Cat door holder opener

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I hate cats, but the wife's cat has his own room (unfinished bathroom) that contains a box of crap (litterbox) and his food.  We had a string that holds the door open enough for the cat to get in, but doesn't let the dogs (two labs) in.  That keeps the dogs from eating cat crap, but other than that, it is a terrible system as you have to unhook it every time you go in the room and then remember to re-hook it when you leave.  So, for procrastinator's Christmas, I made my wife a cat door holder opener.I had to make a square hole in a piece of steel, which is always fun.  Lacking a square drill bit, I used this piece of scrap that someone had torched a hole in.The idea was to have the door latch through the square hole, and have the other side of the angle available to "catch" the door when closed.  I needed a little clearance around the door knob, so crudely marked that out.I cut the arc with my jig saw about half way and then I broke off a blade, and the broken off blade stuck in the saw.  So I took the saw apart to get the holder apart, and - long story short - I don't have a jigsaw anymore.  So, I roughed the rest of the arc out with a cutoff disk, then grinder, and cleaned it up with files.The square hole took a lot of filing (should have done that with the jigsaw before I broke it).  Making progress here.Well, skip a little bit of boring filing.  The rest of the parts were simple flat bar to build the bracket.  Got my angles figured out in the house, back to the shed and tack things together, back to the house to test and tweak (and break my tacks).  Repeated that until it was close enough for the cats I run with.  I'm blaming any and all lack of squareness in this picture on distortion from the camera phone.Rusty angle as clean as its going to get.  This is back in the house getting ready to paint.  My shed is not insulated (working on that) and it was 5-10 degrees, so painting in the shed doesn't work very well.I heated the whole thing up to uncomfortable temp with a heat gun, then sprayed several coats of rustoleum black using a beer box for a paint booth.  You can't be running a pretty wood door into a chunk of angle iron, so I added some custom trimmed weatherstripping as a cushion, and called her done.  What welding thread is complete without a picture of a litter box and a can of lysol?
Reply:Pretty slick solution!Hobart Airforce 625 plasma cutter.Snapon MM140sl Mig/Tig welder
Reply:Originally Posted by cwhYou can't be running a pretty wood door into a chunk of angle iron, so I added some custom trimmed weatherstripping as a cushion, and called her done.  What welding thread is complete without a picture of a litter box and a can of lysol?
Reply:just an option, what about making a little pet door..  cut hole, trim it out nice, use the piece of wood you cut out of it for the door, or use some material that matches the surrounding decor?tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:Nice solution you came up with.  Seems like it would be less work to get rid of the cat.Miller Dynasty 200 DXBuildPro TMA52238 (38" x 22")Miller MP-10 & Jackson Nexgen EQC20 Ton Press & Swag HD Press Brake
Reply:Those litter boxes suck.I had (had) a cat that pissed so much it would jam the mechanism.When my little girl was born (almost 3 years now) the cats went outside.
Reply:Good idea and build for a door prop though
Reply:1. ingenious design2. great fabricationVERY well done...I like it.KevKevin / Machine_Punk from The Aerodrome Studio - Lincoln PowerMIG 210 MP - Meco N Midget w/custom welding station - Vintage Victor 100Current Projects: The Aerodrome Studio
Reply:Six wood screws. Is it a mountain lion? And how do you close the door fully now? What about heat bills? Me and that cat would see things differently. Cool job tho!I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:[QUOTE=weldermike;3497581]Six wood screws.   NO, it's thru bolted with a 3x12 plate on the back side..
Reply:geat idea. I'm gonna pop your bubble a bit though by saying the square hole could have been left round ( as it is behind the strike plate) and perhaps the whole thing should have been screwed where the moulding will cover later (so someone doesn't have to patch all those holes). But it looks good and functions well and now you have reason to go buy a newer, better jigsaw with '"MORE POWER" (sorry tim the tool man reference).Miller thunderbolt 250Decastar 135ERecovering tool-o-holic ESAB OAI have been interested or involved in Electrical, Fire Alarm, Auto, Marine, Welding, Electronics ETC to name a just a few. So YES you can own too many tools.
Reply:Bubble popping part 2 :  Ok, it's working but see it as a prototype first version, the toughest to produce is always the first, improvments are coming easyer after. IMHO it's bulky, doesn't fold away, is fixed thru gyproc with no studing , you can't close the door and inevitably you will bump into it.  For one thing you could mount the main brace inside the room welded on any type of hinge screwed on the door frame, it will hide the anchor points and fold away permitting door closing and safely walking  trough.  You may google existing hardware and get some ideas to refine that project. Here the old lady would keep me sleeping by the litter till i come up with something that blends more into decor.  At least you made the first step, good luck and happy new year.
Reply:Pretty slick. Now add a hinge with a spring detent to allow it to cam over out of the way when not needed. I'd catch myself on the thing every time I went through the door. I like my cats but I'm happy they live outside.
Reply:Thansk for all the feedback folks, I really do appreciate it.  Some great ideas here.First:  Those litter boxes do suck.  I hate that thing, and it is on its last legs.  Sounds like a 747 taking off when it automatically "scoops".Yeah, my first thought was to mount it to the screw holes from the striker plate, which would have made it a much lower impact install.  It just seemed like that would be awful flimsy though.A hinge would be really nice, as snagging on the thing is a concern.... there may be a version 2 in in the future.  I'd really need a cnc plasma table to do that right though! Originally Posted by weldermikeSix wood screws. Is it a mountain lion? And how do you close the door fully now? What about heat bills? Me and that cat would see things differently. Cool job tho!
Reply:Gotcha! I thought it was a door to the garage. Thats why the heat question.I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:Ah... roger.  If I follow up on all the ideas posted in this thread, I can see the project taking on a life of its own until I get frustrated enough to kill the cat.   Win/Win.
Reply:Great job, my hat is off to you.  I am not quite as smart and energetic, my wife gets a new cat each spring ,they love being in the barn in the summer, when winter comes they want in the house and  I think it's the coyotes that seem to get them, because usually around the end of the first month of winter in Oct. maybe Nov. they disappear.   I'm just sayin'!!!
Reply:Something's way F$%ked up with your litter box.  Mine's full of $hit'n'pi$$.  Nice work!  Before I had a master (Fiancee), I'd let the cats come through whatever screen they tore through, or a vent tube for the dryer.  That ended when we started living with each other.   Now, the cat's not allowed to bring other animals into the house.-AaronJet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:I thought the whole idea was to allow a door to "slam" and squish those pestering kitties??:Nice design. Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:My cousin used to have two cats named Corpse and Useless.... Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:Where's ALF when you need him?