Bob Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I am making a raised panel door to cover a recently installed blower for our heat pump. The door is 80"x24" hickory and since it has to be removable for blower service will not have hinges. Instead I am going to use magnets hold it place. These are the magnets I planning on ordering. I am thinking 3 per side will be enough, but thought I would ask, I am a little concerned about the magnets holding the door in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 10 minutes ago, Bob said: I am making a raised panel door to cover a recently installed blower for our heat pump. The door is 80"x24" hickory and since it has to be removable for blower service will not have hinges. Instead I am going to use magnets hold it place. These are the magnets I planning on ordering. I am thinking 3 per side will be enough, but thought I would ask, I am a little concerned about the magnets holding the door in place. Rare earth magnets are strong but, that's asking a lot for a piece that size, especially if there's any twist or something isn't fitting just right. You could start with 3 per side but, I'd be prepared to add more. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to come back and add more if you need them. This is the way that I mounted the covers for the server rack and it worked well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Yea I haven't ordered them yet because I was concerned about the weight. First time I have done anything large with hickory and the weight surprised me. I want to only do this once so 5 per side it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Could you put a cleat down on the bottom of the down for it to sit on. Similar to French cleat just backwards on the bottom to help hold the weight of the door. The shear weight of a hickory door would be a lot for 6-8 magnets. But if you had it resting on something the magnets would only have to hold it to the blower not the weight of the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 14 minutes ago, Tmize said: Could you put a cleat down on the bottom of the down for it to sit on. Similar to French cleat just backwards on the bottom to help hold the weight of the door. The shear weight of a hickory door would be a lot for 6-8 magnets. But if you had it resting on something the magnets would only have to hold it to the blower not the weight of the door. The door itself will sit on the floor. It is going to be a tight fit as it is, and I don't see any other way to make this work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 28 minutes ago, Bob said: The door itself will sit on the floor. It is going to be a tight fit as it is, and I don't see any other way to make this work. If you have the weight mostly supported by the floor, I think you're in pretty good shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Kev said: If you have the weight mostly supported by the floor, I think you're in pretty good shape. It is, but the door will be right next to the washer and drier and a door to the house. So I am concerned about vibration. I ordered 12 magnets and will start with 5 per side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, Bob said: It is, but the door will be right next to the washer and drier and a door to the house. So I am concerned about vibration. I ordered 12 magnets and will start with 5 per side. Should be good unless you get some weird twist in it .. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Since it will be on the floor I don’t think you will have the problem I was talking about. Let us know how it goes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RxR Sawdust Station Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Bob said: It is, but the door will be right next to the washer and drier and a door to the house. So I am concerned about vibration. I ordered 12 magnets and will start with 5 per side. Hello Bob, How thick is you 80"x24" hickory door? I'm thinking @Tmize's concept should work if the door is thick enough but isn't too thick. You could even recess (maybe even route with a dovetail cutter, then cut the bottom side 90 degrees to surface removing the one half of the dovetail) the french cleat below the surface where when the top and bottom cleats are engaged the door sits flush against the surface of the cabinet or wall opening it's covering. Something like this quick MS Paint sketch. Repeated on the bottom. ?, RXR Edited January 1, 2021 by RxR Sawdust Station inserted missing *is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I was thinking French cleat as well. The upward clearance should be less than an inch at most. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 I should have explained the door better. The overall height is 80", there will be a total of 4 rails. The top and bottom rails are standard 2 1/4 inch, there are 2 additional rails that are 4 1/2". These rails will be placed 16" on center from the top and and bottom. The issue that I have to deal with is the blower furnace filter is on the top of unit and to access and change the filter the door will have to removed. To make this process a little easier I am cutting the top 4 1/2" rail in two and making that a separate panel. I am trying to make 2 doors look like 1. Anyway if your not confused by now you are better than me. A french cleat would only work for the smaller upper door and do nothing for the lower. Here is a picture of the blower the red tab on the upper right is the filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RxR Sawdust Station Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 39 minutes ago, Bob said: I should have explained the door better. The overall height is 80", there will be a total of 4 rails. The top and bottom rails are standard 2 1/4 inch, there are 2 additional rails that are 4 1/2". These rails will be placed 16" on center from the top and and bottom. The issue that I have to deal with is the blower furnace filter is on the top of unit and to access and change the filter the door will have to removed. To make this process a little easier I am cutting the top 4 1/2" rail in two and making that a separate panel. I am trying to make 2 doors look like 1. Anyway if your not confused by now you are better than me. A french cleat would only work for the smaller upper door and do nothing for the lower. Here is a picture of the blower the red tab on the upper right is the filter. Are you going to frame that opening in, not talking about the door - just the opening....are you going to frame the opening? And, how thick is the wood your door is made out of? You couldn't do this (not to scale. just showing relative positions. can be as narrow as 1/4 inch, hypothetically). To remove the door, you would only need enough room between the door and your nearest appliance by the thickness of the cleat. ?, RXR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 I am not going to frame out the opening. The folks that installed the unit butchered it up badly, and fixing it would be a pain. Just going to cover it up. I know there are a number of ways to skin this cat. Just going to stick with the magnets. Sorry first bad pun of 2021, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye (Bryan) Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Maybe there is away to mount a few of those magnetic tool holders and then rare earth magnets in the door itself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 OP, have you considered ventilation? I’m by no means a HVAC guy but just wondering. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 9 hours ago, Coop said: OP, have you considered ventilation? I’m by no means a HVAC guy but just wondering. The return air is vented from a wall you can't see in the picture. But I am still cutting vents into the top and bottom panels of the door. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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