kbkchooch
Verified Human
Good evening gang!
4th day of h.e. doubletoothpics concluded today, and I'm not whooped! Yay!
As I "threatened" the other day, I am about to divulge my method of making a lift bridge. This is not a wholly original concept, but the best practices gleaned form my observations of many different bridges. The bridge itself is made from plywood with 1x2 stiffeners, further reinforced with spline roadbed. The plywood, roadbed and splines are cut at a 45° with the tail of the cut one way, and the head another. The bridge is hinged not at the end, but approximately 6 inches from the end. This allows that part of the bridge to drop down when the other end of the bridge is lifted.
The hinges themselves are large heavy duty gate hinges. Probably overkill for this application but they are also not flimsy! In the background you will see the other bridge, guarding the laundry room door!
The track itself at the top of the gate is 9 inch sectional, while the rest of the bridge track is flex. The reason I went with sectional track at the head is that it wont move. Flex has a tendency to slide. I didn't want it to slide and get bent when the bridge closed on it. it is also not beveled, no need to. The gap here looks large, but it is only about 0.025 inch
(part 2 follows)
4th day of h.e. doubletoothpics concluded today, and I'm not whooped! Yay!
As I "threatened" the other day, I am about to divulge my method of making a lift bridge. This is not a wholly original concept, but the best practices gleaned form my observations of many different bridges. The bridge itself is made from plywood with 1x2 stiffeners, further reinforced with spline roadbed. The plywood, roadbed and splines are cut at a 45° with the tail of the cut one way, and the head another. The bridge is hinged not at the end, but approximately 6 inches from the end. This allows that part of the bridge to drop down when the other end of the bridge is lifted.
The track itself at the top of the gate is 9 inch sectional, while the rest of the bridge track is flex. The reason I went with sectional track at the head is that it wont move. Flex has a tendency to slide. I didn't want it to slide and get bent when the bridge closed on it. it is also not beveled, no need to. The gap here looks large, but it is only about 0.025 inch
(part 2 follows)
