Pocket Door

[Cary Winch]

Jon,

A sliding door would be very cool and I think everyone here would love to see you do it. Bound to be a hit at the gatherings.

As pointed out a couple of times a true pocket door in of its self probably wouldn't work. But a slider like Dean' sunroof or a minivan slider type of arrangement could certainly work. One that works from the inside like an old cargo aircraft door seems to be the idea to me.

What I would invision is four tracks inside. Two above and two below the door. One for the front of the door and one for the back both top and bottom. At the end of the tracks have them turn against the wall. This will suck the door up into the door frame against a rubber gasket. Many years ago my dad built a set of 3 sliding doors for his hangar using this method to stack them at one end.

Without a hinge you will need to latch it both front and back. A single recessed handle with two rods will do the trick. The same setup we use on our hatches actually. We sell those rods if you need. Hmm, I might even have a nice pair of SS recessed handles kicking around here needing a home left over from another project.

You could have a very nice flush door with almost no seam around it. Plus you could make a wierd shape if you want. Big radius on all four corners for sure.

I think once you source the track and rollers it would be a simple project. GO FOR IT!

Cary

[Jonkayak]

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'm going to try a compresion seal like many others have recomended. I'm thinking of something like you find on boat hatches and doors were you twist the lactch and it pulls the door tight to form the seal and then the handle lays flush on the door. Thanks guys that's what I was looking for. If you put enough minds into something you will figure something out.

Jon