(219) 613-8767 Send Drawings
Two finished black steel 5,000 lb industrial door panels with machined hardware resting on aluminum frames in the Sons of Thunder shop

Featured project / custom heavy fabrication

Six 5,000 lb doors that sealed the first time

Shop · Custom Fabrication

6Door and frame combinations fabricated
5,000 lb+Per door and frame combination
100%Passed leak and pressure spec, sealed on first install
  1. 01The challenge

    A machine shop had taken on six 5,000 lb-plus door and frame combinations for their own customer, and the build wasn't coming together. The doors weren't simple slabs: each carried internal heater channels that had to be water-tight, and the whole set had to seal perfectly the moment it was installed.

  2. 02Our approach

    Sons of Thunder stepped in as the machine shop's fabrication partner and built all six door and frame combinations from the inside out. Each door's internal grid framework was fitted, clamped, and welded to form the heater channels, then leak- and pressure-tested before the skin ever went on. Heavy weldments were rigged and worked on the shop gantry with chain hoists, and every seam was run continuous and fully fused so the channels held under pressure.

  3. 03The result

    Every one of the six doors passed leak and pressure spec, and every door sealed on install without being taken back down to re-weld. The end client told the machine shop it was the first time they had ever sealed a set of doors without having to pull them and re-work the welds.

“They didn't call us back because our welds were clean. They called us back because we protected their relationship with their customer.”

— Sons of Thunder Welding

From the job

The work, up close

The internal ribbed frame with the water-tight heater channels and threaded studs - the part of the door we leak-tested on all six.
The internal ribbed frame with the water-tight heater channels and threaded studs - the part of the door we leak-tested on all six.
The cross-ribbed skeleton before skinning - every cell fit and tacked so the finished door seals water-tight.
The cross-ribbed skeleton before skinning - every cell fit and tacked so the finished door seals water-tight.
Fitting up a heavy door frame on the floor - studs and ribs set before the channels get welded closed.
Fitting up a heavy door frame on the floor - studs and ribs set before the channels get welded closed.
A rainbow-temper weld carried continuously around a door corner - one clean pass for a water-tight seal.
A rainbow-temper weld carried continuously around a door corner - one clean pass for a water-tight seal.
A full-length stacked-dime bead down a door plate seam - continuous and fully fused so the channel holds under pressure.
A full-length stacked-dime bead down a door plate seam - continuous and fully fused so the channel holds under pressure.
A skinned door panel on the table - the heater-channel grid sealed inside, ready for finish work.
A skinned door panel on the table - the heater-channel grid sealed inside, ready for finish work.
Rigging a 5,000 lb door on the gantry with chain hoists - the only way to move and work weldments this heavy.
Rigging a 5,000 lb door on the gantry with chain hoists - the only way to move and work weldments this heavy.
A finished door strapped to the flatbed and headed out - where it had to seal on the first set, no coming back down to re-weld.
A finished door strapped to the flatbed and headed out - where it had to seal on the first set, no coming back down to re-weld.

Let's build it

Have one like this?

Send your drawings or photos and we'll tell you exactly how we'd take it on.

Send Your Drawings Call (219) 613-8767
  • AWS-certified welders
  • OSHA 10/30
  • Insured & bonded