Open doors for Homestead Furniture

Here's some thoughts...

1) If the opened doors will not show....i.e., as if they were slid entirely behind the adjacent walls...then simply cut them out just inside the side moldings and just below the transom.  I'd do this by drilling a hole in the upper corners of the door to accommodate a narrow saw blade for the horizontal cut.  Clean it up with a file when done.

2) If you wanted the doors partially opened...or somehow yet visible in the open position...I'd remake them simply from scribed styrene sheet and thin (0.020") strip stock that matches the original doors.  Evergreen makes all the materials you need to do this.  Then, cut out the original doors as in 1), and glue the new doors into the position(s) you fancy.  BTW, were it my own building, I'd try making the doors out of scrap scribed and strip wood.  Sealed and painted, they'd be good enough to the casual eye.  Better yet....cardstock!

3) Buy a spare Ameritowne wall piece or two that has the same doors. Cut away everything else to retrieve the doors.  Cut out the doors of the original building as in 1).  This idea, of course, is very expensive and wasteful compared with #2, but it is an alternative.

4) Check with suppliers of O scale doors....Grandt, Tichy, et al.  Perhaps they have something close enough in appearance/size to replace the removed doors.

When done, take some pictures and show us the results...and tell us what you did!  Sounds like a fun project!

FWIW.....always.

KD (aka, Lucas Gudinov)

KD,

Thanks for all of the suggestions. For this project I will

use your first one. I want the bays completely open.

I will save your other suggestions for other projects,

you have given me some great ideas!

Thank you and will post some pics of this 

when I get done, but will include some "in progress."

Many Thanks I heading out to the train room with a print out of this email

right now.

Tom

Glad to help...

BTW, not sure what tools you have at your disposal, but these blades from MicroMark are VERY popular through our (LHS) store...

#11 saw blades link

Scroll down that page and you'll see that they come in 24tpi and 30tpi as well as the finer 40tpi (teeth per inch).  I keep a supply of all three at my own workbench.  For making that horizontal cut across the top of the doors...assuming you don't have a scroll saw (which would do the entire job wiki-wiki)...and fitting a regular hobby knife using the ubiquitous #11 cutting blades, they're the cat's meow. 

An REA building?......   Hmmmm..... Not a bad idea!  I could use one myself! 

KD,

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a Zona 4 in 1 saw and used the

smallest keyhole saw cut right through the plastic. I drilled

holes in the corners and then used the saw.

It went quickly, which was surprising considering how sturdy

the AmeriTowne buildings are.

Thank you Again

Tom