8 Tips for Perfect Sliding Doors without Hardware

[@eleanoreperry1231]

Upon unboxing, I was immediately upset at how the rails were very noticeably bent. But I kept going, all tools needed to assemble were included kzbin.infoUgkxqtX4Dxs6aecAZEuz6GY5-d81YecKCshn and I had it set up in about 30 minutes. Honestly I love this thing, make sure to read the measurements and measure your space so you know if it'll work for you. I bought this to put inside my closet, underneath where I hang my clothes and it is absolutely perfect! It is VERY sturdy and all drawers glide easily and mine are stuffed, and they are still flush when closed.

[@christopherduff1110]

So glad I grew up in a country with the metric system.

[@vietdragon5174]

and im glad my parents did

[@redlancer7263]

When you grow up with feet and inches, it just makes sense. You can be just as precise with Imperial as you can with Metric. Maybe the math is a little easier with metric, but that's why we have calculators.

[@jaimiem.k.8958]

I find the math of imperial to be easy once I became an experienced woodworker. Example (quick math in your head): 1167mm+886mm= VS 18 1/8 + 56 7/16=…….. imperial is quicker in an instance like this. I do really like metric though and if one system were only to survive it probably has a wider range of applications and ease

[@KingKarrit]

Fractions make more sense from ahuman perspective.

[@SpencleyDesignCo]

This is the kind of information the people need! Thanks, Chris!

[@csimet]

Probably one of the best explanations on how to properly build sliding doors I've come across... even if you don't make fine furniture and only shop cabinets. Great presentation and video production.

[@richardbaggaley1172]

I’ve never built a cabinet with a sliding door before and just a weekend warrior in the shop. But with this video, I built a sliding door on my cabinet in just a few short hours. My wife is very pleased with the results! This video is awesome!!! Keep up the great work.

[@steverochon1620]

I taught for 38 years. You have a gift.

[@joelazar6152]

This was incredibly helpful. I just did sliding doors and your tutorial was all I needed. Thank you!

[@Hakuwoodworks]

I very much appreciate your thorough descriptions and reasoning for the choices that you make. Of course, your delivery is great as well, thank you.

[@eleonoramatok]

Thank you very much for this video. It is very helpful for me.. You make absolutely stunning furniture, so beautiful and sophisticated it is a pleasure to watch.

[@dougbutcher5711]

Excellent video! Articulate, succinct, but all the necessary details. Thank you for not rambling on just to hear yourself talk as so many online videos do.

[@kikongkalikot1162]

Warby parker is just for USA and CANADA only... anyway still your no.1 fan here in the philippines.. keep it upand goodbless... stay safe... more power to foureyes.

[@vkeykanesan9309]

I remember doing this for our wood work classes back in high school . From Malaysia

[@JustinRobinson91]

Thank you so much for this video. Built my first cabinet today and used your sliding door method to get results that were a lot better than I expected.

[@slowerpicker]

Exceptional content, animations, explanations-you saved me hours of trial and error.

[@stonedoliveees]

Ideal for galley kitchens!

[@LonelyDogBarking]

Impressed. Thanks a lot. Learned so much in less than half an hour.

[@fucugz]

You sound so natural when you explain all the steps that your projects involve. I was not aware of the hard work behind the scenes. The quality that you give us in each video is impressive. THANK YOU.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks man...it definitely isn't a natural thing for me to talk on camera and explain. But I guess I've gotten very used to it over the years.

[@barryirby8609]

Recently made a MCM console with sliding doors. Did the tongue and groove version and they worked well, but would do them differently next time. I would cut narrow slots in the case and cut rabbets on the backs of the doors, but not in the front. The rabbets in the front of the doors "show", you can look into the cracks under and over the doors and the must be neatly lined up. Also, both surfaces of the front rabbets must be finished nicely. It would be cleaner if the front of the doors were flat and the rabbets on the back help to close the gap between the doors.

[@paulkozowyk]

Yes! I'm glad this was the top comment because I came on here just to say that what you explained is the way I do it, and it solves the problem of seeing any seam along the top of the door. It's also one less cut to do because you only have to do a rabbet on one side of the door.

[@deeuutee]

Followed your suggestion and did 10mm wide from the face of the door at the bottom, but full width at the top because it was less work. Looks really clean. It's a tv cabinet, and only has doors on each end with an open shelf in the middle, so just one groove.

[@jorgearenas872]

Thanks Master...I learnt a lot of this originally Japanese technique... No hardware at all!!!... Greetings from Medellin!!!

[@richcartwright889]

My favourite how to of yours yet. Great video.

[@djeity]

Excellent tutorial - thanks a whole lot, I really appreciate it and found it easy to understand. I was about to start planning construction of a credenza which will need sliding doors. This helped me settle some thoughts I had had, and convinced me not to go down the expensive sliding hardware route.

[@LiloUkulele]

Excellent video. Great graphics. These tips really helped with my full size shoji doors.

[@alans1816]

You always explain well how to do useful things. With sliding doors, I've found it useful to think about what happens if dirt gets in the groove. A hole at the end of the travel, through the bottom of the groove can be helpful.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Good call. I've never though about that before. I suppose I would probably go for a vacuum if I ever faced that :)

[@alans1816]

@@Foureyes.Furniture I guess the ones where I found it needed were in a preschool. Under less challenging circumstances it's less important.

[@jeph_os]

who knew collecting action figures would steer me into learning this stuff. wild

[@guillermo7777]

Great explanation one of the best in the topic, thanks Chris am ready to do my slide door without hardware which is awesome, the furniture that you use for the explanation looks beautiful, really nice design and with the sliding doors, wooow real nice thanks great content,

[@karl_alan]

Thank you. I never think of doing doors this way.

[@MoreJo]

Thanks for the clear explanation! Very helpful 😊 Not sure if you'll see this, but I was wondering: 1) what's the ideal size for the tabs? 1/3 of the door's thickness? Half? 2) how much space would you leave minimum between the doors? 3) approx. how heavy could you make the doors without having to use hardware? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

[@matthewransom6469]

I love your videos. Your a great teacher and make it so easy for a beginner like me to follow along. I would love to be able to do a build with you and you teach me

[@dnomyarnostaw]

Question: Do you ever build a sliding door with a raised bottom "ridge" on the bottom horizontal shelf, made of wood or aluminium ? Not only does it remove the need to cut a groove in the bottom horizontal shelf, but the slot cannot get filled with junk and cause the sliding section to either bind or jam completely. The same principle has been used on the bottom of sliding wardrobe doors for years.

[@joddyalber7791]

Thank you brother

[@felixycchang]

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

[@Cardoavenue]

This is such a great video!

[@josh_watson]

Your videos are so ridiculously informative. So I mean this honestly, “thank you”. Also, The Barkley’s look great. Cheers!

[@robszurgot1484]

Great explanation, very clear. Any issues with types of finishes you use not allowing the panels to slide easily? Do you ever use waxes in the slots like paraffin?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

If they were having trouble sliding, you could add some wax. I don't find that it's ever really necessary though. I've used oil finished and polyurethane finishes with sliding doors and both seem to work equally fine. So I'd go with whatever you planned on using regardless of the doors.

[@davideastham]

I slid over and clicked that like button !!

[@julianasencion8408]

i think i´ve told in other videos, I Love you! you are a genius!!

[@SaraVV]

Excellent video!!! Thank you so much for all the valuable information.

[@Ippido]

Thanks for the tips and the graphics 🙏👍

[@azweinger]

thank you for a great learning video and for using mm as well

[@joeytheghost4211]

Perfect! My next project will hopefully include sliding doors. This was helpful

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Sweet. It's a pretty easy feature :)

[@duynguyen8784]

Thank you for the helpful video, please keep up the excellent work and explanation on the details of the video. Love your woodworks SKILLS

[@stefandirks8061]

Love this style of video! So much value!

[@luke9822]

Great video. 14:52 Looking forward to more plans in your plans section.

[@tombrownrigg8794]

Thank you very very much

[@80sbandsrock]

Thank you brother fantastic video. Go cubs

[@TheBitchiness]

I am only sorry I can thumbs-up this video only once. The whole video is filled with some really informative stuff and I particularly appreciate the animations. Imagine the time that goes into making them. Enough said.

[@idrissamorehouse5776]

Awesome video!

[@kevilekevis1520]

Love your work and ideas, I wish I could build a workshop like yours. That's awesome.

[@wolfman75]

IDK!!! Maybe I Will Have To Try!!! I Am About 8-9 Months In. So Still Pretty New!!! Thank You!!! 🤔🤷‍♂️👍🤦‍♂️😎

[@ihauntghost]

Brilliant video, great how to explained yourself in several ways 👌🏻

[@Looyenss]

Excellent timing, working on no hardware sliding doors as we speak!

[@Mark_Wood]

Great video Chris!

[@sourkraut911]

Great video.

[@williamellis8993]

Great info, Chris. Bill

[@claytoncook8976]

Love these informative videos and your content in general! Keep up the good work

[@m.a.r.services5720]

Good stuff Bro!😎Harris

[@williamson23704]

Harris for the warby’s. thanks for the vid!!

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks!

[@amilawijayalath6028]

nice presentation... keep it up...

[@Isaac-ph5co]

this is very cool thanks

[@yay-cat]

for a future project/plan please consider a display cabinet - perhaps like a tall bookshelf but with say perspex / acetate doors and sides. At what height does door weight become unwieldy (I assume door weight is more of an issue with swing doors than slide doors?) Thanks for a great vid!

[@AmosAmerica]

This is great! But ,what can you do if you want to add sliding doors to a cabinet you've already made that you can't disassemble?

[@ladykenja2700]

- Awesome video & info. Thanx 4 sharing.

[@stephpitman]

Awesome thanks

[@lennerdlanciers9664]

great video! exactly what I needed, thanks man!

[@jorgwalter1954]

Great video! Is wear and tear an issue with sliding doors without hardware?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks. And I don’t think I so. I have some older pieces and they still look/work like they day they were built.

[@gheceldagalea9616]

barkley for sure

[@zkassai.audio.2]

A question - do the tongs HAVE to be centered in the width of the door panel? Because I'm thinking, if you make them offset to one side, you'll only have to route one side of the door panel, thus making the project faster... no?

[@high5alright]

Would you ever use a full width groove on the top and a tongue groove on the bottom? The benefit being you won't see any part of the tongue at the top.

[@estebanbarbalarga4776]

Glad I read the comments before asking about the visible top tongue. Sounds like a good solution.

[@joemacleod-iredale2888]

5:50 always amused me that this way of installing doors here in the UK is called ‘shuffle fit’

[@zachmathew4320]

Thanks for making this great video, really useful content.

[@hyesoojung6787]

It looks great. Can this way be applied on tall cabinet doors like closet?

[@t.n.1953]

Hi Chris, this video is super helpful. I'm curious why, at 3.50-3.53, you say that using through cuts on a cabinet assembled with butt-joints wouldn't work if you put the top/bottom panels between the side panels? I was taught that when using butt-joints that arrangement is preferable to having the side panels between the top/bottom so the ends wouldn't show. Just curious.

[@frankcienciala3328]

I want to build sliding doors of hardwood (Tasmanian Oak) 43 approx inches high x 19 (approx) inches wide x 3/4 inch thick. Is this door too heavy for an easy slide using this method? Do I need to use a track and rollers instead? Thanks Chris for your very clear presentation. Look forward to your recommendation.

[@Voltechs]

Perfect for what I'm looking for. Do you think that with 1/2" ply, I have enough material to do this rabbet?

[@ИванИванов-м6ч1о]

IMO sliding doors look better than drawers or hinged doors, since they add depth to the furniture face. The thing I don't like abou sliding doors is that I'd prefer their operation to be smoother and they rattle. Plus the inconvenience that one opened door prevents the opening of some other door

[@DanielPelletier1]

Would love to know what software you use for the 3D, it looks amazing…

[@OstinKisuke]

Really great video and the most clear and specific explanation! Thanx a lot! But I have a suggestion: wouldn't it be better to make a rabbit instead of a tongue on the top side of the door not to have that gap between the shoulder and the cabinet as it appears when you actually put the door down in the bottom groove?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

I have something called aphantasia. So I can’t quite picture what you’re describing… but do you mean how the door is In set? If so, a rabbet would be better. But for me the doors were supposed to be inset so it didn’t matter

[@andrewyoungren1371]

What would you say the maximum size would be for sliding doors to actually slide well without hardware?

[@TheDesertRat31]

Um.... at 11:05, is that an air jordan shaped push stick?? Nice.

[@brittanyhogue4887]

I have an old unit from my great grandparents that has these sliding doors however the doors keep getting stuck. How do I fix them?

[@ryzhiialen]

This is a great video! But God bless the metric system 😂 I think for someone without fancy equipment making an item for themselves, even glue and long thin pieces of wood nailed to the base will work. You just need to compress everything well.

[@tariqbacchus]

What would happen if you flipped the grooves with the deeper one on the bottom? Would that make a difference in where the "sliding point" would be? I'm wondering because I've done this with taller doors and noticed they slide much better when pulled lower down, otherwise the top has too much play, resulting in the door getting jammed.

[@helalalhemeiri1576]

what method would u use to lock the sliding door

[@gabrielwojciak657]

really good what you present! What kind of software you use here/? is it only sketchup?

[@matsadler1119]

Thanks Chris! What would you say about choice between hardwood and plywood for the doors?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Both are fine. Id pick based off of the rest of the project.

[@thejoetandy]

Is there any reason the tenon on the doors can't be at the very front, eliminating the large visible gap at the top?

[@onksmedia]

Which cabinet software did you use here please, thanks

[@reynerlara5353]

Hello can you Tellme what is the most important power tool that you need to star woodworking? I have a driver. Only

[@mainerdiy8399]

How did you know my wife just asked if I could make a medicine cabinet with sliding doors. This was perfect!

[@messagefrom8749]

I have a pantry that is very narrow. Looking at my project I see that the area is so narrow a 8-10" shelf for can goods is about as wide as I can plan for. Sliding doors is a must since there will be no door. Floor to ceiling' tall is my goal. I could divide it into upper and lower sections if a full length 7' plywood door may be too tall to slide. Any suggestions? Would the Baltic birch plywood be the best choice? Do you have a video for this type of wall pantry cabinet or sliding door to hide my can goods. Please reply. --Teresa

[@bastianvonholtum4085]

Really nice and understandable even for a european guy like me. But do you also have some info on how you did that really pretty and more important for me, repeatably similar looking openings in the doors to move them?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Check out this video. It's got detail on this entire build - kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4aciXppbbx4rck

[@Tilburger72]

Great video and explained how to make this! Thanks. Just 1 question. I want to make something similar too but fully from plywood as it will be on our attic. Would plywood slide good too or should I use wax or something in the grooves?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Thanks! I’ve made them out of plywood plenty of times. They should slide no problem as long as it isn’t binding.

[@Tilburger72]

@@Foureyes.Furniture ok thanks

[@justinjones9255]

Dammit man! This video is pure gold. I bought the plans for the “Cassidy” Console Table (ask Shaun) but haven’t had to chance to watch all the videos yet. Is this video included? Keep up the great content. I want to build Little Larry and the Pico but as a new woodworker am not sure which one I should start with. My wife wants the coffee table first but I think the Pico may be a better first project for some reason. What do you think?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

I would say the Pico is easier than little Larry. And probably slightly more foundational. Honestly. Between the two… if you can knock both out. You’ll basically know everything I know about woodworking.

[@justinjones9255]

@@Foureyes.Furniture Oh, I do plan on building both. Thanks for your input.

[@codetech5598]

This method does not require (expensive) hardware, but it seems to require using (more expensive) solid wood instead of (less expensive) plywood due to the exposed tongues and grooves.

[@TJWorksWood]

I may have missed this but....do you add any lubricant to the contact points (i.e. the tongues and/or the grooves) like paste wax or do you find that the doors slide easily enough with out needing that ?

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

They slide easy enough without. The only thing that on this piece was the finish. If you wanted you could certainly put some wax on. I don’t think its needed though.

[@H40XKM]

Those animations are so fucking lit. :D

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

Glad you appreciate them. They definitely take time

[@chancecsmith]

Tortoise shell shades ftw.

[@brucelavis4934]

Cabinets can display anything. Nobody but nobody addresses the issue of shop dust covering the French cleat items. Cabinets with sliding doors will solve the problem. No back to cabinet. Hang French cleat items in cabinet frame. Use lexan panel for visibility. Your thoughts. Better yet build one and make the video!!!! Thx Bruce. Cleats and Cabinets ( sort of like root beer and ice !)

[@1deerndingo]

How durable are the sliding surfaces on these doors.

[@Foureyes.Furniture]

by sliding surfaces do you mean the top and bottom of the tongues on the doors? I'd say very durable if used normally. I have pieces that are 10 years old with no issues.

[@oleanikolaisen6716]

If this was explained in metric values i would totally get it 🙃