The insight and ideas you share when I post a question are amazing! I really had no idea what was going on in yesterday’s post, but several of you knew right away. Another mystery solved – and thank you!
A few weeks ago I was in an old factory that is now a complex of art galleries. It took me a minute to figure out what these tubes were for. This is the first one I saw…
Then I found another pair with some more clues (I love how the wall is routed out for the tubes and the bars lower down)…
There’s this thing above the door (it looks like something’s missing)…
A little better view of what’s left of the missing piece…
This looks like the missing piece – I’m glad I wasn’t there when the leather strap let go…
Got it now?
I will be out of the office today, delivering gifts for 62 kids and 3 teachers at our rural sister-school! The elementary school has 36 kids in grades 1-6 with ONE TEACHER (the other teachers are for kinder and pre-k). When you think your job is hectic, imagine keeping track of 36 kids all alone. Yikes!
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You mentioned ” I’m glad I wasn’t there when the leather strap let go…” How do you think they routed out the wall for the bars below?
A UL listed door closure !!!!
It appears to be a vintage closure for the doors. The weighted steel hanging from a above would seek equilibrium when opened and close the door as the weight drops through the tube on the door.
Wow, a fusible link me thinks?
Looks like the weight slides into the tube on the door and is held by the leather strap from the swing bracket on the header.
Very ingenious use of gravity to close the door but I don’t see a way to do a hold-open, that’s probably why they strap was cut off.
Could they not use these as hold opens now. Slide the weight to the hinge and the door will stay open and move out to the edge of the door and its closes…
Maybe???
So if I understand correctly, this is an improvised door closer?
Door Closer!!
Its the remains of a Double Acting Door Closer.
Very old and primitive door closers. Simple weight with a leather strap attached to a bracket. They would not last long and the straps would need to be replaced regularly. There are other possibilities as well. The doors may have been upgraded and the brackets are from some old transom window operators. The hinges appear to be primitive pipe and post pivots. The weight tubes remind me of some old warehouse rolling doors that were mounted on an incline and the weight was added to hold the door equalized where ever it was stopped. They were attached with a fusible link and when the link fused and the weight fell, the door rolled closed.
Looks like a door closer to me.
looks like a set of manual door closers. Weights slide up and down the tube and attach to the header by the leather strap. Simple and effective. Question is can you get 5 lbs of pressure at the lock to be ADA compliant?
Low-tech door closers and custom built doors. Not an American installation by the look of it. And the glass is far too beautifully clear for old tempered and in any case would have been wired glass [including the transom which could easily crack and become very guillotine-like…]
Gravity door closer. See similar contraptions on temporary plywood doors on job sites all the time.
Gravity-based automatic door closers. Old school.
I’m having a difficult time understanding how the weight would work on an in-swing door if the frame bracket and door tube are mounted on the outside (as shown in the 1st pic). It appears that the tube is flush with the top of the door. Is there a gap between the top of the door and the lowest part of the header? If not, wouldn’t the leather strap running through the opening (under the header) interfere with the closing of the door?