Another 3 + 3 leaf bifold door problem
Background:
I chickened out of making 3 + 3 (six total) 800 W x 2550 H x 45 thick doors, but figured to save at least half (maybe 1/3) of quoted price by doing the rest. I was convinced to use Centor hardware, but eventually went with<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place></st1:city> Henderson following advice from joinery. The problem is that Henderson don’t sell direct, but the joinery purchased and passed on 15% (of their probably larger) discount. FYI: I am very pleased with quality of the Henderson <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"></st1:place></st1:city>hardware, except maybe the plastic channel for the sill (or is it the threshold).
This is new construction with 300 x 90 x 8 mm thick steel channel over 4.83 m span supported on steel posts. I then fixed 45 mm thick F17 (w/o nail plates) to the posts and beam. With some simple shimming it has been easy to get and an almost instant, very convenient and incredibly stiff support frame to work from.
I can provide more info if anyone is interested
Finally, I would not recommend a 3+3 config, since the ends of the center leaves are not supported by connection with track and channel fittings.
In cold weather the plan is to use the central doors like “normal” French doors. The big problem with this setup is that the central doors DO NOT HAVE RIGID JAMBS.
Questions:
Q1: With (Moen) double glazing the final weight of each door will be around 45Kg. So the plan is to install the (heavy) glazing after all the doors are finally setup/aligned etc. I am starting to see difficulties with this because of the glass weight. Any advice/comments on how to go about (or avoid) this?
Q2: I installed the hinges with the doors horizontally supported on stands. However the hinges must be installed with the doors aligned in their fully open position, i.e. on top of each other; otherwise it is impossible to get access to install the hinge screws. This creates the problem that it is difficult to ensure the door faces will be flush aligned when they are in the fully closed position.
It has turned out that the LH set of three work great,
However I have ongoing problems with the RH set of three. (a) Even minor warp (e.g. 2 or 3 mm) has created problems. (b) two sets of top face alignment are out by 1.5 to 2.0 mm, while the bottom face alignments are almost perfectly flush.
After several days diagnosing the problems the conclusion is that the warp plus the misalignment leads to the RH “French Door” making perfect bottom contact, but nearly 5 mm out at the top where the central doors meet.This must be fixed,
There are a number of fixes planned. One of these is describe here. Other ideas are welcome. I am planning on filling the #10 screw holes of the middle and top hinges for reinstallation in order to make the faces meet flush at the top. This will require the new screw holes to be only about 2 mm from the existing holes.
I was going tomake and install timber plugs. But I started carefully and completely filling (removing air bubbles) the old holes with epoxy tonight for work over the weekend. This is much less work and the hinge plates will hide the epoxy. The question: Will the epoxy work OK????<o:p> </o:p>
Q3: 3 + 3 leaf bifold problem
Forgot this one! Important
Q3) A mushroom door stop has been fitted to the primary (RH) central "French door".
This will allow fine tune removal of material from edge of LH door for required fit.
The estimate is between 5 and 10 mm needs to be removed from the edge of the door and I have a good straight edge
How to best remove this amount from door edge
(a) Circular Saw against straight edge - then sand
(b) (Big Triton) Router with bearing bit against straight edge (about 5 passes), if I can get a bit long enough for 45 mm door thickness?
(c) Electric plane (don't have one, been considering getting one for a while, but no experience and pretty scary tool)
Advice / Suggestions would be very much appreciated
Jon
Epoxy Screw hole filling (bad)
Filling the holes with (West System 105 = good) epoxy didn't allow the new holes to be drilled within 1 or 2 mm of the old holes.
The drill eventually just wandered off into the the old hole.
My guess is that this is the first time anyone has had this experience (deadly silence)
So I have now moved the hinges about 5 mm and drilled fresh holes.
