BREAKAWAY DOORS QUESTION

[stevea66]

Hello, all.

I need to build a breakaway door that can be reused for 12 performances. I have considered foam, but am wondering if anyone has other suggestions.

My biggest concern is that the door look good. It's a small theatre and the element of surprise is very important. Can't look like a foam door that is about to be broken through, if ya know what I mean.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Steve

 

[MNicolai]

Where do you want the failure point to be? Should the door just get knocked over and fail at the hinges/door frame, or do you want it to splinter and get a big hole in the middle of it?

Tell us in more detail what your vision is for this effect.

 

[stevea66]

We actually have both. One is knocked off its hinges as someone enters. The other has to be punched through, and then essentially walked through, splintering.

I wouldn't mind suggestions on both, but the one that splinters seems to be the one causing the biggest debate.

Thank you!!

 

[ajb]

Do the doors need to be operated normally before being broken down?

The one that gets knocked off its hinges can be really easy if it swings upstage--just use loose pin hinges and have someone pull the pins just before the big moment. If it needs to swing downstage, you could use lift-off hinges so the actor just lifts the door slightly to pull it off its hinges. Likely need to modify the hinges so the pins are shorter and leave a bit of extra clearance inside the top of the door frame.

For the other door--what is it supposed to look like? a residential hollow core door? A solid raised-panel door? Probably the easiest and most convincing method would be to build it as a hollow-core door with balsa facing and just reface or rebuild it for each show. You could also build it as a solid door and pre-break parts and insert thin dowels across the breaks to hold the pieces together--that way when the door gets hit the dowels snap and the pieces fall apart. Or you could do a hybrid of the two methods, for instance build a raised panel door where the frame is pre-broken and doweled and build one of the panels from balsa so it can be destroyed each show and a new panel slotted in.

You'll probably want to splurge on heavy duty knobs/handles for these doors, since they'll surely take a serious beating.

 

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http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/scenery/15154-breakable-door.html

 

[stevea66]

Thank you for the feedback. I don't know that we have the budget for balsa, unfortunately, but it seems like the way to go.

And thanks for the link to the other forum on this topic.

If we end up creating something unique, I'll stop back in to share.

 

[stevea66]

I've checked into balsa wood and it seems that it's only sold in sheets that are 5" wide or narrower, and up to around 3 ft. long. Do you know if balsa wood can be purchased in larger sheets? Big enough to cover a door?

Thank you!

 

[scenerymaker]

Consider pre-breaking your door by sawing it in pieces, then cover it with one layer of not-too-heavy paper and wallpaper paste. Break through the door and the pieces go flying. Then strip and repaper after the show to be ready for tomorrow.