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This is a submarine door all made from recycled lumber. It is grafted into a standard door which is the door to my office at work. I made this all at home in my shop and installed it into my existing office door at work on the weekend. It has been up for almost a year and people still stop to check it out. This has no screws or fasteners in it, all of the wood (1000 pieces total) is joined together with glue and joinery. The woods used are sapele, oak, cherry, teak, ebony, ipe, bamboo, walnut, maple and some 5.2mm MDF for the iris parts. The center iris has 8 blades on each side for a total of 16 that all move together with one turn of the knob. There are about 150 parts in the iris alone. I have videos of the inner workings of the iris and the finished iris opening and closing but I'm not sure how to upload those… sorry. This door is all my original design and it took me 3 months to build (a few hours everyday after work), I used Sketch-up and AutoCAD and pretty much every tool I own including my lathe. So far only the people I work with have seen it, I hope you like it too.

Video of inner Iris mechanism

Video of finished working Iris

Video of the entire door -

New video of entire explanation of the door including walking through it -

-John Hansen

Gallery

Comments

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12 Posts
John, this may very well be the coolest wood working project I have ever seen!
 

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2,984 Posts
I gotta say, that's the coolest hatch (in the Navy, doors are called hatches) I've seen! I like the fact that it operates, too-must be quite a conversation starter!

You should be very proud of it!
 

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11,255 Posts
Incredible. One of the most impressive projects I've ever seen.
 

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4,288 Posts
A wonderful design and great execution…very impressive…thanks for posting
 

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211 Posts
Wow, what a super looking door and very well crafted! Are you x Navy submariner?
 

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119 Posts
That is one awesome door! It's very creative, and your workmanship is outstanding.
 

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2,217 Posts
That is one of the most amazing projects I've ever seen. Incredible. I think it's well above my skill level.
 

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Thank you all for the kind words - I really appreciate it. I don't have a military background but I have the deepest respect for those who do. The idea for the door started off as me wanting to make something mechanical and practical all from wood. The most complicated latching mechanism I could find was a submarine hatch (thank you Mean_Dean for clarifying). The rest of the design came into focus as I was building it.
 

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24 Posts
Absolutely amazing!! Your door must be the talk of the office.

What do you do for "easy" stuff?
 

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41 Posts
Just amazing….!!!

Please ensure that it has a way to stay in your family for years to come!
 

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5,279 Posts
I love it. Great thought process and beautiful execution.
One for the ages!
 

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113 Posts
This is amazing!! WOW! I hope people use the hatch door. It looks so fun and awe inspiring.
To upload videos I post them to youtube then create a link in the post.
 

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2,584 Posts
Completely stunning.
 

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547 Posts
Amazing, I would love to see a video of it operating.
Very Well done.
 

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4,286 Posts
Really nice! Don't let the fire marshal see it.

M
 

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4,714 Posts
I have to concur with all of the positive comments above!
However, I don't believe it will be very waterproof!
 
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