Ideas for locking companion way door to sliding hatch.

[Oeanda]

In its current incarnation it’s a bifold door with sliding hatch. Hinged on the left side, with a piano hinge joining the center.



My thought was to install a sliding barrel bolt type lock at top of centre to slide up into a hole in the leading edge of the hatch and hold everything together reasonably snug. So far I think this would work best, but I’m very open to ideas.

For a while after I converted it into a bifold it had a hasp and padlock at the centre top, where you can see the screw holes are, but this was always kind of crappy. It didn’t hold anything closed securely and the hasp was always jangling around.
In the old days when it was a double door it had a brass locking door knob at centre but this is now defunct with the bifold system.


Since I haven’t come across anything great so far, I’m wondering what neat locking solutions you folks have found?

As an experiment I picked up this keyed barrel lock from Lee Valley Tools. This could actually work, if it was larger and more nautical.





The LV one is nice in that it doesn’t rattle around. It is pretty tiny and I’m sure it’s not robust enough, but aside from that I don’t like the fact that it can lock without the key, with a simple push of the finger.
There is a safety release mechanism on the back of this lock that could theoretically be poked with a screwdriver, by the person trapped inside the boat, if I drilled a small hole through the door. This may or may not be physically practical though. At this point I’m holding out for a better solution.

I should mention, I’m not worried much about security. The lock would just be there to keep out honest thieves.
The harbour has a way of attracting drunk people. For that matter it makes me feel like drinking too… I’m not sure whether it’s the attraction of liquids, or just a simple gravitational formula, but random people tend to drift down there and get in trouble on empty boats and I wouldn’t want any strangers getting hurt on our boat. Friends can if they want, I suppose…

[psk125]

Your idea for a barrel bolt approach sounds simple and effective. Putting them on both doors and also at the bottoms (total of four of them) might be the most secure. Possibly something with a hasp like this: https://www.amazon.com/JQK-Sliding-T...81791730&psc=1

Another idea might be a bar across the front of the doors, or on the inside, that locked in place, but it would involve adding a lot of hardware to make it work.

[Oeanda]

Thank you. I wouldn’t need more than one lock and even then I’d actually prefer that it’s fairly easy to break into or out of the boat if necessary.

Yes the time honoured system would be a sliding bolt with a padlock. A nice old brass one would look great too. A person could even make one without a huge amount of work.



I thought there might be something a bit neater, or just something I hadn’t thought of. It does make the question kind of vague.

It occurs to me tonight that a regular keyed deadbolt lock should work if I could find one that will fit the 1 1/8” thick door. Not sure why I didn’t think of that sooner…

Other ideas

- Maybe something similar to that Lee Valley lock, but better?

- Perhaps something like a regular doorknob which latches when it hits a strike on the hatch edge. The knob/whatever hardware on the inside of the boat would have to be somewhat flush (-ish) though.

- A keyed version of one of these type of latches, only… better?





- Something like a large chest lock, where you insert a key and it sends up a hook to latch into the other part.

- Maybe just some newfangled thing? A high quality sliding bolt style lock, that takes a key or a combination. Electric lock with talking face ID and wifi?

My question might well be a stupid one. I feel like if I had a large marina to walk around I might see the answer…

[tkeithlu]

How about top and bottom bolts, just on the left panel, plus a narrow strip of wood down the right side, so that the right panel goes into a groove? When the door was opened, the bottom bolt could go into a hole in the deck to hold the door open. Padding in the groove could resist rattling.

Better than that would be a single lock and handle in the center that controlled the top and bottom bolts. They make those for patio doors, and we have them on the 1895 lighthouse that I maintain, but I don't know of a source that makes them as marine hardware. In those cases a simple deadbolt stops the handle from rotating and lifting out the bolts at the top and bottom.

I found it! Check this out. Not cheap, but pretty:

https://www.vintagehardware.com/prod...EaAuEFEALw_wcB

[Oeanda]

Thank you very much and excuse me for the late reply. I’ve been pondering your thoughts. The ‘cremone’ latches are something I did come across in my searches and was quite attracted to. There are some pretty cool antique ones out there. Bulky hardware sort of, but potentially quite nice looking, and (importantly) would do a great job of holding the door shut. Not sure how it would operate from the inside (allowing for the door halves to fold together when it opens) but I don’t see why a low profile ‘knob’ shouldn’t be possible

The one(s) you mentioned in your lighthouse- hmm.. how to phrase this- does it latch by itself when you swing the door shut and the bolts/pins hit the door strikes? Ie- are the bolts on springs and self retracting? If you know what I mean.


The silvery gray strip of wood on the right of the door in my first pic is a retaining strip I put there recently, for the purpose you mention. The door fits nicely in the resulting groove and holds closed well just by friction at this point. The lock would be just for cosmetic purposes and the honest thieves. Though obviously before we get back out in the water seriously again we will want to have a door that actually closes well against waves when necessary...

[tkeithlu]

On the 1895 Crooked River Lighthouse, the two rods and pivot/knob latch the second of two steel doors that fit together. You close one door, close the second door over it, and turn the knob to engage the rods in the frame at the top and bottom. The plate at the center has a notch cut into it that mates with the deadbolt. No springs. Just pull it all together and turn the knob.

Fabricating your own similar system woiuld not be difficult. You'd need two rods, a plate at the center, and two knobs. If you'd like, I'll go take some pictures and send them to you.

[Oeanda]

I’d appreciate that. Thanks. While I started out looking for something small and tidy that would just latch at the top, the idea of the double latch system is very tempting.

[tkeithlu]

Here are three photographs of the latch/lock on the door of the Crooked River Lighthouse. In this case, a gear on the axle to the knob engages two racks, one at the end of the rod going up and one at the end of the rod going down. Turning the knob sends the rods up and down simultaneously. However, a simpler mechanism works quite well. Substitute a round disk for the gearm and attach to two rods directly to it, one on either side. Turning the knob sends the rods up and down, but at slight angles, which is OK if you just make the guides the rods go through a lttle bit loose. That mechanism is pictured in the PDF.