Strauss Vault Door made by York

[wylk]

Making a model sounds like a great idea! I have considered it but my Sherline lathe is bit too small for a decent size model. Having access to a door near you would be ideal but limits your choices. Have you picked a door? Doug

I'm still just pondering the idea. The Mosler/Strauss door you posted pictures of in this thread is appealing, I like the mechanism. Another alternative is an HHM style with "turnbuckles" that was pictured in another thread; here's another image, this time with the bolts withdrawn:

But then there's the rack/pinion/ring-gear mechanism that almost all makers settled on:

(in this case a Diebold door, from an image in another thread). However I don't even want to think about doing the engine turning or acid-etching that adorned classic old doors!

I also would have to decide the scale (something in the 1:10 ballpark), and that might be determined by what size gears I can find off the shelf. Should it just be a boltwork demonstrator or should it include pressure bars and a door frame? And so on. SO, just thinking about it for now.

[Tom Gordon]

1:10......and if the original is 30 tonnes then the model would weigh?

[wylk]

1:10......and if the original is 30 tonnes then the model would weigh?

Um, about 60 pounds. Remember that weight/mass is proportional to the cube of dimensions, so 30 (US antique) tons is 60,000 pounds; 10:1 cubed is 1000:1, so 60 pounds. Some of the decisions I haven't made include whether to use steel or aluminum for the door proper, whether to make it full (scale) thickness, and whether to hollow out parts of it just to lighten it up. It would be just a model, and primarily to show off the boltwork.

[Dean Nickel]

It is not like it will ever have anyone try to break into it! Would love to see it once done!