Fancy mechanisms for hidden doors

Having just watched The Name of the Rose again, it occurred to me that mechanisms for hidden doors (move a specific book in a library, twist a certain torch holder to the left, press the eye sockets of a skull to open a heavy door, flip around a wall or move a stone altar) are pretty much a staple in popular culture. Has there ever been a real implementation? Operating a lock with is one thing, but moving around a heavy piece of masonry with such a minuscule force is probably a bit unrealistic. Even if you do something clever with springs and counterweights, the mechanism has to work effortlessly in reverse as well, which would be tricky. Come to think of it, if there is a conveniently located spring (as in source of water), one might fashion something with waterwheels and basins. So, are there any examples of such mechanisms?

Reply to
Felix Reuthner
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I suppose something as simple as a garage door spring mechanism would do the trick.

Lance

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Felix Reuthner wrote the following on 2/20/2011 04:55 AM:

Reply to
Lance

Yes:

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there was a former confederate counterfeiter that some ... the Egyptians has some elaborate trick doors

More likely ropes, pulleys, and counterweights.

Not really. A garage door is counterbalanced so a very small force can move it up and down, even though it weighs at least hundreds of pounds.

Usually the best have no moving parts, just tend to help people overlook the door behind a tapestry.

David A. Smith

Reply to
dlzc

Thanks for the link, an interesting read.

Correct, you only have to employ minimal force, but over a considerably way, so I don't think it could be done by simply pressing a button or moving a book-sized lever a few degrees. Otherwise I would consider putting a fake bookshelf at my garage door.

Plus, it is much easier to eavesdrop from the secret passage.

Reply to
Felix Reuthner

As a kid in Madison WI, I had a friend show me the secret room in the old 19th ct. house he lived in. There was a broken piece of wainscotting. You would poke your finger into the small upper part, then pull out the lower part, which was a lever unlocking the panel next to it. Complex sloping roofs provide unused spaces that are hard to figure out.

A big museum in DC in the 60's had a working model of an ancient temple. A fire in the altar place next to the main temple doors heats water in the bronze vessel under it. Displaced water goes through a siphon into a bucket. The descending bucket pulls chains that are wrapped around pillars. The pillars are connected to the temple doors which are directly above them.

Build a fire, and the doors magically open. When the fire goes out, the water should be siphoned out and close the doors.

What I want to know, is do we have actual stuff from the actual medieval period on file?

Nils K. Hammer

Reply to
synthius2002

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