One more stupid question

[Quinn222]

I have scored a truck for tomorrow evening and am going to lowes to buy doors and lumber for my benchwork. Questions regarding the doors: They are hollow core doors, how do I attach things to them? Obviously you can attach hardware to them so is it safe to assume that there is enough of a solid edge on them to attach legs and a fascia? Do I use standard wood screws? I know I can ask the guy at Lowes but I'm thinking he may not have been asked how to attach legs to a door before.

Christina

 

[oldtanker]

Christina, the doors have a solid wood edge about 1 1/2" all the way around. You can attach hardware with wood screws. I myself would think about making a 1"x4" frame, attach the legs to that and attach that to the door.

Rick

 

[MasonJar]

There is usually a 2x2 frame around the outside of the door, and a chunk of wood where the handle would go. Best bet to attach folding table type legs (for example) is to get some 1x4 or bigger, and glue it in the appropriate spot. You can screw it too, but use metal screws (as opposed to woodworking screws) that have a thread right to the head. You don't want to risk having no "bite" in the door skin...

Good luck! Have fun at the hardware store...

Andrew

 

[oldtanker]

Andrew, hate to argue with you but I just installed 3 new hollow core doors in my house, The wood edge actually measures 1 1/8" square.

Rick

 

[MasonJar]

Then don't do it... sign1

2x2 is nominal - actually closer to 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 as you stated in your first post. But now you're down to 1 1/8 - where's the other 3/8" ??

Andrew

 

[Quinn222]

Thanks guys, I'll add 1x4s to the shopping list!

 

[oldtanker]

sign1 Andrew, don't know but I'm going back to Home Depot and asking....sign1

Rick

 

[fsm1000]

Youknow that you can also get a decent folding table, one that holds a couple hundred pounds for instance, and just put the doors on them. Would save a lot of time and effort. Just epoxy the door on top of it aand presto done.
Hope that helps.

 

[fsm1000]

Oh yeah, the only 'stupid' question is the one you don't ask
So keep asking

 

[Jim Krause]

As someone mentioned above, the term 2X2 is nominal as is 2X4, 2X6 etc. Those terms/measurements are old and indicated the unplaned dimensions for lumber as it came from the saw and before planing. The finished size of the lumber at present is 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 or 1 1/2 X3 1/2 etc. About 45 years ago there was a change. The old 2X4 used to be 1 5/8 X 3 5/8. Totally off topic but a bit of historic trivia for you younger folks.
I suspect that your door reinforcement will be whatever minimum size the manufacturer can get away with, including plastic or cardboard in some cases.
Anyway Quinn, have fun building your layout. Welcome

 

[Herc Driver]

I did exactly as fsm1000 recommended and it works well. I used a typical smooth sided hollow door, and plan on affixing it with industrial velcro (also at Lowe's) to keep it from sliding off the folding-leg table top. I'm going to try the velcro idea because I drilled holes through the door to route turnout and powerpack wires and would like access to them just in case.

As far as smooth door construction goes...if you ever need to cut some of the door off, you'll be cutting through the strength of the door since there's only wood around the edges (normally there's cardboard strips in the door's center), but grab a yardstick from Lowe's too because it is the perfect height to sandwich between the door faces if you cut off the rigid wood framing. I had to cut 18" off the bottom of my door (wish I had that little bit extra back for more scenery/track) and glued the yardstick (cut length to size) between the top and bottom layer of the door face. I've had no problem with twisting or warpage and the yardstick is a perfect fit.

Lastly, consider buying 1" foam insulation board (or whatever size you'd like) too and glueing it to the door top. That will give you some options on creating ditches, rivers and ponds on the layout. That's one thing I wish I would have thought of before starting my layout.

 

[Old_Bob]

Guys, I am a general contractor (just retired) and have hung many a door. The cheap doors you get at a home center have no more that 1-1/8" of wood around the edges, and it can be as little as 1". There is a block (usually particleboard) in the center of each side for a knob.

The nice thing about these doors is that they are usually perfectly flat and square. And relatively light weight.

In this situation I would use drywall screws or similar construction or deck screws. They have a very sharp point and coarse threads; very easy to drive manually or with a power driver. General good practice: Predrill holes in the first piece of wood so the screw passes through and bites into the second piece of wood. I particularly like deck screws because most have a square-X slot. Using a square driver bit gives a very positive and strong connection, and deck screws can take the torque.

 

[Quinn222]

In this situation I would use drywall screws or similar construction or deck screws. .... Using a square driver bit gives a very positive and strong connection, and deck screws can take the torque.

Thanks for the info. The truck fell through for last night so I have another week to plan what to do.