We are building a rolling door in the style of the classic zinc (or tin) clad warehouse fire doors that roll on a sloped track. A counterweight suspended from a pulley holds the open on the uphill portion of the track until a fire breaks the chain allowing the door to roll shut.As the doors roll closed the bottom of the door seals tight to the floor.

Here is a link to a portion of our shop drawings for an overview of the finished product. We are making this door for a warehouse space that will become a beautiful living space but still retain the industrial features that give it its charm.

We have built the large door blank with an internal steel tube support frame for torsional rigidity. Around that we built a stout timber framework for securing the zinc sheets. The zinc sheet metal will interlock in a flat-lock style with raised seams where the panels overlap. All sides of the door will be covered in zinc and it will hang from heavy steel straps and custom built wheels.

We have been refining the wheel design and this version will roll on precision bearings. It should glide like a dream. So far so good, we’ll let you know.