The Shed – September-October 2019

through holes in the glass. Nylon sleeves
ensure that the bolts do not touch the glass,
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for a vertical 6mm diameter brass rod
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plate attached to the rafters above. There
is 15mm clearance to allow the door to
rise as it turns.
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to be substantial to handle the vertical
and horizontal static loads and also
the dynamic loads. I designed a 40mm
diameter square thread helical screw
with a pitch of 40mm, so the door would
lift 10mm when opened 90 degrees.

I wasn’t sure how much gravity assist

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close when released. It doesn’t want to

slam closed, but it also doesn’t want to

hang slightly ajar.

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turn, but designed the helical screw as a

separate element in the hinge, so that if

the 10mm lift is too much or too little I

can replace it with a screw with less or

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the entire hinge. All the parts are nylon,

and the hinge is designed so thath it is

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data sheet indicated that nylon would be

strong enough to handle the loads.

Impressive service

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I uploaded the designs to the Shapeways

website (shapeways.com/) and ordered

them just before Christmas. They shipped

out on 27 December, demonstrating how

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arrived in mid January.

To secure the bottom hinge I used a piece

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left over from my scaffold project (The

Shed 36, April/May 2011). The base of

the bottom hinge is pop riveted to this

channel and a 50mm diameter hole

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The plumb bob

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Final door alignment