Question
I am looking for a better system for finishing cab doors - supporting them. I currently do one side, let it dry, flip it over and do the other. I spray NC and pre-cat lacquers. I would really appreciate ideas for better racks, methods to speed this up without messing up the finish. I see one of the sponsors makes racks, but they seem expensive. I am a one man pro-shop.
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor C:
This is kind of crude and only really works if you use euro hinges. I take 1/2" metal pipe and lay out 3 or 4 of them across saw horses. Attach the metal clips (the ones you would use to hold the 1/2" metal pipe to a wall) to your doors in the area where your hinges will go. Set up a pipe to spray the doors on and then move them to the saw horses. This way you can spray both sides at once. The little area that doesn't get removed by the hinge borer will get covered by the hinge or you can touch it up.
1. A 48" square platform made from 3/4" scrap ply with wheels on each corner, edged in 3/4" x 1 1/2" oak for (some) rigidity.
2. An 8"x8" square post as tall as you can reach, centered and screwed to the platform. Mine's 55-60" tall, something like that.
3. A whole bunch of 3/4" x 2" x 42" arms / supports, whatever you want to call them. Each pair of arms will support 2 doors when you're done assembling this thing, so cut as many as you think you'll need.
4. Starting at the top, screw and glue one arm centered on one side of the post and another arm parallel to the first arm but on the opposite side of the post. You should now have two arms flush with the top of the post sticking out in the same direction 8" apart and 17" or so clearance from the post on each end.
5. Turn the post 1/4 turn clockwise, and attach to more arms butted up underneath the first two arms. You should now have 2 arms sticking out one way, 2 more sticking out the other way.
6. Continue turning the post and butting arms underneath each other until you've gone down as far as you want to go.
When you're done, the arms themselves create the space for the doors. The doors will rest on the arms with plenty of clearance from one another while still saving a lot of space by overlapping them. 17" arm clearance will easily hold 24-30" or so of door without tipping. Make the arms out of something sturdy, like oak maybe. My first prototype used MDF and it held the doors well enough but it didn't hold up to lots of use.
