Rare earth magnets in doors

[40gal]

Has anyone used the rare earth magnets to secure the doors on their stand? I have a cube stand that I built with recessed doors that are removable (not hinged). The standard vanity cabinet magnets don't cut it. Would embedding rare earth magnets inside the doors be strong enough to securely hold the doors on? If so, what size magnets should I use?

 

[gavinsepanik]

You can buy magnets meant for this at home depot.

 

[40gal]

I looked at lowes, but came up empty. I have a couple of magnets at home, but they are smaller ones. While they're powerful for their size, I'm not sure they would be strong enough to do what I need them to. I'm heading to home depot today, I'll check and see what they have in stock.

 

[Live Rockin]

I used some magnets from home depot and mounted them on the top of the panel. on the bottom of the panel I placed a piece of 1X2 and nailed a 3/8 piece of plywood to that to create a groove so that most of the weight of the panel rest on that bottom groove.

 

[dbl]

I used some magnets from home depot and mounted them on the top of the panel. on the bottom of the panel I placed a piece of 1X2 and nailed a 3/8 piece of plywood to that to create a groove so that most of the weight of the panel rest on that bottom groove.

Agreed"¦device a way for the bottom of the door be supported by the cabinet frame (more than one way). It will hold the actual weight of the door, and just about any magnet on top will simply hold the door in place. I have 8 panels total on my peninsula cabinet installed this way with no issues.

 

[sumer]

Very easily done with some Neodymium magnets and gorrilla glue.
I would use quarter sized magnets. Infact I have some on hand. I use those to mount driftwoods on my live-wall.

 

[40gal]

I found some at Home Depot, and picked two different packs up. I read that if you double them up, it doubles the strength, so I put two in the stand and one in the door.

One pack looked like washers, with a hole in the center. The others were solid. They were both 3/4" in diameter. They seem to be working great, and I only have them in the top two corners. I'm going to put them in all four corners of each of the three doors. I won't be worried about my doors going anywhere after doing so.

I ordered 40 more magnets from ebay today - should have them by the 19th if everything goes right. Looking forward to having doors that can stay on by themselves!

I appreciate all the help.

 

[sleepydoc]

Agreed"¦device a way for the bottom of the door be supported by the cabinet frame (more than one way). It will hold the actual weight of the door, and just about any magnet on top will simply hold the door in place. I have 8 panels total on my peninsula cabinet installed this way with no issues.

+1
Having magnets strong enough to hold the door on with no other support at all would likely make the door quite difficult to remove

 

[40gal]

+1
Having magnets strong enough to hold the door on with no other support at all would likely make the door quite difficult to remove

I realized this from the get-go, and the way I designed my stand took that into account. Here's a quick picture of how my stand is built:

Hopefully you can see that the doors are set flush when installed. Now if I could find a way to keep them from slightly bowing so they would be completely flush with the outside of the stand, I'd be in business!

 

[Scott Holman]

Forstner bit

Forstner bit

You can purchase a forstner drill bit which will inset the magnet into the door and allow you to mount it flush with the stand which may help with warping.

 

[kinnadian]

I used 1/2" plywood and magnets on my current stand. The plywood was 100% sealed and painted and it has still warped over time. I suspect from lack of support, even though it sits securely on the floor.

I want to do the same thing again, I'm thinking 3/4" plywood this time but even the plywood from the store is slightly warped. Not sure how to prevent it from warping.

I was thinking about a frame around the inside of the inside but it would make the gap from the tank to the outside of the doors to nearly 1 1/2" which is ugly.

 

[40gal]

You can purchase a forstner drill bit which will inset the magnet into the door and allow you to mount it flush with the stand which may help with warping.

That's exactly what I did, and it worked out perfectly. I was going to put a wooden dowel in over the magnets, but I didn't countersink them enough(on purpose). I think I'm going to skim them over with white silicone to seal them from any moisture.

 

[40gal]

I used 1/2" plywood and magnets on my current stand. The plywood was 100% sealed and painted and it has still warped over time. I suspect from lack of support, even though it sits securely on the floor.

I want to do the same thing again, I'm thinking 3/4" plywood this time but even the plywood from the store is slightly warped. Not sure how to prevent it from warping.

I was thinking about a frame around the inside of the inside but it would make the gap from the tank to the outside of the doors to nearly 1 1/2" which is ugly.

I used 3/4" for mine, but because I didn't trim the plywood, the slight war page shows. I too thought about possibly welding a metal angle iron frame to bolt to the inside of the door to reduce warpage, but I'm not sure if that would even help. Maybe a frame isn't even necessary - two vertical pieces may be enough to pull it back into plane?

I'd love to hear more ideas on this if anyone has them.

 

[kinnadian]

I've been doing some reading and people reckon that plywood will always eventually warp unless the absolute best grade of plywood is used eg cabinetry plywood. Marine grade isn't good enough.

I am wondering now about mdf, that won't warp but I'm not sure about sealing it. I've always read to never use it and to use ply but I think most skin the stand with ply then put solidwood doors on, rather than what we want to do with removable plywood doors with no inherent support.

All stand manufacturers use mdf. You obviously wouldn't use it if it was structural.

 

[bdevillier]

I've been doing some reading and people reckon that plywood will always eventually warp unless the absolute best grade of plywood is used eg cabinetry plywood. Marine grade isn't good enough.

I am wondering now about mdf, that won't warp but I'm not sure about sealing it. I've always read to never use it and to use ply but I think most skin the stand with ply then put solidwood doors on, rather than what we want to do with removable plywood doors with no inherent support.

All stand manufacturers use mdf. You obviously wouldn't use it if it was structural.

I have used mdf for doors with good luck, I just put a few coats of oil based stain blocking primer first to help seal it up.

 

[40gal]

That's good info about the MDF, the problem in my current build is that the finish could not be made to match the rest of the stand. I stained my stand with a black stain, so it almost looks painted with a hint of wood grain that shows through.

Another option would be to veneer some MDF. That wouldn't work in my case, but it could if that was done to the entire stand for thickness purposes.

The amount of warp-age I have is very minimal, and for a normal cabinet door it would not be noticeable. The problem is that because the doors sit flush with the "skin" of the stand, it is very noticeable when it doesn't line up perfectly.

I may have to pick up some angle iron and see if that may be an option.

 

[kinnadian]

I have used mdf for doors with good luck, I just put a few coats of oil based stain blocking primer first to help seal it up.

How many layers did you apply?

How long have you used them for with "good luck"?

I would think the hardest part to seal would be the actual edges, which will receive the most amount of punishment and are most able to fail.

That's good info about the MDF, the problem in my current build is that the finish could not be made to match the rest of the stand. I stained my stand with a black stain, so it almost looks painted with a hint of wood grain that shows through.

Another option would be to veneer some MDF. That wouldn't work in my case, but it could if that was done to the entire stand for thickness purposes.

The amount of warp-age I have is very minimal, and for a normal cabinet door it would not be noticeable. The problem is that because the doors sit flush with the "skin" of the stand, it is very noticeable when it doesn't line up perfectly.

I may have to pick up some angle iron and see if that may be an option.

Vaneering MDF can't be done by hobbyists, need extremely high pressure presses like a professional shop has.

I thought about angle iron but that also needs to be primed, painted, etc. A lot of extra work.

I am thinking of making something like this left door:

Hardwood is used for the outside, this will hide the edges and corners of the MDF that I am most worried about. The flat faces of the MDF can be easily sealed before being assembled inside the hardwood railing.

It's pretty time consuming and not the best looking doors though.

 

[sleepydoc]

I've veneered MDF without a problem...

If you go to the orange Borg or other home centers, you can order custom cabinet doors for relatively cheap. Plenty of places online to get them too. Black is hard to come by, it's probably the best way to get doors otherwise. By the time you but the router bits and wood it ends up costing as much or more to make them yourseld

 

[speakerguy]

I'm a DIY speakerbuilder. Neodymium magnets are frequently used by DIYers to hold speaker grills onto loudspeakers. You can find a wide variety at Parts Express.

http://www.parts-express.com/cat/magnets/524

Veneering MDF is also very easy for the hobbyist. Just get some paper backed veneer, contact cement, and a J-roller to apply adequate pressure. I've successfully veneered large pieces that have held up over the years (10+) without peeling.

Also, regarding combining magnets - magnets work better "in parallel" than "in series". Putting them side by side will result in a significantly higher force than stacking them.