S&D Firefighter Forcible Entry Door Prop Plans

7/25/2019 S&D Firefighter Forcible Entry Door Prop Plans

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THE GREENDOOR

SEAN J. WILSON & SCOTT A. GARDNER

SEARCH & DESTROY FIRE TRAINING, LLC


2/81

!

SEARCH & DESTROY FIRE TRAINING, LLC

SEAN J. WILSON & SCOTT A. GARDNER, LEAD INSTRUCTORS

5150 HAMPSHIRE DRIVE / SHELBY TWP., MI 48316

586-231-1478

[email protected]


3/81

SEARCH & DESTROY CONVENTIONAL FE DOOR

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What follows is a pictorial of our conventional forcible entry training door that wefabricated a few years ago. This is not so much of a how-to as it is a how-you-might. Please forgive me as I dont recall the exact step-by-step order in which we

did things, but Ill give measurements and put things in the rough chronology asbest I can.

We were certainly inspired by other props that were out there at the time. Ours isNOT the highest-tech or fanciest door around, nor does it have all the bells and

whistles. It doesnt have a baseball-bat swing cut-out or elegant hinge-springs.but it is a more-than-serviceable conventional prop that has been extremelydurable, fairly inexpensive, and simple enough that a couple of novices designedand built it from scratch with about $750 seed-money from our fire departmentstraining budget.

This is for Chuck Olson, one of our friends who wanted to give our door a crack.Im sure anybody out there who makes a stab at it can improve upon our work here.

If you do develop your own door, whether you use any of our ideas or not, Id love

to see some pics! Email them to me at: [email protected]


4/81

PORTABILITY BY DESIGN

$

One thing we intentionally designed our prop to be, is PORTABLE.

Working by myself, I can disassemble and load the entire prop into the 6 bedof my Chevy Colorado. I can also unload and assemble it by myself, thoughits MUCH easier with help.

We teach a lot of off-site classes, so portability was something that was veryimportant to us. However if you only intend to use this at your fire station withno intention of moving it, its components could be welded together more easilyand with less drilling.


5/81

RAW MATERIALS QUICK LIST, PART 1

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Steel:

! steel diamond-plate, 48 x 56

3/16 steel plate, 18 x 30 3/16 steel plate, 18 x 30 L-Bracket, bent to 1-7/8 at a right angle (see slide)

1/8 or 3/16 U-channel, 48 long, custom bent to 4 x 5 x 4 I.D. (see slide)

1/8 or 3/16 U-channel, 30 long, custom bent to 4 x 5 x 4 I.D. ! steel plate, 5 x 5, quantity 2 ! steel plate, 5 x 10, quantity 4 5 x 5 box steel, ! thick , 70 tall, quantity 2

6 x 6 box steel, ! thick, 8 tall, quantity 2 ! x 1 flat steel, 7-" long, quantity 16 # x 2 flat steel, 26 long


6/81

RAW MATERIALS QUICK LIST, PART 2

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Steel (continued):

1 x 1-" box steel, 5 long, quantity 2

1 x 2 box steel, 2 long, quantity 1 1 x 2 box steel, 4 long, quantity 1

2 x 2 box steel, 2 long, quantity 1

2 x 2 box steel, 4 long, quantity 1 2 x 2 angle-iron, 24 long, quantity 2 1/8 or 3/16 steel cut into a trapezoid (see slide for dimensions) Round steel tubing (hollow), approximately 12 (should accept 7/16 Grade-8 bolt

loosely) Small diameter round steel rod (solid), approximately 36 long,

Bolts:

7/16 x 3 Grade-8 bolts, quantity 15 7/16 x 4 Grade-8 bolts, quantity 12 7/16 x 6 Grade-8 bolts, quantity 4 3/8 x 6 Grade-8 bolts, quantity 6


7/81

RAW MATERIALS

'

Where the hell do I get all this friggin heavy-ass steel

from?...Home Depot? Menards?

Your best bet is to find the local metal mart.in our case, it was a placecalled, uh, Metal Mart. What you need is the wholesale supplier to local

welders and fabricators. Theyll likely also do custom cutting and bending.If its not one of your hang-outs already, Im sure you can find the place inyour area pretty quickly online. Failing that, stop in at your nearestwelding shop and ask around.

Also, if you dont know how to weld, buddy up to the guy or guys on your

department who do and get them to teach you, or better yet involve themin the project.

Paying a welding shop to do this work for you can get pricey. At least inmy area (Metro Detroit), the going rate for welding is about $60/hour.


8/81

TOOLS LIST

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Youll need a number of tools, including:

Welder Drill press (bench-top is okay, but it must be bolted down)

" corded drill

" cobalt drill bit

" airline drill bit (extra long bit)

Large C-clamps Bench grinder

Angle grinder

Chop saw K12 rotary saw (optional, comes in handy if you plan on trimming the

diamond plate yourself) Table saw (for cutting dimensional lumber after the prop is built)


9/81

NOMENCLATURE

)Base

Top-PieceU-Channel

Upright(lock-side*

Wood-box(upright-side)

HandleUpright Support

Upright(hinge-side)

Hinge(door-side)

Hinge(upright-side)

Door-stopU-Channel


10/81

STAGE ONE:

BASE & FRAME+,


11/81

DIAMOND-PLATE BASE

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The footprint we ended up with is rectangular, measuring 48 x 56 (! diamondplate). We cut the corners off, but thats completely optional.

Had we known what wed need at the time, we couldve saved quite a bit of money.Not being certain, we ended up buying a monstrous 5 x 8 sheet of diamond plate.Weve used the leftover diamond plate for other projects, but youll do much better

ordering it custom-cut to those dimensions and not have to cut it down yourselflater.


12/81

UPRIGHT SUPPORTS, PART 1

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The two 5 x 5uprights are removable. They are ! thick steel. Ordertwo pieces, each cut to 70.

Each upright is held in place by a 6 x 6 support welded to the diamondplate base. Use ! thick steel, have two pieces cut to 8 lengths.

You could probably get away with smaller dimensional steel, say 4 x 4uprights and 5 x 5 supports, if you wanted to save money and weight.

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13/81

UPRIGHT SUPPORTS, PART 2

+#

As I recall, initially we welded one support down pretty tightly, then just tack-weldedthe other very lightly so that it could be moved if necessary.

I believe on our door, they ended up being 37apart from edge to edge. Thats notto say yours has to be, but just to give you a ball-park idea.


14/81

SPACERS FOR THE UPRIGHTS

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The interior dimensions (I.D.) of the 6 x 6 upright supports are 5-1/2 x 5-1/2. To take up theother half-inch, we welded two lengths of ! x 1 flat steel onto each side close to the corners.

We used 7-" lengths of flat steel (16 lengths total), and started the welds a half-inch off of theend of the 5 x 5 upright so that the welded flat steel pieces would not interfere with fitment bycomplicating insertion or pushing the upright up if it stuck out past the end of the upright and hitthe diamond plate first when inserted into the support.

As you can see in these pictures, we drilled out both the supports and the uprights to acceptbolts to tighten everything, but we dont even use them most of them the time. Quite frankly,the spacers do a pretty good job. I spray them with a little WD-40 every now and then so theyslide in nicely.

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15/81

U-CHANNEL TOP-PIECE

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We had a custom U-channel bent for us out of 1/8 steel, but 3/16 wouldalso be fine if you want to go heavier. If portability is desirable for you,then a U-channel top-piece is the way to go. However, if this prop is goingto be permanent-party in a corner of your apparatus bay forever, youcould more easily just weld another piece of dimensional steel to youruprights.

This U-channel is 48 long.


16/81

U-CHANNEL CUT-AWAY VIEW

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We had a custom U-channel bent for us.

This U-channel is 48 long, and made from 1/8 or 3/16 steel.

Interior dimensions are 4 x 5 x 4.

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17/81

U-CHANNEL TOP-PIECE

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Ill be damned if I remember how I drilled these out to match. I cantremember if I clamped the upright and the U-channel together and drilledthem out together, or if I just used a drilling template for each individuallyand was very careful in my measurement, and precise in my drilling.

I drilled these out with a " airline bit, (extra long bit). We use 3/8 X 6Grade-8 bolts and wing-nuts. Its good to have a little play.

Thinking about it some more, Im pretty sure I clamped them.


18/81

TRAPEZOID-BRACE

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We put a brace on the hinge-side upright-support. We decided to do onlyone so that it wouldnt be a tripping hazard during evolutions. As it turns out,its really not that obtrusive. If I were you, Id do one on each side just forwhat-the-hell.

You can put one on the hinge-side early in the process, but I wouldnt do thelock-side upright until everything is settled with the spacing of the uprights.


19/81

TRAPEZOID-BRACE DIMENSIONS

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We had this trapezoid custom-cut for us. Its 1/8 steel. I believe the bottom-sideis 20 wide, the top-side is 5 wide, and the sides taper up to be 7 tall.

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20/81

STAGE TWO:

THE DOOR

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21/81

DOOR, PART 1

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For our door, we chose a heavy, commercial-grade hollow-core metal door that wed haddonated to us from a local door and window company. The door is 36 wide, and we cutit down so that it is 48 tall. You could also consider fabricating your own door of thesame dimensions out of box-steel and plate-steel. Just an idea.

The door is reinforced by 2 x 2 angle-iron attached horizontally at the top and bottom,and by a 1/8 U-channel covering both sides and the edge the middle third of the door onthe lock-side. The U-channel is formed by an L-bracket and a plate surrounding the doorand then welded together where they meet.

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22/81

DOOR, PART 2

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We reinforced the top and bottom horizontal edges of the door with twopieces of 2 x 2 angle-iron. We cut our angle-iron down to 24, you couldgo wider (up to full-width) if youd like.


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DOOR, PART 3

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We created our own homemade U-channel to protect and reinforce the door byconnecting two custom-made pieces. The first, an 1/8 steel plate measuring 18 x 30.The second, an 1/8 steel plate bent into an L-bracket, with its face measuring 18 x 30,and the small angle of the L bent to 1-7/8 I.D. (most doors are 1-3/4 thick).

In retrospect, I would probably use 3/16 steel for both.

1-7/8

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24/81

DOOR, PART 4

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We created our own homemade U-channel to protect and reinforce the door byconnecting two custom-made pieces. The first, an 1/8 steel plate measuring 18 x 30.The second, an 1/8 steel plate bent into an L-bracket, with its face measuring 18 x 30,and the small angle of the L bent to 1-7/8 I.D.(most doors are 1-3/4 thick).

In retrospect, I would probably use 3/16 steel for both.

Drill out the plate L-bracket together for the best fitment upon installation onto the door.

Use the plate as a template to mark the door, and drill out the door. Use " cobalt bit forall holes. Install plate and L-bracket using 7/16 x 3 Grade-8 bolts and hex nuts.

Once installed, weld plate and bracket together.

1-7/8

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25/81

WOOD-BOX, DOOR-SIDE, PART 1

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For the door-side wood-box we used four-inch sections of 1 x 2 and 2 x 2 boxsteelwelded on top of one another.

The door-side wont require the heavy reinforcement welds that the wood-box onthe upright-side will, but make sure your welds are solid and full-length.

Once assembled, we welded our wood-box smack dab in the middle of the door.

That way you can make the door reversible later if you so choose.


26/81


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There are some designs out there with wood-boxes high and low to simulatemultiple locks.

That is also a good design, and realistic for real-world forces. We decided to keepour prop at one wood-box for reasons of class cost, and we felt that this designallows us to teach about door-flex a little better. But again, thats purely up to the

fabricator, in this case, YOU.


27/81


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If you intend to use only one set of wood-boxes (like our door), plan to put the door-side wood-box centered on the door. Plan accordingly for the upright-side wood-box. This will help tomake the door reversible if you so choose. The wood-box should be mounted about 4fromthe edge of the door.

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28/81

MULTIPLE WOOD-BOXES? HMMMMM

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If you want to simulate multiple locks, use two sets of wood-boxes. Mount them so that theyare equidistant from the top and bottom edge of the door. That is, mount them so that the topwood-box is the same distance from the top of the door as the bottom wood-box is from thebottom of the door. This will help to make the door reversible later if you so choose.

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29/81


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Again, the wood-box on the door-side wont require heavy reinforcementwelding, but the reinforcement plate will pull away from the door slightly ifit isnt bolted down.

Once the wood-box is welded onto the door, drill out holes in the platesand door above and below the wood-box. Use a " cobalt bit, and

secure with 7/16 x 3 Grade-8 bolts.


30/81

STAGE THREE:

THE HINGES

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31/81

HINGES, PART 1

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Our hinges are of a fairly simple design, at least when compared with the elaboratelyelegant type of hinges mounted on springs on some of the commercially-available doors.If youd like some good plans for a spring-hinge design, check out FROZEN LEATHERTRAINING, they have a link to plans for their design.

We decided to go this route for simplicitys sake. The give in our prop whengapping it relies, not on springs, but on the muscle required to flex the door and thetop-piece. We thought when building this prop that the door would be fairly strong,

but sacrificial, and have to be changed every few classes. Three years andthousands of forces later, its a little warped but still in good shape.


32/81

HINGES, PART 2

#!

The hinge-plates you see here are ! steel plate, and both measure 5 x 5. WereI to do this again, I would make the door-side hinge-plate 5 high by 10 wide toallow for easier mounting of doors regardless of door-width.

The hinges are the most complicated part for most of the FE door-props that yousee. I dont remember the EXACT order of assembly for these, but I will explain allthat I remember about the process and provide ample pictures.

Upright-side

5 x 5

Make door-side5 x 10


33/81

HINGES, PART 3

##

This is the basic design we settled on, though we ended up using rectangular steel boxrather than square simply because it fit better.

I dont recall the exact size of the tubing we used for the actual hinges, but suffice it tosay its thick steel, and its inner diameter is large enough for a 7/16 x 6 Grade-8 bolt tobe dropped in VERY EASILY for use as a hinge-pin. In fact, we started off using thesame length " Grade-8 bolt, but it was easier to line it up and drop it in with the smallersize. When youre metal shopping, bring a 7/16 Grade-8 bolt with you to measure forI.D.

The rectangular steel box is 1 x 1-".

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34/81

HINGES, PART 4

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The hinge tubing we measured to a 5 length, then cut into three equalparts (you do the math, that was years ago!). I seem to recall that weconnected all three tube sections with the hinge-pin loosely, then weldedeach section to its respective hinge-plate.


35/81

HINGE-PINS

#%

7/16 x 6 Grade-8 hex bolts. A nut should not be necessary. The hinge-tubing that you use should fairly thick steel, and of a large enough diameterthat these hinge-pins drop in easily. On ours, a" bolt will fit in the tubing,but a little too snugly for easy drop-in insertion, so we use 7/16. Keep itloose and easy to assemble.


36/81

HINGES, PART 5

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Next, we fabricated the rest of the door-side hinge more or less according to ourplans, and attached them to the door with 7/16 x 4 Grade-8 bolts.

Again, I recommend using a wider door-side hinge-plate than we did so to havemore flexibility with door-width if you need to change out the door down the road.


37/81

HINGES, PART 6

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For mounting your hinges, mount them equidistant from the top and bottom of the door.That is, mount the top-hinge the same distance from the top of the door as the bottom-hinge is from the bottom of the door. Again, this will aid in making the door reversiblelater if you so choose.

The next few pages are all pics of the hinges, should you need them for reference.

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38/81

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41/81

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44/81

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Hinges separated,

for a different view


45/81

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Hinges separated,

for a different view


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49/81

HINGES, PART 6

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As I recall, to mount the hinge-plates to the upright-side, we first installed both top and bottomdoor-side hinges to the door.

Then we measured to get a ball-park idea of where the TOP upright-side hinge was going to bewelded.

Next, we connected the top upright-side hinge to the door-hinge and dropped the hinge-pin in.

Finally, we used a floor-jack underneath the door to jack the door up into its proper positionwhile steadying it with our hands. Once in place, we marked the spot, lowered the door,separated the hinge-plates, and welded the upright-side hinge-plate onto the upright.


50/81

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51/81

HINGES, PART 7

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For the BOTTOM hinge, we did more or less the same thing. We started by connectingthe door-side hinge to the upright-side hinge with the hinge-pin.

However, rather than jacking it up, we merely attached the door to the upright at the tophinge.

From there, we manually held the door in its proper place to mark it, lowered the door,and welded the bottom upright-side hinge onto the upright.


52/81

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53/81

STAGE FOUR:

DOOR-STOP & WOOD-BOX

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54/81

DOOR-STOP / WOOD-BOX U-CHANNEL, PART 1

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We decided for our door-stop/wood-box area to create a semi-permanent piece thatcould be removed and re-created. Our thought was that this area was bound totake a beating and that it might be best to protect the 5 x 5 upright.

For that reason, we ordered a second U-channel of the same dimensions as thetop-piece U-channel, but not as long. Ours is 24, but I would recommend makingit 30and centering the wood-box and door-stop on it vertically.


55/81


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Im glad we did it, but this prop has held up rather well after thousands offorces. Its in very good shape.

I recommend using a U-channel to help your props longevity, but if youwanted to weld your door-stop and wood-box directly to the upright itself, Ithink you could get away with it.


56/81


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We welded the U-channel high, low, and on the sides. Later we found it necessaryto run two bolts thru the upright for additional support for the U-channel, one aboveand one below the wood-box. But that should be done later after mounting the

wood-box.

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57/81

DOOR-STOP, PART 1

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For our door-stop we used a very beefy piece of flat steel measuring # thick by 2wide. These dimensions mimic perfectly the door-stop found on your averagecommercial steel jamb. This is a SOLID piece of steel.

So it wont be too close to some of the bolt-heads mounted on the door, order thisdoor-stop cut to 26 and center it on the 30 U-channel.


58/81

DOOR-STOP, PART 2

%(

If you use 5 x 5 for your uprights, mount your door-stop centered horizontally onthe upright (not on the U-channel).

Quite frankly, this is a good reason to use 5 x 5. Not only is it easier to mount sothat the door will be flush, but if you mount hinge-plates on either side of the hinge-side upright, your door can be reversible.


59/81

WOOD-BOX, UPRIGHT-SIDE, PART 1

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For the upright-side wood-box we used two-inch sections of 1 x 2 and 2 x 2 box steelwelded on top of one another. There is a lot stress put on this side of the wood-box, sowe reinforced it by welding some short sections of ! flat steel to the top and front of thewood-box. You can see the bottom side is not reinforced.

Because we used that U-channel sleeve over the upright rather than just welding thewood-box directly onto the upright, we noticed some early distortion of the sleeve. To

remedy this we just drilled a hole (using a " airline bit) above and below the wood-boxthru the sleeve and upright. We secured the sleeve down tightly with two 7/16 x 6Grade-8 bolts. If you dont use a U-channel sleeve, you can skip this step.


60/81

WOOD-BOX, UPRIGHT-SIDE, PART 2

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Obviously, youll weld the upright-side wood-box in-line horizontally with the door-sidewood-box. Our upright-side wood-box ended up measuring 31-" from the top of theupright, and 36 from the bottom of the upright. Just FYI. Yours will likely vary slightly.

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61/81

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62/81

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63/81

HOLY SHIT!....ITS TEST-FORCE TIME!

The moment of truth has arrived. Ill say just two things:

First, dont get discouraged if theres some part of your execution that needs tuning

up. Our first set of hinges we made were far too light, and they bent drasticallyafter just a few forces. I had a grumpy night and we went back to the drawingboard the next day, a minor setback in the grand scheme of things.

And secondly, the door may require a little seasoning before being put intoservice. Say, 20-30 forces to get everything warmed up.


64/81

STAGE FIVE:

FINISHING TOUCHES

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65/81

HANDLES

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This suckers heavy. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise. We made our handlesout of some small-diameter round stock. We put it in a bench vise and heated theareas we wanted bent with a small torch, and beat it into shape with a hand-sledge.

Then cut the excess bottom pieces off with a chop-saw. Not too hard.

The ones you see here are 7 wide.

You could also go to a good auto spring shop and have a couple of shallow, wide

U-bolts bent.

Make sure your welds on these are good! You dont want to be carrying thediamond plate and find out you did a lousy job on the one thats over your foot.


66/81

WOOD LOCKS, PART 1

&&

We use two sizes of dimensional lumber, each cut down to 12 lengths.

For LIGHT RESISTANCE, we use 1 x 2 furring strips.

For MEDIUM RESISTANCE, we use 2 x 3 dimensional lumber ripped in half. Youcan use 2 x 2 furring strips, but they are a little heavy-duty for repeated forces.

For HEAVY RESISTANCE, we use a light piece and a medium piece together.


67/81

WOOD LOCKS, PART 2

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The door-wedge pictured here (with blue tape) holds tension when using mediumpieces alone. Youll go thru several of these per training session.

For tool-set practice, you can also use a bungee cord wrapped thru the wood-boxes with a wedge tucked between the bungee and the door to maintain tension.We start off all of our classes that way so guys can get an idea of how the halliganneeds to move thru the seam and past the door-stop (GAP-SET-FORCE).


68/81

U-CHANNEL TOP-PIECE

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We use wing-nuts on our U-channel. Hand-tight works just fine.


69/81

HINGE-PULL ATTACHMENT

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Youve probably been wondering what the hell that apparatus mounted on the side of ourdoor is. If you havent figured it out yet, its a hinge-pull prop. We have a separate PDFcovering how to build this prop, contact us if youd like a copy of it.

Its a fun add-on, and cheap to build (by comparison).


70/81

REVERSIBILITY BY DESIGN

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Because we have centered everything on the door and on the upright, this door iseasily reversible by simply welding duplicate hinge-plates onto the opposite side ofthe hinge-side upright. Youll flip the door upside-down and attach it that way.

Youll also need to put another wood-box on the opposite side of the lock-sideupright. Minimal investment of time if youve got the welder warmed up already.Shoot, you could make all your hinge-plates and wood-boxes in one batch.

This will enable you to diversify your training, and demonstrate the differences intechnique required by the dimensions and physics of a halligan bar when forcingboth left-handed and right-handed opening doors.


71/81

AWW, FER CRYIN OUT LOUD.PAINT IT!

'+

Ive seen tons of FE props on-line that people didnt like enough to paint. Look, you justspent the lions-share of a grand, and probably 200 man-hours on this thing..dontcheap out now. Spend another $30 on six cans of Rustoleum and protect yourinvestment. Unless somebody backs over it with the ladder truck, this thing shouldoutlast you by several decades. Even if you keep it inside year-round, its still likely goingto get wet from the spray of washing the trucks if nothing else.

So just paint it so it doesnt rust shut in five years.


72/81

AND NOWA WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS

'!


73/81

AND NOWA WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS

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74/81

YOUR HOSTS, SCOTT & SEAN

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75/81

YOUR HOSTS, SCOTT & SEAN

'%


76/81

MR. PINK, LITTLE HELPER NINO, AND THULA

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77/81

BUCK, BANANNON, AND THE SHERPA

''


78/81

Avoid people who would belittle your ambitions. The

small-minded will always do that. The truly great makeus feel that we, too, can become great.

Mark Twain'(


79/81

SERIOUS TRAINING & TOOLS FOR SERIOUS FIREFIGHTERS. AND SERIOUS FUN FOR THE OTHER KIND.

*****

SEAN WILSON & SCOTT GARDNER

5150 HAMPSHIRE DRIVE

SHELBY, MI 48316586-231-1478

EMAIL US FOR QUOTES ON TOOLS OR TRAINING:

[email protected] US ON FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE


80/81

STY

MOTIVATED

BE SAFE & HAVE FUN.


81/81

81FIN.

Documents

S&D Firefighter Forcible Entry Door Prop Plans