Sliding garage door repair

[Niscars]

I am trying to help my Father in Law fix his sliding garage door. It is a large sectioned wooden door hung on rollers with locating lugs at the bottom of the lower hinges running in a curved metal channel embedded in the garage floor.

The curved element of the bottom channel has rusted away (see pics). I hope to manufacture and fit a new channel replace the curved bit.



In order to get the curve right, I am planning to drop a plumbline down from the centre of the top rail and draw the resulting arc onto a sheet of OSB. I will then glue and screw 24mm wooden dowels to the OSB on the centreline of the required channel (about 6 inches apart). I am then going to clamp two 2.5m lengths of flat steel (2 or 3mm thick and about 4cm high) either side of the dowels to form the required curved channel. Under the two steels, I will place short lengths of the same material, which I will then weld to the bottom of the curves in order to ‘fix’ the correct shape.

I will then screw the channel in the floor and concrete upto the edges.

Some questions please:

1. Does this sound like a sensible approach?
2. Will the welded steel tabs actually hold the curve in the correct shape, or will there be any ‘bounce back’?
3. Any thoughts on the spacing of the tabs (or the dowels) to actually hold the shape?
4. Is 2mm / 3mm steel going to be man enough for the task?
5. Is it worth rust proofing?

The drawing below hopefully helps to explain.



Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

For sure, you’ve taken on some project here.....headaches aplenty I think.
Anyway, you need some rolled channel but I doubt if you’ll get such a small amount.
If you had some metal rolls you could roll some flat bar in two strips and then weld a base on, but the basic hand machine starts around £150.
Your faceted approach seems feasible but there’s a good chance the rolling feet on the door would tend to jam unless the internal curves were pretty smooth.
It used to be possible to buy these tracks for tambored garage doors but I haven’t seen them for ages- the 70s in fact and if I recall, they were cast iron.
John

 

[jj4091]

If you google "round the corner garage doors" & contact some of the suppliers you may well get a new ready made channel. I would not think the radius need to be exact as each door runs on 2 bearings which will follow an inaccurate radius.

 

[Niscars]

Thanks guys for your replies. Getting the F-in-L to put his hand in his pocket for anything made by a pro won't happen, so if it is going to get done, then it's me!

If you had some metal rolls you could roll some flat bar in two strips and then weld a base on, but the basic hand machine starts around £150.
John

This is exactly what I am intending to do, but I am planning to just form the curve by bending the bar around the wooden dowels and clamping it in shape while I weld the bottom bits on.
I think I am going to use 30 x 3mm mild steel bar for the two sides (and short lengths of the same size for the base).
Will that be possible to bend by hand and clamp? The curve is not particularly tight (90 degrees over roughly 1500mm).

Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

Blimey you’ve really put me on the spot here
Your material choice is spot on - anything lighter wouldnt be stable enough. Rolling steel is the correct way to curve bar.....its like the old style clothes mangle and passing the metal through the rollers causes it to curve - even when it is cold.
Heating the metal to a bright red makes it much more malleable but of course wooden formers wouldnt last long!
If you are able to heat up the steel and then hammer it on an anvil you would achieve a similar effect.
My concerns are that you’ll get a curve consisting of a series of flats, and I dont know how well the door would slide along this.
Either way, I’d construct a full size timber template so you could tell how well the bending is progressing.
John

 

[Niscars]

Just a quick update in case anyone is interested. It has taken a while because I only go over there occasionally! The bending and welding was actually very easy and the new track fits fairly well in the original slot. I just need to do the final 'joining' welds to connect the new to the old metal and then mix up some fine concrete for the small gaps around the outside.

The former and clamps prior to welding.

IMG_1194

• Niscars
• 13 Dec 2018

In situ waiting for final welds and concrete.

IMG_1195

• Niscars
• 13 Dec 2018

I'm quite pleased with how this has worked - Total cost, about £50.

 

[Burnerman]

That is a first class outcome - very well done indeed.
How did you get the bends so smooth? It looks like 3mm flat bar from here?
John

 

[Niscars]

Thanks. Yes 3mm flat bar with the offcuts used as the tabs welded to the bottom.
It actually bent really easily and I used quite a lot of pegs with a small distance between them to get a good curve.