Gym Lockers

[ziggy1979]

Hi
I'm thinking of making some lockers for a gym. I was thinking of using poplar ply (8mm so that when butt and screw the lockers together it will give 16mm).

The locker doors would be varnished 8mm poplar ply. The main reason for poplar is its light weight. Also i thought that varnished ply should do quite well in moist changing room environment.

What I don't know is what hinge is best. There will be many doors to hang (4 per locker unit) so I'd like to avoid having to mortice any hinges and so thought of surface mounted ones. Are these standard for this type of project or totally unsuitable.

Thanks for all your help!

Zigs

 

[Burnerman]

Your material is a bit on the light side, and you would need surface mounting or backflap hinges.....they aren't very strong though, and by their nature could be unscrewed from the front surface.
Screwfix 28984 is a typical type.
They can be made more secure by using a couple of nuts and bolts instead of the usual screws....which wouldn't hold well in 8mm material anyway. It depends really on how strong the lockers need to be.....you can't beat the steel ones at the end of the day.
John

 

[ziggy1979]

Thanks John.

The metal ones are great but for the quantity we need, making them would save a tonne of £s! Not having to mortice them would save a lot of time!

I was thinking of this type of hinge:
http://www.outdoorcraftsmansupply.com/easy_on_concealed_hinges.aspx

We could always use 18mm ply, mr mdf, MFC, etc for the doors to make them stronger and so more secure. Would that help?

Thanks again!

 

[foxhole]

Too thin to mount any type of hinge to , given the abuse it will get in a gym most timber is unsuitable, thats why they are made of pressed steel.

 

[big-all]

9mm ply you could peel back about 8" over 3ft

 

[Burnerman]

Seriously I think you'd spend an awful amount of time repairing your timber lockers, knowing of the abuse they get.....
I wouldn't be at all surprised if there aren't loads of second hand steel ones around, from factory / school closures etc.
John