Scissor Door Cabinet

For school I have to make a free project, where I can choose what I want to make to graduate.

I got inspiration from an Asian carpenter, where I saw a ‘scissor door’. I not only thought it looked really cool, but it also seemed like a fun challenge to make myself.

In my room, the space is limited: walkways and workspace overlap. That’s why I wanted to design a cupboard that saves space, doesn’t get in the way, and with which I can store all my stuff compactly, efficiently and neatly out of sight.

Enjoy!

Tools:

1. Cordless drill
2. Drill bit 3, 8 and 10mm
3. Sander
4. Jigsaw
5. A file
6. Hand saw
7. Dowel Marking Points 8 and 10mm
8. small screwdriver
9. hamer
10. Speed drill
11. Tacker
12. Tape measure
13. Pencil
14. The compasses
15. T-square
16. workmate or other clamping option
17. Glue clamp

Materials:

1. Multiplex 15mm 1220*2440
2. Multiplex 3,6mm 610*1220
3. Dowels 8mm * 40
4. invisible hinge - https://www.meubelbeslagonline.nl/onzichtbaar-scharnier-10-mm-messing-mat
5. Wood glue
6. pine stair railing 45 mm
7. Screws 4*40
8. painter's tape
9. Polymax glue

Saw the plate into the desired parts.

PS: GIVE THE PLATES NAMES WITH YOU PENCIL, this will save you a lot of time searching and looking which is the front and/or back.

TIP: To have an optimal use of surface, you can use the app Cutlist Optimizer. Its totaly free and super practical.

Drill holes in the side surfaces of the side plates (580*350) (2x)

*Make sure the drill hole (8mm) is centered in relation to the plate thickness to prevent cracking or breaking

Now use the Dowel Marking Points to mark the drilling points in the top and bottom plate. (610*350)

Make sure the side surfaces are flush and hit them with the hammer.

Then drill the holes on the punched marks.

TIP: To make sure you dont drill to deep, you can mark the 10 or 12mm point on the drill with some painter's tape.

Now, just like with the side panels, make holes in the side surfaces of the shelves (plate 335*282,5). Use only two holes here to save material. Again, make sure that they are properly centered. (Make sure to drill in the side that's 335mm)

Then mark your desired shelf height on the left side panel and the center panel. Level the marked height with the work surface of the workmate and again use the Dowel Marking Points 8mm to mark the drilling points with the hammer. Make sure that the shelf is level with the side surface that will eventually be at the back and that it lies flat on the workmate. And drill the holes afterwards.

For the next step, draw 2 equal squares with the width and height of the diameter of the stair railing + plate thickness * 2. In my case: 75 * 75 mm. Draw a cross from corner to corner with the try square inside the square and place your compass point in the intersection and draw a circle from there in the diameter of the birch stair railing.

Then use the speed drill to drill in the middle of the cross and saw away the remaining wood in the drawn circle with the jigsaw. With a hole saw you could have the hole to size in one go, but I don't have one :). Then use the file to make the hole exactly in the shape of the circle.

Then saw out the marked square.

In the next step we will start with one of the most critical parts, namely the doors (plate 305*305). Make a mark at 2/3 of the width (in my case +/- 200mm) and 2/3 of the height. *Make sure that the markings are close to the same corner. Then draw a line of 45 degrees from the markings with the try square. Do this with both plates.

Now clamp a plate on the door with the glue clamp and make sure that the plate is level with the drawn line. *This plate serves as a guide during sawing. Do this with all drawn lines.

In the next step we will do the preliminary work for the hinges. We will drill holes with a 10mm drill bit. First drill the holes in the triangular parts. *Keep sufficient distance from the slanted sides and make sure they are centered in relation to the plate thickness. Now use the 10mm Dowel Marking Points. Make sure you do not swap the triangles or swap the front or back.

TIP: Mark 10mm on the drill bit with masking tape, the hinges are very fragile and error-prone. Once they are too deep in the hole you will not easily get them out without breaking them, so make sure you do not drill more than 12mm deep.

Next we are going to saw the banister into pieces. These will serve as hinges and as furniture legs. Saw four of 40mm, which will serve as furniture legs. And saw four of 30mm, these will serve as hinges.

Now you have the vast majority of the parts ready. Sand everything with the sander.

Note! Do not sand the parts that have to do with fitting (the round holes and the hinge parts of the stair railing) on ​​the contact surfaces.

Now we can start with the assembly. First we are going to make the leg. Drill holes in the base plate with a 3mm drill bit. Place them where you like it best, I placed them flush with the outsides. And then screw them in place.

Now start assembling the shelf section. Get the wood glue and dowels, first glue the dowels into the left and middle panel. It takes about half an hour for the glue to dry enough to start working with. *Make sure the holes in the shelves are deep enough, drill them a bit deeper to be sure. Better too deep than too shallow. Then put glue in the holes of the shelves and slide them over the dowels. If necessary, use a hammer to get the dowels or plates in as far as possible. Make sure the construction is square using the try square.

Then place the dowels with wood glue in the top and bottom plate.

When the glue has dried a bit, the construction can be put together. Start with the bottom plate, put some wood glue on the protruding dowels or in the holes of the left and right side plate and slide them over the dowels. Use a hammer again to make everything fit properly. *If necessary, use a screwdriver with a flat head to be able to separate the parts if it does not fit properly.

Do the same with the top plate.

In the next step, the first hinge parts are mounted. You will do this with Polymax, this glue is very strong construction glue and immediately gives the material a hold. This makes the placement very comfortable. The most important thing is that these parts are flush with the top and bottom plate. I did this with the try square. Now clamp the part with a glue clamp to fix the position and wipe away the remaining glue residue on the front.

Do this on the top and bottom.

Now we are going to mount the hinges, as I said before, they are very fragile. Before we start, loosen the small set screw that is on the inside with the small screwdriver, make sure you don't lose it!

TIP: If your screwdriver is not small enough, you can use a wood drill such as the speed drill, the center point of this also has a flat head.

Then place the hinges in the holes, make sure that the hinges in the parts of picture 1 hinge DOWN and the hinges of the parts in picture 2 hinge UP. If you have done it the wrong way, NO PROBLEM. The holes and the rounding as in the picture are not there yet. If they go in stiffly or not far enough, you can tap them with a tool with a cylindrical shape and tap gently with a hammer. CAUTION! Do not hit the hinges directly with the hammer, you run the risk of bending or breaking the hinge arm.

When the top of the hinge is level with the surface, you can tighten the adjustment screw again.

Now place the doors where you want them on the cabinet. To do this, lay the cabinet flat on its back. Make sure the sides are centered with respect to the edge. Then fold the door open and mark the diameter of the hole on the bottom of both the top and bottom.

Saw out the marked holes just as you did with the hinge parts. Check if the holes have the richt diameter (45mm in my case)

Then draw the center of the circle on the inner parts 37.5mm from the edge. From that point draw a hole with a diameter of 45mm with the passes. From that same point draw a rounding with a radius of 37.5mm at the corner with the passes. Do that for both doors. Then first make the hole and then make the rounding on the plate with the help of a saw and a file.

Then you first make four circles with a diameter of 50mm. Draw with the compass on a plate and saw out the circles and pre-drill them in the middle with a 3mm drill bit. These circles will ensure that the hinge parts stay in place.

Then you make the part that is shown above. First check the center distance at your own door and adjust the drawing accordingly if necessary. You can check this by measuring when you place the doors in the desired position (centered with the edges).

Now comes the most important moment, the assembly of the doors. For this it is important that everything fits. The stair railings that you previously sawed off at 30mm must now fit into the parts shown above. With the parts above it is important that they fit tightly, so if necessary file the part a little if it does not fit, but try not to remove too much. If it fits, then glue the stair railing into the holes with wood glue and place them flush with what should be the visible side.

After this you can make the remaining holes to size. It is important that the stair railings can turn smoothly in these holes, but do not give them too much play that they can wobble in the hole.

Now first place the next part in the hinge part. Then place a circle that you have made on the end of the stair railing that is on the inside of the cabinet and screw it in. NOTE! Place the circle as much as possible in the middle, otherwise your door can get stuck because the circle runs against one of the surrounding plates. Don't screw it to tight, otherwise it won't be able to turn.

Do this at the top and the bottom.

Now repeat this as follows on the above parts. And now also attach the part that will serve as a handle.

If you have this part attached it should work just like in the video. If not, it could be two things. You have tightened your screws too much or you made a mistake with the sawing. Try to find out where the resistance is and adjust until it works.

Finally, the back plate goes on the cabinet. Saw this to the dimensions of the cabinet (if you have used the same dimensions as I did, then that is 610*610mm).

Place the sides of the sawn plate flush with the cabinet and tack the plate.

If you are going to use the cabinet as a laundry basket like I did, then you can saw a hole in the top plate using the jigsaw and the speed drill.

When you have done all the work you wanted to do, you can go over the cabinet one more time with the sander and then it is ready!

Enjoy your new cabinet! :)