The cupboard doors...

I still have a long way to go with my cupboard doors. I've had a few set backs to contend with. My dad dissuaded me from buying a jigsaw so I tried to do the whole thing with a hand saw. I quickly realised this was futile for  the following reasons;
-I have no muscles.
-My husband blunted the saw cutting down a tree.
-It will take me a year to finish the doors as it is SLOW.

Also I was merrily sawing away and a piece of my tongue and groove snapped. I had to take the entire front of one door off as all the bits are glued down every join. I could have cried. (I didn't. I just slammed a few doors.)

I bought a little Black and Decker jigsaw and I'm thrilled with it.

 I've been working really hard on the doors, ducking out to saw or sand between the showers and I've had a blast. I decided that if I could get these doors to hang right and if they fit, I'm not only going to build a walk in wardrobe in the master bedroom, but I'm going to have a go at building window frames for the garage too. I've seen it on youtube and it doesn't look too hard. I'm now a qualified chippy having graduated from the youtube school of carpentry.

So where were we?
Ah yes, when we last discussed the doors I was at this point...

...having ripped off the front, sanded off the protruding lip and clad the front with tongue and groove.

I cut roughly round the door leaving a few mm to sand down. Next I flipped the door over, ripped off the back and sanded off the protruding lip that the hardboard sat in again...

Now you can see inside the door. On the cross bits of the inner frame I added a fatter piece of timber wherever the original hinges were. The new T hinges are mounted onto the face of the door so I needed something sturdy on the inside to take the weight.

The new hinges are going in the same place so I just went by the old hinge holes to see where to add wood.

Then I clad the back in tongue and groove, trimmed roughly round the edges with the jigsaw and sanded all the edges smooth.

They were starting to look like doors. The side edge shows the three layers sandwiched together...

...the original door in the centre. The door is now much heavier and much thicker than it was before. A word of caution here if you're thinking of doing this. Get the thinnest tongue and groove you can find. And make sure your door will fit back into the frame when it's fatter.

My door frame is constructed like this...

 

It's just an opening. If you were going to attempt this on a real doorway into a room the frame would have this...

...a piece of wood that makes the door shut and not swing both ways. I guess you could rip that off and put a new one further back so that the door didn't stand proud of the door architrave but it would be a lot of hassle. Also you need a wide flat door frame to accommodate the T hinges or you might have to cut into your frame. Again, a lot of hassle and it's going to look odd.

After a quick youtube masterclass on door hanging I realised I needed packers. These are great little things. They come in different thicknesses and you pop them in around your door trying to make sure that the gap around the door is equal on every side.

I loosely fixed a handle on so I could get it open again.

With T hinges it's best to attach them to the frame first and then the door.

At this point I was jumping for joy. The door opens and shuts!

Two more to go...

Wehey!

I decided to move the hinge side to the far side on the sloping door. I thought it would be nice to stand in the middle and open both doors rather than shimmy around to open the other one. Having done this I now see why it wasn't designed that way. The pointy top of the door hits the sloping ceiling. I might attach a chain so the door only opens so far or swap the hinge side back again. Not sure...

The door handles need placing properly, then I need to take the doors down again, punch down a hundred panel pins, fill the holes, treat the knots and paint the doors. But I'm relieved all the outdoors work is over and I can potter away on the rest of the job in the warm.

My daughter is not happy with the doors. It's not what she wants. She wants a wardrobe like this but bigger...

This is Rapunzels wardrobe and is about 6'' high. 

Failing that, she wants me to paint birds, flowers and rainbows on the doors I've slaved over. I won't be mum of the year because I can't bring myself to do that. It seems seven year old girls like all things blingy and bright and do not understand why mummies want everything to look old.

Until next time I shall be working like a dog to get these doors finished. Whether my family appreciate them or not.