Door Closer for Pets

thingiverse

With my 3D printer came the chance to solve something that had been bothering me for years - my dogs never close the office door behind themselves, and always want me to get up to let them in and out of the office. I created this specifically to look obvious because it was meant to be fun - I even thought about giving it a little spray of gold highlights to make it look aged. It is designed to leave the door open just enough that the dogs can push it open with their noses. With a lighter weight, it closes slowly and doesn't make much noise - I added a black foam rubber bumper above the screw so it would hit the top of the door frame first. You will need an 8x16x7 bearing for the pulley... like the ones used in rollerblades. At the top of the bracket, there are four 5mm holes - these are for metal bars to guide the string as it moves from side to side with each door opening and closing. I made these out of metal because of wear; you could make them out of anything else. The string length is up to you, but I suggest using a lighter weight at the end of the string made of something soft because it will knock against the door otherwise. You'll also need a hook to attach the string to the wall just above the door frame at the corner - best to figure out the exact location once the bracket is in place.