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Hello,

I'm studying Engineering in my final year at Bournemouth University. I am re-designing the door lifter. I am hoping to design a door lifter that supports the door when lifted and holds it at the required height without you having to apply constant pressure to the lifter. The idea is to allow the user the use of both his hands and to carry out fixing and marking the hinges without a second person. The product will be aimed at light to very heavy doors and to be used by apprentices, DIYers and skilled carpenters fitting heavy doors.

I was hoping to gain any points or needs that you feel would benefit you whilst using the product, even if they are very simple and obvious i would really appreciate your feedback. For Example: Lifting the door at set increments, or allowing the door to be moved in and out of the frame whilst on the lifter.

Thank you very much for any information you can give,

Jack

Door lifters are rubbish! i must have hung hundreds of doors! and, two chisels have always done the job! place chisel 1 on floor, bevel side down, pointing away from you. stand door on it. offer door into hole, if you need to lift, slide a second chisel at right angles under the handle, till desired height achieved. How you can design a "gadget" from this will be interested in seeing!

[quote="jackw"]Hello,

I'm studying Engineering in my final year at Bournemouth University. I am re-designing the door lifter. I am hoping to design a door lifter that supports the door when lifted and holds it at the required height without you having to apply constant pressure to the lifter. The idea is to allow the user the use of both his hands and to carry out fixing and marking the hinges without a second person. The product will be aimed at light to very heavy doors and to be used by apprentices, DIYers and skilled carpenters fitting heavy doors.

I was hoping to gain any points or needs that you feel would benefit you whilst using the product, even if they are very simple and obvious i would really appreciate your feedback. For Example: Lifting the door at set increments, or allowing the door to be moved in and out of the frame whilst on the lifter.

Thank you very much for any information you can give,

Jack[/quote]

Hi Jack. Your project might involve the use of mini metal rollers. I have seen them used on revolving wooden stool tops. They were assembled on a circular plate and they rolled between the fixed part and the revolving part of the stool seat. (The ones I saw resembled in size, the thickness of a 'Biro' refill and were about an inch long.) In your case the would be protected by casing so as to NOT come in contact with the bottom of the door and would only come in contact with the floor. Once the door is placed on top of the device, the door could be pushed into position within the frame.
Using two screws on an extended section of the device on your side of the door you could then gain lift by screwing (with knobs and free tilting base plates) clockwise and the device would raise the door. Making sure that you had previously placed and 'Sellotaped" two coins on top of the door to give a set top margin, you mark for hinges when the door is jammed tight to top of frame.
You will have previously cut in and fitted the hinges to the door at 6 inches down from top and 9 inches up from bottom. Now you mark frame using blade of 'Standley Knife for fine accuracy.
Release screws on device and pull door from frame on it's mini rollers. If the door is very heavy, perhaps a suction gripper could be used.

Kind regards,

NickMac

Hi Jack. Your project might involve the use of mini metal rollers. I have seen them used on revolving wooden stool tops. They were assembled on a circular plate and they rolled between the fixed part and the revolving part of the stool seat. (The ones I saw resembled in size, the thickness of a 'Biro' refill and were about an inch long.) In your case the would be protected by casing so as to NOT come in contact with the bottom of the door and would only come in contact with the floor. Once the door is placed on top of the device, the door could be pushed into position within the frame.
Using two screws on an extended section of the device on your side of the door you could then gain lift by screwing (with knobs and free tilting base plates) clockwise and the device would raise the door. Making sure that you had previously placed and 'Sellotaped" two coins on top of the door to give a set top margin, you mark for hinges when the door is jammed tight to top of frame.
You will have previously cut in and fitted the hinges to the door at 6 inches down from top and 9 inches up from bottom. Now you mark frame using blade of 'Standley Knife for fine accuracy.
Release screws on device and pull door from frame on it's mini rollers. If the door is very heavy, perhaps a suction gripper could be used.

Kind regards,

NickMac

hi jackw,

i have to say that i agree with dennis - door hangers are rubbish and i've hung a few doors myself. i too normally use chisels/screwdrivers to raise the door to the desired height - quick, easy, adjustable and requires no additional investment!


i wish you the very best of luck though i don't really think that there is a huge market for these devices.

Hi, dont know if you have designed it yet although I haven't seen one for sale!

being in the trade I agree with the consensus that they are pointless.

Easiest way to set out hinge positions on door and frame is with the trend hinge jig. Its very easy to use once you know how and the hinge recessess are always perfect you dont even have to adjust in or out to get the door to close properly. Any one who hangs a lot of doors should have one. I know several people who have them.

Just wondering if something like this might work:

Google "stabletable.co.uk"

Despite being rubbished on Dragon's Den, it's been quite a success story - and, from your designing point of view, remember the KISS principle - Keep It Simple, Stupid!

:-) Jack.

Hi Jack, Yes i rekon you might have something, To jack a door to the required height is done by either by using a wedge or by using 2 chisels, bolster chisel and abit of wood etc creating a jack kind of like a see saw if you get my drift by standing on it. when you lift and the hinges fit into recess in the casing your hands are free anyway so no problems there. So if say i were on a site and i'm fitting say 25 fire doors im looking for the fastest and easyest way buy using router jigs easy lifting etc i'd have myself a wedge cos all them doors are going to be more or less the same distance of the floor if not just put another piece of wood under wedge to gain more height ok now place door on wedge and move door in or out to get right height easy, although because of the weight of some of these pre finished fire doors damage can happen because the face is made of chipboard with thin veneer soft as anything really by using the other method of lifting like a jack its hard work on with these heavy doors they tend to slide so yes if you could design a tool with a plate to stop the door sliding off and two pivot points one for jacking up and one for inward outward movememt using one foot yes i'll have one.

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Having hung hundreds of the things, i tend to just manover the door in place on an angle instead of using anything to prop it up.
To mark the position of the hinges i measure down the door to the top of the first hinge and add on 2mm to alow for clearence.
It is however a good idea having some sort of labour saving device for the untrained or diy-er because their co-ordination isn't always up to scratch.
It would be interesting to see what you come up with.
I hope it all goes well for you.