[krazziee]

great, I have been thinking about that project and how it is going for you.
I hope it all goes well for you, please keep us updated.
thanks
Richard

[delraydella]

I went over to see the pile. The boxes got taken out of the wall by the demo guys and got put on a flatbed by machinery riggers. On first glance, it looks like Steve S. was right about the hinge pins. I'll know more when I get them in the shop.

[delraydella]

Here's one more of the entire pile... I have to get 2 forklifts now. One to put them on a truck from where they are stored and another to get them off the truck where they are going.

[Otto Nobedder]

Steve,

While there's little more I enjoy than thinking to myself, "I told you..."

The larger boxes may have multiple bolts. Logic says, "no", if it works for one it'll work for all, in 1920's technology.

Thanks for the update, and I look forward to hearing how this project progresses!

Steve S

[Alexa]

Delraydella.

It is a relief knowing that you will be working in your shop for this project.
While following your string evolve over these weeks, for some reason or another, I was imagining you having to do the work on site.

Keep us informed.
Alexa

[krazziee]

nice , seems like it is working out, good that you were able to remove them from the building and work at your shop.
very nice
Richard

[delraydella]

The budget for this whole thing got slashed, so no forklifts, no trip to the shop to plasma cut them.....I have to take the doors off on site, now. But fortunately I was screwing around with them today and found an easy way to remove the doors.
If you look at the picture below. on the very right edge of the unit, there is a bolted on strip where you see the vertical row of doors and their hinge pins. I took off this strip and exposed the hinge bolts and drilled those out. The doors popped right out! There was only one latch going into the frame. I didn't bring a camera, but next time I go over I'll take some pictures. The doors are solid brass and I think the big ones weigh about 15 pounds each!

[krazziee]

very nice and very lucky there,
thanks for the info.
good luck
Richard

[delraydella]

Here's an update on the job. We eventually wound up drilling out the hinge screws on all of the doors and they just popped right out. It was a lot of drilling!

We got to the back side of the hinge screws by removing a metal strip as the 1st picture shows. From there it was pretty easy to drill out the hinge screws. You can see the screw bottoms in #2. Picture#3 is just a small section of doors that we drilled out. There were about a 1000 of them altogether, all different sizes.


From here, the doors go to the shop, get arranged into tabletops and I'll start welding the frames for those next week.

Other Steve

[delraydella]

And.....just to prove that you can get romance points with your significant other in just about any situation if you try....

I found my girlfriends and my birthday numbers on the doors and I pulled the box with her numbers. Now I'll make our own private safe deposit boxes for us! Sure, I know it's stupid, but it shows her I think of her no matter what I'm doing!

Now back to our regularly scheduled topic....

Other Steve

[Otto Nobedder]

I can't help myself...

So, they were single-bolt doors, and opening the hinge side got you in?

I can't wait to see the finished product, and I'd like to see what you do with the "birthday" doors.

Steve S

[TamJeff]

Perhaps a roto broach the same OD as the screw shank for cutting the screw heads off?

Cool project and thread.

[delraydella]

The screws were all #10, so at first we drilled out with a 3/16ths bit, but the angle to get into some of the screws was really weird. I bought some screw machine length drill bits (shorter than standard jobbers length) and that helped a little, but eventually we drilled them out with almost a 5/16ths just to make sure we got all of the screw out.

TamJeff, based on a post in another thread, I wound up buying a Makita right angle drill to try to get into some of the trickier spots. The drill worked okay, but the angle gearbox got so hot after just a few minutes of drilling that we could barely touch it. It took about 15- 20 minutes for it to cool down enough just so we could use it again. Like you, we've used Makitas for years, but lately I'm not so impressed with them.

Other Steve

[delraydella]

Here's another update to our ongoing table project. We laid out the doors in the pattern that they will be on the table and mortised out a sheet of 3/4 MDO which is part of the base to hold the doors in place. We had to mortise out for the lockset boxes that are on the back of the doors. While the boxes are removable, the door locks are attached to them and they want to keep the locks. The second picture shows the back of the door with the lockset box. We also had to cut off the bolt part of the lock with a horizontal bandsaw because it would have just gotten in the way of the mortise.

Tomorrow I'll cut the angle iron for the table frame and start welding up the base out of 2 x 2 square tube. I might actually have one complete before Labor Day!

Other Steve

[Otto Nobedder]

This is going to be some "high-end" stuff, for the work involved!

Steve S

[delraydella]

I found out yesterday that the client is expecting all 4 of them to be done and brought in before Labor Day!


I laughed.

I guess the tables are supposed to be featured in some magazine and the photographer is already scheduled to come in on a certain day.

I laughed again.

We've been talking about this project with them since May/ early June. We just got the official go ahead on it 2 weeks ago because they dicked around on it for two months and now they want it in a week because some corporate moron went ahead and scheduled a magazine article way back in April about something they couldn't decide on what it was even supposed to look like until 2 weeks ago.



Other Steve

[Otto Nobedder]

Well, of course!

Those magazine types are just like the executives... Snap your fingers, and it appears!

Not a one in the bunch with the first inkling of the work involved.

Steve S

[Otto Nobedder]

Even with your propmaster skills, you'll impress me if you make this shoot!

Steve S

[Otto Nobedder]

(And I'll bet you make the shoot)

[delraydella]

Thanks Steve! I appreciate the faith!

I will get one of them done in time for the shoot, but I can only finish one because now we are waiting on the glass guys. Each table gets a 1/4 or 1/2 inch tempered glass top and they can only get one piece cut and polished by next week. But at least they'll have one of the tables in time.

[Otto Nobedder]

Steve,

What magazine, which issue?

I'll buy one!

Steve S

[delraydella]

Now I'm not even sure it is for a magazine, but they do want to enter the tables into some kind of furniture design competition, so as far as I know now, that's the reason they want them in so early. The amount of misinformation I get on most jobs is staggering!

Anyway, here's some more pictures on progress. We will have 2 tables done in time for the shoot, there just won't be any glass in them. The glass is still 2 weeks away.

The 1st picture shows the table frame all welded and castered. It's upside down on the table for this picture. The square tube legs and cross pieces are 3x3 x 3/16ths wall and the angle iron top frame is 2 1/2"x 3/16th wall. There is another piece of angle iron welded into the top frame, this is to hold the glass top. The inner supports are 3" x 1/4" flat bar stock. Because the space is so tight inside the frame there was no room for a weld bead, I opted to drill 1/2" holes into the smaller angle iron and weld through them into the larger angle iron. Sort of like a spot weld/ rivet. It works very well. The second picture shows this.

The 3rd picture is the table base right side up with the mortised out 3/4" MDF sheet in it's slot. Again, because space was so tight, I welded the frame into a "U" shape, slipped the MDF sheet inside it and then closed it off with the other end piece of angle iron. The finish was just clean the steel and lacquer it, so that's what we did. I wiped them down with lacquer thinner and then sprayed lacquer on them. Very easy finish!

Other Steve

[delraydella]

Here's some pictures of the almost finished table(s), sans glass. We still have to secure the doors in place so they won't vibrate out of their slots once the glass is in.

Other Steve

[TamJeff]

You really do manage to get into some interesting projects. Nice work!