Reader Photos
My friend Nolan Thrope of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies really knows how to make a girl cry:
WWYD? Concealed Closers at the Peabody Opera House
I recently received an email from Steve Needy, who maintains the beautiful and recently-renovated Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis. During the renovation, many of the original (1932) LCN 206 concealed closers were rebuilt and reinstalled. Steve's problem was that the spring power made some of the doors difficult for some visitors to open, particularly the restroom doors. Steve asked me how to adjust the closers or if that was even possible.
Fire Watch
When I teach classes about fire doors, one of the most common questions is regarding modifying fire doors in the field. NFPA allows limited modifications to be done in the field, and if doors are to be modified beyond what is allowed by NFPA 80, they are supposed to be taken back to a UL/WH shop, modified, re-labeled, and reinstalled. This made me wonder about the big hole left in the fire separation while the door is in the shop. Temporary doors aren't feasible in most cases, because if you're going to go to the trouble and expense of fitting a temporary door into an existing frame, you might as well just replace the existing door instead of modifying it. The answer might be to post a "fire watch" for the time period that the fire doors are removed.
Tribute, by Ralph Liebing
When I was the editor of CSI's Boston Chapter newsletter, I was added to the distribution list for Ralph Liebing's weekly editorial, Per-SPEC-tives. This week's was a tribute to product representatives who partner with architects and specifiers (which I know many of us do), so I asked Ralph if I could publish it here. Enjoy!
Ca’ d’Zan Mansion, Ringling Museum – Sarasota, Florida
Since this is school vacation week and I had to work in Miami for a couple of days, I flew the kids down to their grandparents' and now I am taking a few days "off" in sunny Florida. As most of you know, I'm never completely off...I'm always taking care of email and keeping my eyes open for doors of interest.
Doors of Miami Beach
I'm spending the night in Miami Beach for the International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC) conference. I had some free time this afternoon so I took a drive around looking for some doors to share with you all. Despite my hunting, almost every commercial door I saw was run-of-the-mill aluminum storefront. No custom pulls, no fancy glass, nothing ornate...I'm sure they're here somewhere, but I didn't find them.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
A story arrived in my inbox today, regarding the tradition of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The day before Easter each year, clerics emerge from the small room believed to be the site of Jesus' tomb with a flame which is then spread among the pilgrims crowding the church and out to those gathered on the street.
Join the Conversation
In the last month there have been almost 8,000 visits to iDigHardware...about a 30% increase over the same period last year. That's so exciting!! I was helping out with a class today (Preparing for a Fire Door Inspection taught by Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies), and several people mentioned that they were frequent visitors to the site. One told me that I "got him hooked on Doors & Hardware magazine" (when was the last time you heard that?). During the class I received an email that cracked me up, which read in part:
WW: Fort Independence, Castle Island
This pair of doors is the entrance to Fort Independence on Castle Island in Boston, a five-bastioned fort built between 1834 and 1851. These doors look old enough to be original...with a little repair work at some point.
WWYD: Access Control on Sliding Doors
Jon Bossie of Surveillance Specialties sent me the photos below to see if any of my readers had ideas about how to add access control to these sliding doors. He and I both have some thoughts but maybe there's something we haven't considered. The doors are mounted on the outside face of the wall, each serving an individual office. When the door is closed, it overlaps the aluminum frame face. There is currently no method of securing the doors. WWYD?
Creative Application: Pair with Electric Strike
As many of you know, I was away last week to do some specwriter training. While I thoroughly enjoyed hanging with some of my peeps for a few days (not to mention 12 hours in the car with 3 of them), my email really piled up. I was so happy to find these photos in my emailbox, so I could put up a quick blog post.
One of these things is not like the others…
I went out to dinner tonight with some of the specwriters from the class that we're teaching in Delaware. Those of you who are in the hardware business may spot the special guest who joined us for dinner. :D
WHY? Unequal Pair with Mag-Lock
Do you ever look at a door opening or a particular hardware installation and ask yourself, "Why'd they do that??" I know you have! I've decided to create a new category of posts, where we can puzzle these out together.
WW: Reader Photos
Thanks to y'all I'm never short of reader photos, and these photos leave me wordless...just in time for Wordless Wednesday!
Especially for Architects and Specifiers
Is it my imagination or do most architects wait until the last possible moment to ask for help with their hardware specifications? Why is that?? My theory is that most of them hate hardware so much that they can't bear to look at it or think about it until it's almost too late. I feel the same way about my taxes. Nope, I haven't done them yet. I wonder if H&R Block will take good care of me when I call on April 14th.