Hows it going ya'll. I am designing a large tool cabinet. Right now I have it 6' wide and 7' tall. I have not decided on a width yet. My thought is to have two doors on the front that are 3' wide by 4'6" tall with glass in the frame. My fear is that doors this large without a structural middle will want to warp bad. Do ya'll have any thoughts as to whether they will or a solution if they will.

If I was designing it, I'd go with four doors not two. That means roughly 18" doors which would be a lot more stable.
Also, I'd go with plexiglas instead of glass. Not as breakable.

Paul

remember that glass is denser than wood, those doors are going to be heavy!
and that is a huge cabinet is that a tool collection?

Glass that size would almost have to be 1/4 thick, which is 3lbs per sqft.

1/8 which is not advisable, 1.6 lbs per sqft

3/8 5lbs per sqft

You can get away with doors that size on say POP displays, or trophy cases due to the minimal use.

Even if you switch to plexi you still have a very large frame which at that size may be prone to racking out of shape. 1/8th inch plexi will bow out at hot temperatures and bow in when it gets cooler so 1/4 is the better choice.

If you insist on the large doors consider some sort of mutton design to keep the doors from racking. Hardware options for doors that size would be limited to say a piano hinge for constant support.

Guys, I really appreciate the comments. Even though I said glass I never really thought about putting actual glass in it. Not only would they be big doors they would be too heavy.
I would like to keep the big doors because the top portion of this cabinet will be a display of the tools almost. Between what I have of my own and just inheriting a lot of my grandfathers tools, I need a better storage system and like the idea of it allowing me to display some of those tools.
Do yall think that if a build the doors with wide stiles and even wider rails that it will reduce the tendency to wist enough to have these large doors?

Sorry i have to ask.

If you weren't going to put glass in them, why bother with doors at all?

I'll take a stab at it and say, dust control. Tool boxes are more than receptacles to store tools, they double as "trophy cases" to display the latest acquisitions, tools are a man's crown jewels, things like that are always "kept under glass".

Yes it will help with dust control. But adding doors, with glass or some substitute, to it changes it from just a self to a tool display. Kind of a china cabinet for my tools.

You may want to look at it from a commercial application as well.

The use of door stay hardware will eliminate droop or racking. normally these are mortised into the top of solid core doors( see photo) or metal doors. it would mean using a minimum of 1 1/4 stock for the door frame as they are a minimum of 3/4 x 3/4, common ones are 1 x 1. Draw back is you will only get at the most 110 degree opening swing on the door, you can tweak another 10 degrees by mounting it closer to the hinge side. they have full mortise style or surface mounted.


you can also eliminate a frame all together and use glass/plexi of any thickness and weight by using glass door hardware, the two examples shown are wrong but you get the idea. I couldn't find the l-shape back plate, example shown are t -shaped. advantage is total visibility. similar to a glass shower door installation. Or there is top and bottom pivot mount. which is even better. see photo 29, which if i say so myself is a pretty snappy mudroom closet/cabinet/chair.

Not as snappy as a "Chable" of course

So this is a large but otherwise normal tool cabinet, you want the glass so you can display the tools.

some things to think about. (No need to reply)

During the course of a shop session are the doors going to be left open for ease of access? Or are you going to be opening and closing them all the time? think about your work habits. personally I dislike having to open and close doors and drawers all the time.

either way choosing the right hinge is critical. NYNY is going to be far more help there.

have you thought about sliding glass doors? I'd suggest at least 3 panels for that large a span. For ease of sliding, and you can put all the doors to one side for a larger opening. If you go that route you can get some nice hanging door hardware that makes it trivial to slide.

Of the options raised here, I really like the "no frame" ideas best. If you go with the plexi on hinges idea, I'd consider using some sort of dust seal, like a sponge weather stripping to keep the dust out of those precious old timers.

Paul

I think I still like the frame, but I had not thought about a sliding door. That idea intrigues me a lot. Have to do some modifications with my drawings and see.

If you are going to stay with the frame idea you are limited to three styles. from the least expensive to the most.

The first set of photos I've use these before and the application was a triple bi-pass. the pro's are they are cheap and easy to install. two roller sheaves are mortised into the bottom of the door, and you have a simple double channel track at the top. the con's are that the wheel is mounted to a brass tube, no bearings or grease. The track being steel and the wheel being steel, when the door is slid open it sounds like a train coming down the track . The wheel should be nylon . After awhile they start to squeak, so you will be popping the doors of the track and spraying with wd40 every 6 months. and there is no adjustability what so ever, if your cabinet is out of square it will be amplified when the door hits the side of the cabinet. Even if the cabinet is square if it's sitting on an un-level floor you now have to incorporate levelers or shim the cabinet base. there's also the valance at the to hide the upper track.

Second set of photo's has the i-beam track at the top , nylon wheels for a smooth quiet travel and there adjustable. The con is the cheesy alignment plate at the bottom which is similar to a bi-fold application in a house, never used this hardware simply because of that reason. and you have the valance at the top again.

Third set which I used is the most expensive , top and bottom bearing tracks, XYZ adjustment, self close soft stop feature, only drawback is the price and you see the aluminum track, not very install friendly either.

There's another type but it's way overkill.