Hanger Doors - DIY or have them Made?

[FlyingCrazy]

Hi all

I learned to mig weld many years ago and managed to restore a VW Beetle with the help of a little mig welder and a few bottles of argon mix. I am now thinking of a mig welding project that is much bigger and i'm worried that it might be out of my league. I have just built a steel cladded nissen hut type building to house a light aircraft. I have made the 'hanger' oversize (26ft wide and 40ft long) in case I upgrade to a larger aircraft at a later date. The problem I have is that I need to make or buy some doors for it. I basicly need two steel door frames that can be clad in steel sheeting. The frames need to be 9ft high on the hinge side rising to 13ft in the centre of the doorway (Where the roof is at it's highest point - The roof is curved). Each door needs to be 11ft wide.
The dilema that I have is this:-

1 Do I buy or hire a heavy duty mig welder so that I can make the frames myself (I was thinking of using 2 or 3mm thick 50mm box section steel (approx 25 metres per door)

2 Do I find someone who does this for aliving who might want to do this in their spare time for a little cash? If so, where do I find such people?

3 Do I find a fabricating company who can design and make the doors?

My gut feeling is that maybe I should find a professional as if I try and do it myself, I will probably end up paying more than I would have done for an experienced welder to do it.

Any thoughts/views would be appreciated.

Anthony
Midlands - England

 

[irondarren]

easy to make, 13ft by 11ft door, if your confident about doing it just needs to be made and designed correctly, reinforcing plates in the corners etc etc, would you weld the sheet to the doors or use the self drilling screws? There are a few people on here that fabricate in the midlands, im sure one of them would give you a price for making them or at least assist you in doing it

 

[bright-spark]

Thinking about this most Hanger Doors I have seen don't hinge but slide open and are square in shape hung by a top rail with wheels inside the channelling and a rail on the bottom.

I think so they don't blow around and hit Aircraft or crew shouldn't be much of a hard Job. I would have a look around some hangers and see how they are made up a few posts on a flying forum should get you some photos and a chat then with someone who could help you build will get you sorted out with the welding and design.

 

[migmag]

A big job yes but not difficult if you do your home work properly...............

BUT them doors are big and are going to be bloody heavy.

Get a pro to build and install the doors that way if anything goes wrong (like they fall off and ..Well we all know what could happen) they are responsible not you.

 

[cobminor]

Do it yourself with a bit of help and advice. You don't need a heavy duty welder for 3mm tube.

 

[irondarren]

Or a stick/mma welder would be just as good if not better

 

[drivewasher]

This might just be me, but this guy runs an airplane, may upgrade to a bigger one and could be asking a welder or fabricator to do his doors in spare time for some "a little cash".

But hey dont listen to me I,m just a poor ol working Wiganer, off to Asda now see if they'll sell me some food cheap, for a little cash. Some how I think I'll be ejected!

 

[bright-spark]

Tescos is cheaper than Asda but to each there own if you ask nicely someone might even fly you there LOL

 

[irondarren]

drivewasher if you read it correctly, i believe it read do i find someone who does this for a living and wants to earn some spare cash. in my mind i assumed he was refering to someone who worked for a company during the week, and want to do this as a weekend job for cash. doesn't really matter what they own or how big there house is or how much money, a job is worth what a job is worth, but of course the advantage of him owning a plane is you could do the job earn a bit of spare cash and he would probaly be kind enough to give you a free plane ride, in the bargin

 

[drivewasher]

Well I'm all in favour of bartering, but the days of doing "favours" on the promise of one in return are long gone I'm afraid, like I say probably me

He actually wrote "for a little cash"

 

[irondarren]

I still do sometimes work that way, got a mornings work out of someone on tuesday, and friday i was welding some plates on a transit so it passed the MOT. No money exchanged hands, suited me and suited him

 

[bright-spark]

Right back to them hanger doors then !!! how would we build them!! how much do you think it would cost

 

[Weldingartisan]

Could always try a structural engineer to design it and relieve you of any design/insurance liability. It would'nt cost a fortune and whether you go DIY or contractor you still need a design which could be used to go out to tender for a competitive price. W/A

 

[irondarren]

I would probaly bash the frame work up excluding the cost of materials for about £200, not including the price of sheeting them, easy money

 

[bright-spark]

I came out with almost the same price depending on how they where going to be fitted to the hanger and who was going to fit them the sheeting would be an easy DIY job for FlyingCrazy to sort out I would think

 

[Jodel]

Anthony,

I'd take heed of the advice given above regarding suitable reinforcements at stress points (like the hinge fixings). The small hangar my syndicate group built for our aircraft has double doors, each of which is hinged in the middle so that it can fold back on itself. This arrangement takes up less space and is less affected by the wind blowing them about when they are left open. The doors have jockey wheels to help support the weight as they are surprisingly hefty - but steel is a bit like that

Even though they are pretty damn heavy, ours were probably made too light in the important places as they flap about rather too much when opening and closing them and the angle iron used for the frames was probably not really up to the job.

If I'd known about this site at the time, I think I could have gleaned some useful tips from the guys on here who obviously know what they are talking about.

 

[Drains]

Do it properly and use sliding doors hanging in a track at the top, sliding in a track at the bottom Hafele.co.uk, for instance, sell the bits, so do lots of other people.

If you want to do it on the cheap, use an arc welder. Otherwise use a person who can weld, but don't say "a little cash" to us, or him (or her), and definitely don't offer "a drink in the bar", as a punch in the mouth... is guaranteed.

Making doors like that is very simple, very easy, very staightforward. Hanging them correctly is slightly more problematic but is largely a matter of weight and speccing the hinges/ sliders properly.

And don't expect it to be "cheap", because it won't be!! If you're looking at sliders, don't expect any change out of £500 (and that's a minimum) in fact, expect to add a couple of hundred to that. Unless you do it yourself, in which case it will be much cheaper.

And I say this everybody, because I don't want anybody to work for less than they're worth!

 

[Hitch]

As above, rollers running in a track at the top. Height adjustable so you can get them hanging nice and straight.

Made a pair not so long ago. 2" box mostly. Although personally, i like to keep hollow sections to a minimum.

Diagonal braces to hold it square, either on hinge or sliding. And reinforcing at the hinge locations to stop it bowing or crushing.

Another thing to consider, is make sure you have enough places to fix the sheet.

 

[snowcat]

As been said a very straight forward job, Defo use sliding door gear tho, Il take some pics of a few doors iv built in me time, The bigest job is hanging them, but the trick is to leave enouth gap at the bottom so they can be uprighted then, pushed home into the rollers overwise you have to sod around unbolting bit's of track..

Cheap no, quite a bit of work in that and at least a two man job to hang.

 

[Hitch]

I normally take the end caps off, have a lifting eye screwed in the middle, push the first roller into the track, rest the corner on a round bar, and then just push the door across and into the track