How to Build a Spooky Working Drawbridge with Sounds and Light

Step 5 Attach Door

Using two door hinges that we scavenged off yet another old barn door, we attached the door to the 6" x 6" at the frame. First, we measured up about 1.5" from the bottom of our door and attached a hinge on each side so that the actual hinged part was flush with this measurement and the loose end extended below (making sure that our hinge would fold back on itself). Next we laid the door in the frame, face down (with the bottom edge of the door extending about 2" behind the rear of the 6" x 6" attached to the bottom plate), and adjusted it to get the loose half of the hinges laying flush against the 6" x 6". We attached another piece of 6" x 6" to a piece of 3" x 12" timber (each about the width of the door) matching centers. This we placed under the front of the door to hold the drawbridge level when in the opened position. Then we threaded another chain from the back through the ring on one side of the frame, down through the cutout (same side) we made earlier in the door, across the front side (underside when in the open position), back up through the opposite side, and back through the second ring on the frame (see picture). We secured the chain in the middle of the door with a fencing staple to prevent the chain from sliding when the door was lowered. Then we hooked each end of this chain to a ringshank nail (one each side) that we'd hammered into the back of the frame (put in at an upward angle) just to hold them out of the way.