanks for the link to Tectus novocaine (200 quid a hinge though!) and to RobinBHM for the suggestion of ball bearing hinges - I'm now thinking a metal frame is probably the way to go if I pursue this idea.

PercySnograss - thanks for you suggestion of a faux bookcase, which would solve the weight problem, but I would much prefer a real case populated with real books (apart from the one which operates the the door catch obviously :wink: ).

Jacob - thanks for the pointer to Scarthin, I'll pop in there and have a look, always worth a visit anyway!

Rob.