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Low-mass 10 X 9 slider

teryg | Posted in General Discussion on April 29, 2003 05:06am

I need a sliding door for the 10′ wide by 9′ high finished opening between my garage and woodshop.  Security is not an issue here; need it to merely keep the cold air out of my woodshop when the truck has been brought inside.  It’s tempting to opt for the standard barn style cross-buck from pine planks, but I am trying to keep the mass manageable for the lil’ missus to slide it.  Would like to hear an alternative  design with construction  tips.

(I.e.  3 hollow core doors, edge glued with Gorilla Glue ?) 

“First, get the facts.  Then you can distort ’em all you want” …… Mark Twain 

  

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  1. CAGIV | Apr 29, 2003 05:16am | #1

    Stupid question, because I figure you've thought of it

    Garage door?

    View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year and daaa. Blues View Image
    1. teryg | Apr 29, 2003 05:22am | #2

      Yes.

      I  should have mentioned the configuration of the walls, location of dust collector, etc.  inside the building prevents use of another O'head unit. 

      Must be a slider.   Thanks.  

      1. CAGIV | Apr 29, 2003 05:27am | #3

        Figured, sounded like to simple of a solution to post, but ya never know.

        My aunt's parents have a dairy farm up in MI I was up there and saw a barn door that had wheelbarrow wheels on the inside and a track above, was very easy to move. steel frame out of angle iron and plywood for the door panels, not exactly weather tight  Home made ...View ImageGo Jayhawks..............Next Year and daaa. Blues View Image

  2. ponytl | Apr 29, 2003 05:35am | #4

    you could always make it where it "wanted to close" and ran down hill with a weight & rope & pulley to help pull it open... just an idea i've seen in some old warehouses

  3. Jamie_Buxton | Apr 29, 2003 05:52am | #5

    How 'bout a curtain?   If all you're trying to do is stop air from flowing, a sheet of cloth would work.  It'd be extremely low mass.

  4. hasbeen | Apr 29, 2003 06:01am | #6

    If it doesn't have to be pretty:  How about a couple of sheets of rigid foam insulation with door skin or 1/4" AC ply or paneling glued to both sides?  Maybe a few small bolts all the way through with a fender washer on each side around the edges...

    How about a 1x frame with plastic greenhouse panels making up the main area of the door?  Then you could partly see through it.  Some of the stuff that's out now seems really tough.

    Or go the other way:  Shoji screens out of rice paper and CVG Fir!

    Good luck and I love you tag line quote!  (Wonder if that was from the period when he was a newspaper editor?  ;-)

    Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.

    1. teryg | May 02, 2003 01:27am | #7

      Hasbeen - Thanks. 

      Your foam core idea sounds like a winner.  Will need to investigate the proper adhesives.  A sturdy but lightweight frame should accomodate the sliding barn-door hardware, as well as the latch, handle, and roller guide.

      "Life would be infintinely better if we could start at age 80, then gradually approach eighteen. "    Mark Twain

  5. Piffin | May 02, 2003 04:21am | #8

    Here's a suggestion from the commercial and farming world.

    There are curtains that are essentially a series or vertical strips hanging that part to let you through but pretty effectively shut out cold. They are about four inches wide and made of clear poly vinyl flexable material. I've seen them at docks where the fork lift can drive through, at animal barns and vetterinery operations. We have them at our recycling center where each separate bin for recycling has an openning covered by such a curtain.

    You don't have to open or close it. Light and sight passes through it. You do too.

    Gemplers and TEC supply both have them

    .

    Excellence is its own reward!

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