Sliding Door Widget

[thomvic]

Could anyone help please?
I've just had my utility area floor tiled. The tilers removed a sliding door for obvious reasons but when they re-hung it they did not re-fit the little nylon widget that acts as a bottom guide for the door and allows the door to "drop" into place when the door is closed. The widget is a very simple z shaped cam mounted onto a nylon base called a Cam Base. I need to know exactly where, in relation to the door, it should be fitted and which way round it goes. I think that the door track, now over 20 years old, is Henderson but I can't find it on their website.

I also want to know whether or not this widget can be glued in place with Araldite or similar. It was originally screwed to the floor but that is no longer an easy option with porcelain tiles!

Thanks in anticipation.

Richard

 

[Myfordman]

Those sort of plastics are very hard to stick with commonly available adhesives.
Careful drilling and screws will be the only long term solution I can think of.
Make a blu tac reservoir around the hole location, fill with water and slowly drill through with a masonry drill with steady pressure. Ease up on the pressure before breaking through the underside of the tile. Do not use hammer function.

 

[Lons]

Hi Richard

The fitting is probably nylon which can be glued but I suspect the action of the door would soon dislodge it so I would screw it down
I second what Myfordman says about drilling. Though you can buy special drill bits the cost is prohibitive for just that one job.

I suggest you ring Henderson HO near Durham as I've always found them very helpfull and some of the technical guys have been there a long time. You'll probably need to get one of their email addresses and send the photo.

cheers
Bob

 

[Eric The Viking]

I've never had success with ordinary drills on really highly-fired ceramics, like 'stoneware' and porcelain. That's anything where the fusing occurs throughout the material (as opposed to only a surface glaze). I've found the lens-shaped glass drills to be a waste of time too.

Try these:



(http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400399363146)

You need a bit of waterproof wood (not ordinary MDF) with a guide hole of the same nominal diameter to start them, and water to lubricate, so they drill in a slurry.

I've used them on metallized glass mosaic tiles. about 1" square. which our tiler was cursing as being impossible to cut. They worked beautifully. Individual ones are on eBay for less than £1 (+P&P).

Those little diamond "core" ones work really well, but don't lubricate for thinly-glazed chinaware (ordinary tiles); do lubricate in porcelain/glass. There's a range of Plasplugs kits, with a drill and a stick-on guide (different sizes of drill), but oddly, Toolstation have just stopped doing them. It's a shame as they have a water reservoir for vertical surfaces.

. . .

The suggestion about masonry drills works really well with ordinary glazed 'china' or terracotta tiles, especially if you 'peck' a tiny chip from the centre on the tile where the drill starts (masonry drills don't have points). I do this with a masonry pin, tapped really gently against the tile with a hammer (keep repeating it carefully, until you get a tiny dimple).

Don't lubricate (otherwise it overheats), but put masking tape over the location to start with, so the drill doesn't easily skid, and if it slips it's less likely to scratch/ Take it off as soon as you've started the drill and the hole is definitely circular, before it gets to full size. Go very slowly with light pressure until you're through the glaze.

Hope something there is useful, but I can offer no help with the location of the holes, I'm afraid.

E.

 

[misterfish]

Why don't you call the tilers back to finish the job? As it sounds like they've rehung the door as part of the job get them to finish it and take any risk of damaging the tiles when refitting the guide.

Misterfish

 

[thomvic]

Thanks for your advice Gents. I am sure I can manage the drilling now. Just the location and orientation of the widget to sort. I'll contact Henderson first and report back. The tilers didn't re-fit the widget because they, like me, couldn't remember exactly where it should go! I foolishly said "that's ok, I can sort it."

Richard

 

[thomvic]

Problem resolved - no glue and no drilling porcelain tiles!

I used a piece of aluminium angle as a bracket. The widget bolted (countersunk 2 ba bolts, nuts on top) onto bottom of the angle and screws through the vertical side into the skirting board. By temporarily sticking the assembly in place with double sided sticky tape I was able to experiment with position and orientation before finally securing it in place.

Thanks again for the advice.

Richard