Tricks for keeping doors closed?

[Sayen]

I usually add a small latch or magnet to keep doors shut, but it won't work for this particular set. I could go with tension hinges, but I thought I'd check to see if anyone had any tricks for adjusting a door somehow before spending money. In the back of my mind I seem to remember some tricks for things to do to a hinge, but can't recall any of them right now.

 

[derekleffew]

1) If a standard door hinge, remove the pin and lay it on a hard horizontal surface and give it a few good whacks with a hammer to slightly bend the hinge pin.
2) The other thing you could try is hanging the hinges slightly off plumb, for an auto-closing effect.
3) If the back of the door is unseen by the audience (and I was taught to try to have all doors hinged upstage and open offstage) a discarded paintbrush screwed to the back of the door as a doorsweep will help keep it in position.

 

[mnfreelancer]

Not sure if this solution is appropriate for your application, but back in highschool one of the period box sets we built employed counterweight style door closers rigged with filament wire and washers. It closed the door just slow enough to not make a lot of noise.

 

[Van]

If one of Dereks or Mnfreelancers ideas don't work for you you can alway go with a bullet catch. I typically mount them on the top of the door with the catch on the jamb. If I may ask... are you using a standard knob set up ? and the door is still opneing on you ? or is a situation where you can't have a real knob ?

 

[Sayen]

Some great tricks, thanks. The door in question doesn't latch/can't latch, and the frame is only about 1/4" thick, which makes framing the hinges off plumb impossible in this case because the hinge is mounted to the back of the door rather than the side, so the side of the door is in conflict with the side of the wall. It's a double door that opens onto the set.

 

[tenor_singer]

This may seem silly and over-simplified...

Our last show's set had 6 doors in it, two of which were "flat doors" and 4 were regular pre-hung doors. The two flat doors (just a regular 4 x 8 x 1" flat with a thin door hinged on it) continually reopened after they were closed. I just assigned a stage crew member as a "door baby sitter" and it was their job to make sure that the door stayed shut. Boring... but effective.

 

[derekleffew]

This may seem silly and over-simplified...

Sometimes, silly and over-simplified is best. In 2000, a certain Latin pop idol was touring a show with a revolve. Partway through the tour it broke somehow, and rather than repair the automation, four local stagehands were simply added to the showcall in each city. The stage was already built to be 6' high, with an entire "village" (dressing rooms, video, audio) below, so the audience never knew the difference.