Mysterious Hidden Door Bookcase

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      BigDodgeMan

      Build Your own Mysterious Hidden Door Bookcase! Great for converting a small closet into a hidden room for safety or valuables! ~ @Budget101

      by nc sa small

      All my brother wanted for Christmas was a secret door. Since every self respecting man should have one. I began by taking some measurements, doing some internet research and this is what I came up with. The hard part was that he lives an hour away from me. So I had to build a mock door frame, transport it and hope things matched up.

      Unfortunately I don’t have many pictures of the build so I’ll explain it the best I can.secret hidden door 1

      How to Build a Mysterious Hidden Door Bookcase

      Materials:
      Sheet of 3/4″ smooth plywood
      Sheet of 1/2 plywood
      Lazy susan
      Long bolt and washers for top pivot point
      Misc. trim /spacer wood
      Rubber wheel 6″
      Screws
      Wood glue
      Trim to match house
      Gate latch with fishing string and special book for secret opener.

      The Build

      I begin by making a door frame to the exact measurements of my brothers closet. The dimensions of the finished door came out to be 34″ wide, 77″ tall and 8″ deep. I assume if you are building this project you have enough wood working skills to make a bookshelf and your sizing will vary so I won’t go into detail about that.

      measure doorway

      The door is a solid bookcase made from 3/4 smooth plywood and 1/2″ regular plywood for the back. Glued and screwed on all sides. There are five attached shelves and adjustable shelf holes drilled at the top. I made a template to help drill the holes all the correct width and height.

      hidden door caster

      One of the hardest parts was the hinge point. I used a lazy suzan on some 2×4 blocks for the bottom and a long bolt for the top.

      mysterious bookcase hidden door 3

      It took a lot of measuring and testing to get it centered right. Adequate spacing was needed on the hinge side to just barely clear the door frame and still be covered by trim.

      Most commercial doors have steel frames and don’t need caster wheels. Due to the weight of the shelves and contents we added a bed caster. Which needs to be changed because it’s marking my brothers soft wood floors.

      mysterious bookcase hidden door 1

      **Update. New 6 inch rubber wheel replacing bed caster, installed a little bit higher and hidden with fake books. It does not even hit the floor so I think this fixes the problem.

      mysterious bookcase hidden door 2

       

      Step 2: Installation and Tweaking

      Installation involved removing the closet door and trim. Screwing in some wood blocks to the inside wall that would accept the top hinge bolt.

      Once the door was in place, I tested the opening many times and then secured the base with 4″ screws.

      The latch bolt was installed to the interior door frame matching the latch height. A fishing line was secured and run through the back of the door and connected to the secret book opener.

      Hindsight note: Double or triple knot that fishing line or it might come off and your door is stuck closed.

      hidden bookshelf door latch lock

      The secret door opening book was a really nice touch supplied by my brother. I glued the pages together to make a solid area for attaching a small brass hinge and fishing line to pull open the latch.

      secret latch door opener

      Step 3: Finish

      My brother finished painting and loading with books and decorations. I think it turned out really nice and I’m told it’s a great conversation piece when company comes over and he puts their coats away.

      mysterious bookcase hidden door

      Project by Stryker, No Changes Made

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Budget101 Discussion List Archives Budget101 Discussion List Mysterious Hidden Door Bookcase