kimel Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 My club's venerable old former mobile home door is toast. Okay, it has been toast for as long as I have been shooting there but it is now to the point where it has become dangerous and a pain in the posterior to set up for a stage. We are contemplating various ideas for a new door and I figured I'd ask the collective consciousness of the Benosverse for their ideas. We'd really like to be able to set this up to open either left or right and in or out with minimal modifications. Preferably using a real door (we intend to buy an exterior grade door). Should be at least semi-free standing. We tend to use snow fence walls and those provide only minimal support for such things. Does not need to be a breeching door but you can show those too as others might be in to that. Thanks! Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonT Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 ...putting nail bags on... A couple of thoughts. Exterior doors = extremely heavy and probably the reason we don't use ours very often. You might consider a pre-hung interior door & jamb. Lightweight and you can build supports or walls off the jamb. If you paint it with a couple of coats of an oil based paint, making sure the top and bottom gets the same # of coats, it should hold up fine outside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandormen Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 I agree with previous poster. -And my Idea is, why not build a set of the old classic western saloon-doors, that swing both ways. That should be equal to both lefties and righties, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted March 13, 2008 Author Share Posted March 13, 2008 Ask the folks that were at area 1 a few years back about saloon doors. A whole pile of folks DQ'd on the darn things. Actually, we have a set of these already thanks to the SASS folks that also use our range (but only in the warmer months...they don't have clothes for cold weather dress-up, I guess). Keep the ideas coming guys and gals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganShootist Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Bsed on the ones I use and those I have built for shoot houses etc. Here are my suggestions. 1 Outdoor doors are too heavy & expensive 2. Don't buy a pre-hung door if you want to make it "swing" both ways (no sexual intent in that comment intended) 3. Don't buy a hollow core door cause they can't stand the weather and they seperate. 4. Buy a solid wood indoor door (or better yet fiberglass) and put about 10 - 15 coats of enamel paint on it 5. Any decent hardware store can sell you two way hinges 6. Make sure the hinge pins can be pulled... so that you can carry or move the frame and door individually 7. What ever you build... use no nails just a screw gun so it can be taken apart, flipped over, or repaired. Good Luck BTW... We have had good luck building walls out of treated 2"X 2" lumber with landscaping cloth stapled to it. The wind can blow through the cloth (unlike plastic) and it's weather proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 All of the props on our outdoor range have limited lifespans, but wood doors seemed to have about the shortest. We've had metal screen security doors mounted in stand alone frames. On the heavy side, but they last a few years unless somebody puts rounds into the frame. Not left/right switchable. None of the knobs with in frame strikes and latches stand up to the abuse of use and weather. Door pulls seem to work best, in combination with spring clip latches screwed into the 2X4 framing to hold the door closed. The framing is substantial to keep the door plumb and the frame true to avoid binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 (edited) The best kind of door is the FREE kind of door. Look around for somebody who is doing a remodle job and see what they have to offer. I got lucky a few years ago, while searching for a door, I found a local indoor range (oddly enough) who was remodling their office space, and got the door and frame for nothing. I made 2 triangle pieces from a 4x8 sheet of plywood to put of either side of the frame, down low, to act as self-standing legs. You mentioned being able to open the door from the left or right. I dont see how this will help Lefties .... you wouldn't be able to switch it during the match for 1 shooter, then switch it back for the rest. If you were thinking about being able to set it up for one stage to open to the right, and then for another stage (in a different match) to open to the right ..... just flip the thing around and it opens the other way. Although this makes it open IN one way, and OUT the other way. Big deal ... lots of major matches have one or the other (or both) on their stages. A little creativity, and some FREE building materials can go a loooooong way! PS a FREE door can be replaced with another FREE door when it warps or falls apart. Edited March 13, 2008 by CHRIS KEEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irate Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Well great, you guys did it again. Now I'm off to make a door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeidaho Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 (edited) I have plans for such a door. We needed a door that opened in or out with the hinges on the left and that opened in or out with the hinges on the right. Plus we needed it to reliably trigger other props when opened. Check out http://www.parmarng.org/freeidaho and on the second screen look for a link called Door_&_Wall_Prop. It can be converted to any direction of opening, or side the hinges are on in just a couple of minutes. It is made pretty light weight, and has served well in many local matches and Sanctioned State matches too. kr Edited April 6, 2008 by freeidaho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Burwell Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Check out http://www.parmarng.org/freeidaho and on the second screen look for a link called Door_&_Wall_Prop. It can be converted to any direction of opening, or side the hinges are on in just a couple of minutes. We built a door based on Ken's design (Thanks Ken) and have been using it at our club for about a year now, the thing works very well, my only complaint is the weight, but at the same time if were lighter I would probably complain it blows over in the wind which ours does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtrade Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 (edited) Awesome Website!!!! I have plans for such a door.We needed a door that opened in or out with the hinges on the left and that opened in or out with the hinges on the right. Plus we needed it to reliably trigger other props when opened. Check out http://www.parmarng.org/freeidaho and on the second screen look for a link called Door_&_Wall_Prop. It can be converted to any direction of opening, or side the hinges are on in just a couple of minutes. It is made pretty light weight, and has served well in many local matches and Sanctioned State matches too. kr Edited June 15, 2008 by jtrade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmdCtzn Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 I made a couple of doors. This video shows my breacher door. It's held closed by a small piece of wood, which when broken allows the spring-loaded door to swing open. The spring is cool because it gives the effect of the door sort of blowing open. This is my other door. It swings both ways, and I have a sliding bolt on it to lock it shut for moving around and to make it to only swing one way. With the bolt out the door will only work the way you want it to, either swing in or out. The base is seperate and removable. Both doors are 1" steel frames with treated plywood. They stay outside and have held up well. The double swing door has aluminum sheet for the door itself screwed to steel framing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUKE Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Thank's for the link Ken you have some awesome designs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JThompson Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Very cool stuff Ken. I think we might build a few of these for a big match this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Friday Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 I made a couple of doors. This video shows my breacher door. It's held closed by a small piece of wood, which when broken allows the spring-loaded door to swing open. The spring is cool because it gives the effect of the door sort of blowing open. This is my other door. It swings both ways, and I have a sliding bolt on it to lock it shut for moving around and to make it to only swing one way. With the bolt out the door will only work the way you want it to, either swing in or out. The base is seperate and removable. Both doors are 1" steel frames with treated plywood. They stay outside and have held up well. The double swing door has aluminum sheet for the door itself screwed to steel framing. Very cool breach door design. Thanks for sharing it. (side note, the shooter DQed at the end of the stage. He sweeps his left hand big time at the end of the stage after removing the mag.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now