HELP - Making a steel hole bigger

[Gusmac]

hi

I have got a very old walk in safe at home. We use it as a storage cupboard.

However now we are needing it to lock.... And I think the door is slightly misaligned. Ever so slightly. It is going to cost too much to get someone in, so I am thinking of simply making the holes slightly bigger.

Here is a picture. Any ideas on how I can make the hole in the door frame bigger?

Thanks

A

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• Gusmac
• 3 Apr 2015
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• Gusmac
• 3 Apr 2015
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[Brigadier]

How much bigger?
1mm, 5mm, 10mm?
Still need to be round, or a different shape?
Does it need to be any deeper?

Has it ever locked before, while you have lived there?
Could you jack the door up a touch, and shim the hinges?

 

[Burnerman]

Is that the door bolt keep that we can see there?
Difficult to ease that without a die grinder......it could be better to attack the door bolt or fit an external lock, a hasp and staple being the easiest if not the neatest!
John

 

[JohnD]

Is it a fire cabinet, or a safe? Or a vault door?

Show us more

 

[Gusmac]

The door used to close and as you can see, I have taken all the paint off.

The door at the moment does close....but it take a lot of force. So I think that it out of alignment by around 1mm. Reason why is the bolt does go in, but not enough.

Thoughts?

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• Gusmac
• 3 Apr 2015
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• Gusmac
• 3 Apr 2015
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• Gusmac
• 3 Apr 2015
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• Gusmac
• 3 Apr 2015
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[Nozzle]

Might be easier to thin down the "spindle" locking thing with an angle grinder rather than make the hole lager.

Nozzle

 

[JohnD]

Is the door jamb/frame painted?

The lip of the door still looks painted.

 

[foxhole]

Unlikely to be misaligned , more likely 20 coats of paint are causing it to bind.

 

[Brigadier]

Unlikely to be misaligned , more likely 20 coats of paint are causing it to bind.

I agree with Foxy's opinion - not much of a safe, if it is falling apart under its own weight

"Harry, the octogenerian safe cracker. He just sat there, and waited. And waited. And waited.........."

 

[xr4x4]

Looks like doors at an angle at the bottom.

 

[Dave54]

Worn pins and or holes in the hinges? Suspect they'd be awkward to replace, but might be the answer.
ALDI had a bench grinder on offer last Sunday that has a flexible shaft. They might well still have some. I think you'd want a suitable rotary file though, rather than a grinding bit.
With anything like this, you always seem to end up removing more than you thought it needed.

Nozzle's idea of thinning the locking bar might be easiest, as long as it doesn't make the bar jam in when retracted.

 

[Brigadier]

If the door is dropping, what is to stop it dropping further, after the OP has butchered / "adjusted" the locking pin?

Could end up ruining a decent asset, for the want of a bit of professional attention.....

 

[Dave54]

If the door is dropping, what is to stop it dropping further, after the OP has butchered / "adjusted" the locking pin?

Could end up ruining a decent asset, for the want of a bit of professional attention.....

Very true!

 

[mattylad]

How about some good pictures of the door hinges?
With the door open so that they frame can be seen etc.

Then some suggestions on how to fix the drop might be suggested.

 

[KenGMac]

Gusmac, hI.

Looks to me like a strong room door, typical of the low security door needed in what was once a Solicitors office?

I have seen a couple of these types of doors in the last year or so.

The doors that I saw were not easy to open or close either, both of them were in Edinburgh.

Probable cause of jamming are paint? or more probably wear on the hinge pins, trouble is the door is a big lump of steel that has been swinging on the top hinge for anything up to 80 / 90 Years and as such wear and tear of especially the top hinge has occurred.

On the ones I saw, no easy fix as the door casing, or frame was also made of Steel, no flexibility, no possible adjustment of the frame or indeed the door, unless it is possible to bore out the hinge pins and re-fix them?

Ken