Thread: A Newbe Looking for ideas on Rotating book shelf

Be careful with this mob asking them to tell you where to go!

Thinking about your bookshelves, the first thought is weight and it's suspension. Any hinges used would have to be very heavy duty. The existing framing of the opening would probably have to be beefed up.

The questions I'm about to ask are rehtorical and don't need to be answered. Is it your intention to have the shelves split down the middle and hinged on both sides? Or are you thinking of solid shelves that are hinged on one side? A third way is to put a pipe down the middle and spin the shelves on that axis. This third way would require additional framing both top and bottom to make it work. All three methods may also require the use of castors on the ends to assist with weight distribution.

The problem you have with shelves, besides the weight, is their depth. In order for the shelves to spin freely you have to have large enough gap to allow the the sidewall(s) to pass each other or other fixed objects. You'd have to mount trim to the shelves to hide the gap when they were closed (both sides?).

a "spinning" bookcase would be fun - ie: one that is pivoted in the middle - like in Young Frankenstein and similar films..... you'd just have to make sure the opening was big enough to let people through. If hinged on the side, what I think you'd need to do in addition to the requisite heavy duty hinges, is a roller system of some kind on the outer edge to support everything long-term. I have blocked a doorway with a double-sided bookcase type affair, but never bothered making it open as there was another door into the room. Apart from the books falling off when it swings, I guess it is a fairly straightforward project, once thought through.

.....how's that for a statement?

have fun! BTW, I guess you realised this forum is based in Australia -either way a BIG WELCOME!

have fun

If all the engineering/planning for a pivotting or hinged bookcase sounds very difficult then you may want to consider a sliding arrangement. This would only work on a hard floor surface though but would be relatively simple. You could have a picture rail near the top that doubled as a top guide track to prevent it falling away from the wall.

Mick (thinking laterally )

Interesting problem. I'd tend to go with heavy duty casters concealed in the base - if they are all swivel casters you can put more than 4 in the base so you don't exceed the weight capacity of the casters.

As for how to get it to fit in the doorway - another fine problem. If you use casters, you can just make the whole thing slide back into one room and then rotate out of the way - sort of like a giant flipper door on an Entertainment Unit - or roll sideways. Another thought is that you could/should make it double sided with books on the 'public' side and whatever you like on the 'private' side - more books, a wardrobe, entertainment unit.......

You could use drop bolts or something similar to stop it rolling away if someone leans on it - of course you may have a sense of humo(u)r like mine & would be entertained by someone trying to impress a member of the opposite gender slowly toppling over as the solid structure they were leaning on just went away.

You probably need to watch several old horror movies with secret bookcase passages for some more ideas. I suspect that the special effects set builders just cheated the whole thing to close against the face frame as you never see the back in the same scene that you see the front in.

thinking it through further, I reckon the full swivel idea would work best and be easiest to construct as it places (basically) even load on both sides. Medium duty turntable bases abound in industrial applications and would be funky.

(wanders off thinking about one of his own doorways......)

here's the one I made to fill in the redundant doorway previously mentioned.

have fun

There's a picture of one in this link.

http://www.sjlibrary.org/mlkart/brow...rder=5&start=1

I can't see the need for any wheels on the base for support but you are going to come up against some nightmare problems in trying to rig up some sort of system that will slow the rotation of the bookcase when it closes. Young Frankenstein was on Austar last night and it gave a classic example of what happens when a body gets between the door and jamb. If you have kids in the house (or visiting) you will want to make sure that they can't get their fingers caught. A normal door will hurt when closed on fingers but a heavy rotating bookcase full of books will sever little fingers. Maybe the reveals could be made of some kind of flexible material.
It gets pretty cold in your neck of the woods so a lot of office buildings have revolving doors. It wouldn't be too hard to get info on hinges used.

Put

The

Candle


Back!





have fun

If you make it a fully rotating shelf, centred in the opening then the gable ends will need to be curved, radius = door opening x .5. That's a lot of work you're making for yourself.

Mick

gables on a bookcase.....!!!???

now I seen evrythang

Originally Posted by seriph1

gables on a bookcase.....!!!???

now I seen evrythang

Shelves= horizontals in a cabinet
Rails= Horizontal supports
Gables = Ends (vertical) of a cabinet
At least, that's what they've always been called by all the people I've worked with, maybe it's just a regional thing?

Mick

"Its about a 5 foot wide area with a 7 foot opening"

Im thinking you wont have enough width in your doorway at 5', a book case needs to be around 300mm(1')deep. Putting a depth of 1' in the middle will only give you 2' each side as a door way which should be 2.6-2.7' wide mininum.(wheelchairs... and furniture)
Plus you probably want a book case on each side?

But if you could use the whole 7'?(or is that the height?)

I reckon you best bet would be make a book case in 2 halfs and hinge it off each side of the door frame.

I thought you could try a bookcase that lifts up into the ceiling, or goes down into the floor, useing the door frame as the tracks with huge couterweights inside the framework.we all have to look for novel ways of helping each other, to designe and build unusual ways to fix problems.

seein' as how the last post was a coupla years ago,
they probably got the job done or gave up

Google for "Hidden Room" and "secret passage". Maybe even "panic room"

There are companies in the USA which have these as their standard products.

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Hidden-Door-Bookshelf

http://www.hiddendoors.com/home.asp

Cheers,
Andrew