Moving Door midship, need thoughts on step build out

[GillyGoGo]

Looking at hinges for the door and wondering what type of fasteners to use. I am leaning towards self tapping countersunk into some form of piano hinge. Got any you really prefer? Screws and/or hinges.

 

[Hooker-SKO]

I was considering doing a door move too. I was hoping to not get this complicated with it though. I was hoping to find a straight stairwell out of a donor bus, like a RE bus, then bolt it in just like the stairwells are done and not have to get into major fab work.

 

[GillyGoGo]

Yeah I seem to be a glutton for punishment and have bitten off lots and so this build is taken tons of time.

 

[Cheezewhiz]

Re: scavenging material:

Bedframes are a great source of angle iron. They're higher carbon than you might expect, so they'll crack instead of bend, but good design and over-engineering it will keep it good.

Or I guess you could anneal them, lol

 

[sportyrick]

Be careful using bed frames, they are heat treated medium carbon steel and if you don't anneal your weld they will crack and break eventually. I try and get the weld and surrounding area red hot while welding by making a large hot puddle and it seems to help on the cracking. If you don't believe me take 2 pieces and shoot a quick cold butt weld and you can easily break them apart after welding which will show you that the steel is brittle at the weld.

 

[nikitis]

Be careful using bed frames, they are heat treated medium carbon steel and if you don't anneal your weld they will crack and break eventually. I try and get the weld and surrounding area red hot while welding by making a large hot puddle and it seems to help on the cracking. If you don't believe me take 2 pieces and shoot a quick cold butt weld and you can easily break them apart after welding which will show you that the steel is brittle at the weld.

Hrm.. never knew that. I've made many things from bed frame angle iron. I just recently build a welding cart out of one to save $300 I picked up off of the side of the road ready to be picked up for trash. The welds seem to hold well for me though, but I've never put it to the test. But holding up so far fine. I use flux core, so not sure if that matters or not.

 

[AlphaHare]

Full circle - I decided I had to do this too. Here's a design sketch of the stairs. I used 12 gauge steel for the stairs and the cheeks. I had the two stairs bent for me at 90 degrees, and have one flat tread and riser. Once welded and with finished flooring treads installed, this is going to be more than strong enough. I'll finish it with a small angle around the top routed into to the floor. (Note: the cheeks will not go to the chassis frame - I was just too lazy to trim back in the sketch). I'm adding a receiver hitch to the bottom to add a final removable exterior stair.

All the turquoise stuff is 1"x2"x.065" steel tube - door frame, lower skirt rails, c channel reinforcement. The door frame mounts to just inside the hat channels and will result in a 24" x 76" door with better headroom than the original stairs.

One snip with the rear cheek removed to show channel trim and reinforcement, the other as it will be built. Pics in a couple weeks when done.

 

[sportyrick]

way Way WAY too heavy, I used 16ga and didn't do any extra support just welded it to the floor and bus side and it's very sturdy, remember you are attaching to 16ga steel so the tubing is only as strong as you are attaching to. I did narrow my stairs as you go up and never had a problem, actually we use the extra area at the top of the stairs as a shelf for keys, food going out, dirty dishes coming in etc. Handrail from the front and flip down stairs, generator is on the left, electric control panel right inside the door on left.

 

[AlphaHare]

I agree - In hind site I could have gone 14 gauge and it probably would be fine. My width appears to be larger than yours - about 26 inches and 3 steps 9" deep. I didn't want any oil canning. And it will be more forgiving to weld ;>)

 

[nikitis]

I would want my steps heavy. I may even replace my existing one with a heavier gauge steel. The step does sag in as I step on it, and it's not rusted which means the gauge steel used by default is a tad too light for my weight. I think you did well with the 12ga.