doors in archways

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Anonymous

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being a newbie to both diy and woodworking, l thought somebody out there might be able to help !!!

l had this great plan of knocking out my daughters small walk in wardrobe and one of the walls, create an arch and than put some arched doors in place with a chest of drawers at the bottom,

Well l managed to get the walls and wardrobe out ,l have even managed to make the arch at the top and plaster both the walls and arch. The problem l have is with the doors l really do not have a clue on how to make doors that will fit the arch ?
without resorting to a carpenter i really would like some help or tips on how to make a set of simple doors that would within the arch.

any help would greatly be appreciated.
:(
 
You could make a simple pair of doors out of a sheet of 18mm MDF. Hold an offcut up to the arch first and draw the outline of the arch onto it and use this as your template after cutting it to shape. Transfer the outline onto your sheet of MDF and also the length and width of the opening and cut it to size. You should then be able to cut the whole thing exactly down the middle and get a pair of identical doors. By using 18mm MDF you can then fit kitchen cupboard type hinges so they are concealed and easily adjustable too. Any style of bead or moulding could even be glued or pinned to the doors to give a profiled look if desired.
 
Simcity

The best way I know to mark-out an arched-top door is to use a trammel bar (simply a stick with a small screw through one end and a pencil through a hole at the other end - make sure that the distance between the points is 2 to 3mm less than the radius of the arch you've just installed. As Dazb says, MDF is probably your best bet, cut with a jigsaw then surformed/sanded off. If you have a router you'll get a better finish by roughing out the curve slightly oversize with the jigsaw then finishing the cut using a straight bit and mounting your router on a trammel (piece of scrap plywood with a small screw through one end and the router screwed onto the other). If doing it this way take several shallow cuts rather than one deep one, otherwise your router may try to climb the workpiece!

Simplest hinges to hang an MDF door are the lay-on kitchen door hinges which require no drilling
 
Thanks to both Dazb and Scrit for your help, will be having a go at the weekend, will let you know how it turns out.
 
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