Garage Door Automation with Industrial 3D Printing. Here's how we did it!
- Jul 13
- 3 min read
Custom 3D printing can solve garage door automation challenges that off-the-shelf systems can't. In this project, HP MJF 3D printing and standard hardware were used to create a low-profile opener for double out-swing doors. Custom brackets allowed a donor opener to be reused, resulting in a reliable, cost-effective retrofit.
The Challenge: Automating Double Out-Swing Garage Doors
Adding an automatic opener to double out-swinging garage doors is a niche problem. Off the shelf solutions are scarce, expensive, and often unavailable locally. Most options are hydraulic or lead screw systems that require one unit per door, which drives up both cost and complexity.
The existing setup was a simple barricade bar and hasp. It did not hold the doors fully closed and offered no way to enter from the alley, so getting in meant a full trip around the property. Jordon wanted garage door automation that was low profile, easy to repair, and affordable.
The Solution: Custom 3D Printed Components and Standard Hardware
Jordon found a used low-profile garage door opener and figured he could at least salvage the motor and sprocket. After talking it over with some colleagues, they came up with a way to use the opener's single linear force to operate both doors at once.
They looked at a few YouTube builds for inspiration before settling on a modified carriage with two pivoting push/pull rods connected to the top of each door. They used a 1/2" rigid EMT conduit for the push rods because it's affordable, readily available, and stiff enough for the application. Clevis pins at each pivot point keep the whole thing easy to disassemble and repair. The carriage and brackets were custom designed in Autodesk Fusion 360, with FDM printed prototypes used to verify fit before the final parts were MJF printed for long-term durability.
One Unexpected Design Challenge
During testing, they ran into an issue with the carriage orientation. On a standard overhead door, the carriage is forward when the door is closed and back when it is open. This setup had this reversed, which caused problems when programming the motor and getting the safety sensors to work correctly.
They solved it by flipping the chain and carriage. After that, the sensors and end-stop programming worked without any further issues.
The Results
The finished opener sits above the light fixtures and keeps a low profile. It holds the doors tighter and more secure than the old barricade bar, and now he can get in from the alley without walking around the building.
Reusing the donor opener's motor and track meant the built in safety features came along with it, including the photoelectric sensor, auto-reverse, and emergency release. Using standard hardware and an existing motor kept the cost down, and the MJF printed brackets handled everything in between that was not available off the shelf.
In the end, what started as a garage door that seemed impossible to automate, became a practical and reliable solution. Just as importantly, its modular design makes it easy to repair, or replace without rebuilding the entire system.
Have a project that doesn't fit an off the shelf solution? Get in touch with us today, we'd love to help!
Tempus 3D is an HP Certified industrial 3D printing company based in British Columbia, Canada, providing additive manufacturing solutions from rapid prototyping to production ready parts.
We offer Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Stereolithography (SLA), and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) to meet a wide range of production needs.
Have a project in mind? Contact us at info@tempus3d.com or request an online quote to see how Tempus 3D can support your next project.
Let's make it possible!
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