Much has been written about the use of hollow core doors as a base plate for shelf layouts. It seems to be an easy and efficient way… [:)]
Today; I went to our local DIY market to find out whether they can supply hollow core doors - guess, what? Apparently, hollow core doors in any size are unknown in Germany.
Does any of you German readers know where to get them in this country? Help? [%-)]
Whilst I am not in Germany today, I did spend a pleasant few days in the country some months ago, and I am sure some hotel room doors were hollow core. But, as in many things, they may be called something different. Here in Australia they are commonly known as hollow core doors, but sometimes referred to as ‘flush panel’ doors. Maybe checking the local terminology may bring a better response. (I would know that a lot of hollow core door production machinery is manufactured in Germany…it would seem unusual that they would not make the doors there as well)
Perhaps if you explain the construction of the doors to the supplier - two solid wood pieces at top and bottom, cardboard filler to maintain the shape and a thin veneer for the "faces’ of the door? Zum gluck!
Why not make your own? Since you are Deutsch I will use metric numbers. US hollow core doors use a skin on both sides made of plywood about 6mm thick with a 25 mm thick box frame about 100mm wide for the wood except in the center where it is about 150 mm wide to allow for variation in location of door knobs and lock sets. The big advantage is the glued on skins act like I bean flanges at the points of maximum compression and expansion. This means less support is necessary. Making your own allows you to make a custom width also. Doors in the US are typically 46 cm to 92 cm in width. When mounting anything on the borrom it is also possible to cut through the bottom skin and mount directly to the upper one. I make a square hole with rounded corners and have never noticed any weakening of the door.
I guess I will have to make my own construction, it is not that difficult, but I was just looking for a short cut…
Thanks for the info!
They might be known as Interior or Closet doors in Germany, though I seem to recall that all the doors in Germany were solid wood.
Could you use the folding closet doors instead? I know that some are louvred, but some doors, such as doors that one might use to shut up a laundry closet, are solid-faced and hinged. They are also hollow to keep weight down.
-Crandell
All the doors I could find are of the louvered-type and that´s no help. Built-in closets are not that common in Germany, so the need for such doors seems to be limited.
I will have to make my own contraption - a ladder-type, light frame covered plywood. Don´t know whether I will cover both sides, though.
Sir;
You are looking for this kind of door. (Discription) (Print it out and take with)
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/220894515/Flush_Door_Plywood_door_door.html
This store should carry them. Looks alot like our Home Depot. (would be my guess)
http://www.hornbach.com/brochure/ro/data/HORNBACH_wh200906.pdf
Hope this helps!
John
PS: The comercials are great! http://www.hornbach.com/home/ro/html/
“Yippie!” http://www.hornbach.com/home/ro/html/
Don’t feel too bad Madog. I searched for a while and didn’t come up with much more than listings on classifieds like craigslist and online auction type sites. Even the stupid local home supply stores web sites were useless. They either didn’t say anything, or just said “not sold at this store”. I guess If I want use hollow core panels I have to make my own, and, well, that would just be dumb sense it would use more material and be more expensive than if I made my own open gride or L girder.
Or walk into any Home Depot or Lowes in North America and buy one. Obviously, that’s small comfort in Germany, but in the U.S. you shouldn’t have a problem. Did you go into a store and look?
Stupid home depot is the one that didn’t list any hollow door anything on the site. Stupid lowes is the one that kept saying “not available at this store”. Not that that mattered much. I’d rather go to HP, Menards, or Fleet Farm and buy the wood to make my own frame then spand the time and gas driving 30 minutes to get to the closest lowes. I hate going to those stores anyways. You always run into the those pesty unifrom people asking “what can I help you find” then they give you a look when you say oh just looking. It’s like I’m the enemy because I’m window shopping/bargain hunting and not just buying. Plus all the confusion. I went to fleet farm once to get some 1x6 pine and the guy looked at me like ‘you want what kinda wood now?’ Then I had the guy outside telling me “well this wood has a better looking face but this wood has stronger grain.” Yeah buddy, I know, and even if I didn’t it shouldn’t matter, I asked specifically for Pine, no other kind of wood. I guess I have this tendancy to let someone tell me how something is instead of saying “don’t have to lecture me buddy I already know about wood”.
… I see that shopping in the US is very much like shopping in Germany. May be a slight difference - the shop attendants in Germany have no product knowledge, whatsoever…
[:D]
I am not going to use hollow core doors, because I don´t get any - I will make my own plywood-over frame construction to be mounted on shelf-brackets - seems to be the cheapest way.
In Green Bay? That’s pretty bizarre. My HD and Lowes both have a boatload of various hollow core doors - unhung, pre-hung.
It is unfortunate that you can’t find unhung hollow core doors at HD. Our HD in Traverse City, MI has three or four stacks of various width unhung flat face doors, the widest being 36’ by about 79" long. If you can’t find a unhung flat finish door then use a 18" wide bi-fold closet door and take the screws out that hold the door sections together. You end up with two 79 inch long sections each being 18" wide. The outside of the wrapping will say 36" wide. flat panel hollow core door. That is what I am using on my layout and a picture is can be found on the “Hollow Core Door and Wiring” post that is located in this layout forum. If you need to, you can add 1x2" pine to the edge to build out the door to greater than 18".
Ulrich, I wish you could find the doors in Germany.
Larry
Yeah, so do mine here in Maine. I think what he’s complaining about is that they’re not available for viewing online. I’ve tried looking.
Just checking Lowe’s in WI, it appears that the flush luaun door isn’t sold there. I can see a listing for it at the website, but when you go to a specific store, it tells you that you’re SOL. When I’m in California, I can’t find them either at Lowe’s or HD. The only ones I can find are hardboard.
Andre
Home Depot in Traverse City have Birch and Oak doors but no lauan
WOW!!! 36’!!! THAT IS A BIG DOOR!!! MUST WEIGH IN AT CLOSE TO TWO TONS!!! Down here in the sunny climes of the desert southwest our local Home Despot can special order hollow cores up to 42" X 80".
A lot of people labor under the impression that hollow core doors are usable in and of themselves. Keep in mind that essentially a hollow core door is a guitar and unless some kind of sound deadening material–Homasote® or foam–is mounted as subroadbed your layout is going to sound like an out of tune Bruce Springsteen.
Sir Madog, you have the right idea in building your own platform.
You didn’t ask the question, but IMHO hollow core doors are over-rated for model railroad benchwork. Yes, HCDs provide a pre-built, light, rigid, flat tabletop - not really too different from a 2" slab of extruded foam, except less easy to alter.
The Achilles heel of HCDs is the relative difficulty of making it more than what it already is - a pre-built, light, rigid, flat table top. Attaching legs means adding some support at the point where legs attach. Obtaining below track level scenery without compromising the structural integrity of the HCD means elevating the track above the HCD surface - commonly done with extruded foam sheet, which usually doubles the total cost of the HCD. Attaching wires underneath means installing fascia and/or pads to hide the wiring and provide any needed room for the wiring between the HCD and its supports.
IMHO, if hollow core doors can be obtained cheaply enough, then the extra work and expense to overcome the limitations may be worthwhile. But if the HCD is going to cost the same as a sheet of extruded foam, I’ll take the greater utility of the foam every time. This, despite the fact I don’t consider foam to be the optimal material in many situations, either.
For your proposed shelf layout, the hollow core door set on shelf supports is the fastest way to get a flat shelf surface. And since you probably don’t want any change in track elevations in your layout, a slab of foam on top of an HCD, with a cutout for the canal, would probably be an acceptable base.
But without easy access to HCDs, framed foam will work even better, albeit with a couple of extra hours to build the frame.
A more exotic cookie-cuttered plywood and/or foam on top of a grid with risers where desired will permit buildings and track to be at slightly different elevations, and will get rid of the “Miami flat”
Here is my first Hollow Core door for my shelf layout.
Door was less than 25$ at Lowes.
More:
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/153523/1698995.aspx#1698995
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/152527/1688281.aspx#1688281