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A friend who has become blind and wants her iron gate to squeak so she knows when she has visitors coming. The house has a locked door and doorbell, but everyone has to open the gate first.

I tried wetting the hinges with vinegar over a couple of days and the gate does squeak a little, but I can't help but think there must be a better way to get a louder sound.

FreeMan
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Polypipe Wrangler
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    Does it have to be a squeak? How about a bell on the gate to ring when moved? – DoxyLover Jul 07 '20 at 05:18
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    Look at the shop doors that have a switch to operate a bell - just a support with a moving lever operated by the door. – Solar Mike Jul 07 '20 at 08:14
  • Without seeing the gate, you could get a concrete paver and set it below the gate, and fasten a flexible strap of metal to hang below the gate, in contact with the paver. When the metal scrapes across the paver it would make a noise. Just spitballing! – Huesmann Jul 07 '20 at 14:07
  • i think that the politically correct term is visually challenged – jsotola Jul 07 '20 at 18:21
  • A squeaky hinge will also degrade. It is metal rubbing against metal. It'll eventually stop squeaking due to material wearing out, seize up due to rust, or just completely fail and break apart. – Nelson Jul 08 '20 at 04:01

2 Answers2

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This feels like an XY problem - you imagine a squeak would work, so you ask about how to make a squeak. Instead, ask "how to alert a blind person when someone opens the gate"

I'd go with an Infrared interrupter beam right behind the gate, like a shop. Have it wired to a chime inside, and do lube the gate properly to help it last longer.

If you want to be fancy, a wireless or portable chime unit could be ideal, at the cost of needing a charge or new batteries periodically.

Criggie
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When I was a wee lad, some older autos were equipped with curb feelers which were mounted to the car and hung down to brush the curb and alert the driver that he/she was close. These make a lot of noise, by design.

I say mount these to the back side of the gate so they just brush the ground when the gate is opened/closed:

enter image description here

Jimmy Fix-it
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  • Haven't seen curb feelers in ages! Saw a lot in NYC - most of the cars still had curb rash on their rims anyway... :) – FreeMan Jul 07 '20 at 17:59