On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 16:24:59 -0700, "Lobby Dosser"
wrote:

"Toby Sleigh" wrote in message
...

"Jeff The Drunk" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 06 Jun 2010 11:06:09 -0400, Ralph Mowery wrote:

"john hamilton" wrote in message
...
Have tried using the strongest cuboard magnet I can find (In north
London u.k.), but if the wind picks up surprisingly it will just not
hold. Also

The magnet out of a hard drive is flat and very strong.

Really? What kind of hard drive has a big flat magnet inside? That defies
all logic on the principals of how a hard drive works.

All hard drives, the head arm solenoid uses them. My shed's full of
magnets from HDDs. For example I use them to store sash clamps out of the
way on the ceiling. I've used one from a larger mainframe disk drive to
fish 37lb sash weights from a skip, you've just got to make sure it
doesn't touch the side of the skip.

Sounds like trying to get a prize out of one of those crane machines! )

It was from a speaker, not a harddrive, but I used a big magnet to try
to fish my keys that were ten feet down a drain pipe in front of the
Union railroad station in Baltimore. I ended up with a 2 foot piece
of rebar, but no keys. (I carried two sets of keys in those days
so getting home was easy.) It was a ceramic pipe I think.

On Sun, 06 Jun 2010 14:22:03 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:


Methinks that if OP can't figure a painless way to rig the front door to
not lock him out every time it closes (like a snippet of duct tape over
the the bolt),

Better than duct tape over the bolt (the triangular, wedge-like bolt,
I think you mean) is a paper wad stuck in the hole. It leaves no
residue and isn't visible if a burglar walks by when you take the car
for a test drive and leave the house unlocked.

The Watergate burglars used duct tape to keep one of the doors to the
hall open. The first time the guard walked by, he thought someone did
it during work hours, and removed it. The burglars replaced the
tape!!! **

The second time the guard walked by, he saw the tape and called the
police.

If I had been running the burglary, they wouldn't have been caught.

**I don't know why since I thought they were done coming and going by
then, and I thought all were inside. (Coming and going should be kept
at a minimum during a burglary.)

he'd best not be doing any work on the brakes on his
motorcar. Dunno about UK and Chubb or whoever, but door latch makers
here in the states always put a little tab or button to disable the
auto-lock feature when needed.

john hamilton wrote:
When working on my car, I bring it right up close to the house and lay my
tools out on the floor behind the front door. Since you never know when it
will rain, it works out very handy since then all I have to do is close the
door; and don't have to be picking up all the tools.

Now if its not warm the family doesn't like the cold air coming into the
house and they want the front door shut, which is fair enough. Since the
door just swings open I have to keep getting the keys out of my pocket to
open the door.

I would like the door to stay shut on its own accord, yet just open with a
push without having to use the keys. There is no room on the door jamb to
screw one of those helical spring self closers. And anyway in general use we
dont want the door to close by itself. Which also rules out one of those
hydraulic self closers which could fit on at the top of the door.

Have tried using the strongest cuboard magnet I can find (In north London
u.k.), but if the wind picks up surprisingly it will just not hold. Also
tried cutting a thin wedge of cork glued to an upright jamb which makes the
door a tight fit when closed. However the door shrinks in the summer and
expands in the winter so that only works for about half the year.

Grateful for any suggestions, especially something similar to the cork
arrangement which works just fine prividing the weather suits it. Thanks.


It is possible to get electrically operated magnetic catches. You could
go the whole hog and make it remote control and keep remote in pocket.

I use that method for my master bedroom. Once she complies I let her out for
breakfast.


LOL
"F Murtz" wrote in message
...
It is possible to get electrically operated magnetic catches. You could
go the whole hog and make it remote control and keep remote in pocket.



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

terry wrote:
Got another couple of hard drives downstairs to be scrapped for small
parts, especially the magnets.

Development of stronger magnets has certainly progressed during the
last 50 to 60 years! The magnets used for WWII magnetrons were huge.
Nowadays each microwave oven normally contains two such annular
(doughnut shape) magnets, which together will fit into a mail
envelope!

I use hard drive magnets to locate the studs in wall. The magnets will easily
stick to the nails in the wallboard. Just find the nail and stick the magnet
there to mark the spot.

"Stuart" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Roger Shoaf wrote:
But those types of doors already have a latch where the door remains
shut and is only locked when you lift up on the lever. At least the
ones that I have seen that have made it to California.

True with ours but my daughter's has no lever on the outside. Let the door
shut when you're outside and you need the key to operate the latch.


OK so there are some models that have no lever on the outside, but Still the
local locksmith is probably knowledgeable about the hardware in use in his
area and might be able to come up with a solution that is cheap, easy and
aesthetically pleasing.


--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Have tried using the strongest cuboard magnet I can find (In north London
u.k.),

eBay for Rare Earth Magnets, they come in all shapes and sizes including
disks with holes which can be screwed in place. I have them on an awkward
cupboard door which won't hold on normal latches.