# Elevator Doors



## kaykakid (Dec 27, 2012)

Hello, 

Im working on a production of Wit and out set has a working elevator door. 

Right now I am planning on hanging the door on a piece of track behind the wall flat. 

Any Ideas on how to make this work with a counterweight system that a stage hand can operate manually?


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## Les (Dec 27, 2012)

I think when I did One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, we just used a 4x8 "Hollywood" flat (1x's and Masonite) on a track. We had a stage hand pull it open and closed manually by essentially rolling it back and forth. 

Why the need for a counterweight system? Is this a guillotine door?


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## MPowers (Dec 27, 2012)

kaykakid said:


> .....set has a working elevator door. ...... hanging the door on a piece of track ....how to make this work with a counterweight system .....operate manually?



First you don't need a counterweight lineset involved, unless that is the way you are moving the entire unit on and off. Simply rig the track and doors the same way you would rig a standard curtain track, except use scenery carriers instead of curtain carriers. And NO, curtain master carriers ARE NOT scenery carriers and should not be used as such. If you want the doors to open center to the sides, rig like a bi-part traveler. if you want the door to open to one side, rig it like a one side/one way, leg traveler. Live end and dead end pulleys attach to the track, floor/tension pulley attaches to the door frame or use a weighted pulley. Track and doors travel with the rest of the unit, vertical or horizontal. Need more detail? Just ask.


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## Tex (Jan 1, 2013)

Michael,
I think he was talking more about a counterweight system specifically to open and close the doors, not a lineset. Kind of like a door closer made with trick line and sash weights. 
If manpower is not an issue, use stagehands to open and close the doors. They'll get it right with enough practice. That's how they did it on Star Trek...


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## MPowers (Jan 2, 2013)

Tex said:


> Michael,
> I think he was talking more about a counterweight system specifically to open and close the doors, not a lineset. Kind of like a door closer made with trick line and sash weights.
> If manpower is not an issue, use stagehands to open and close the doors. They'll get it right with enough practice. That's how they did it on Star Trek...



Agreed, you're probably right about the counter weights. But, if the doors are moving horizontally, a counter weight doesn't do a thing. I should have specified when I said to rig like any other track that it could be rope operated or walk-a-long, as you said, like the original Star Trek. Of course the advantage of the rope is one person operates both doors, but it is not quite as "Crisp" as plain ole stage hands. Course what really sold the bit was the Foley artist with the "shisht" sound when it operated.


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