Dog flap?

[Nick69]

Hi all,

We have a dog flap in our back door, it gets blown open by the wind which we have a lot of being on top of a valley. Ive been looking at other dog flaps on the net and seen these really expensive ones £250+ with self closing hinges. Now as a trained and time served cabinet maker I would like to make one myslef but cant find suitable hinges anywhere.
The only 2 way sprung hinges I can find are for fire doors and are way to strong for what I need.

Has anyone got any other sudgestions as to what I could use to make sure the dog flap closes on its own and stays shut even in strong wind?

Btw we have big strong dogs so Heavy duty is fine but they must be able to open it with ease.

Regards
Nick

[contadina]

We're currently thinking of how we can build a dog flat for when we enclose our porch. I've no ideas for hinges but reckon thick strips of overlapping rubber hung on the outside would do it. Rubber should be sturdy enough for the wind not to lift it and flexible enough for a dog to pass through. As one of our dogs needs to see where he is going we'll probably go for opaque silicon rubber.

[Cloud]

Would weighting the lower edge of the flap solve the problem? We have a similar problem with a cat flap and a little weight helps. When it its close there a magnets along the edge that hold it closed, but they only work once vertical. We can't put much weight on it as the cats struggle as it is, but with big dogs you could go to town and add lots of lead or steel.

[Nick69]

I was thinking today about using one of those chain closer things that mount inside the door frame but dont know how strong they are?

The weight idea might work although they chase each through and the second dog might get a real whack on the noggin lol

[Cloud]

I was thinking today about using one of those chain closer things that mount inside the door frame but dont know how strong they are?

The weight idea might work although they chase each through and the second dog might get a real whack on the noggin lol

Then you'll need a damper. I'm not quite sure what the chain closer thing is, but if the weight (or chain) drops through a pipe of oil or water it would dampen the effect - you'd need to experiment to get the right viscosity and pipe/weight diameter to make it work at the right speed.

[Nick69]

This is the type of thing I mean:



I wonder how strong they are? Too strong for a dog flap, btw im going to make saloon type doors for the flap not a top swinger.