How the BearMar Makes it harder to remove the bar
Old Style 2×4 Bar Holder Showing the Exposed Screws
When I first decided I would use a 2×4 bar to close my shed instead of a combination of a latch and “something” to hold ONE of the doors closed, I went and bought “ordinary” 2×4 bar holders from Lowes or Home Depot (you can also get a traditional 2×4 closed bar holder or a traditional 2×4 open bar holder from Amazon (these are affiliate links)).
I was pretty happy with these for the most part except that I only had a 2×4 to fasten the bar holders to. This meant I had to add extra wide wood pieces so that I could fasten to my shed. Since I did this “post shed construction” it looked like crap – even after I painted it.
I thought it would be really nice if there was a DIFFERENT kind of 2×4 bar holder which could be installed in only a 2×4 width. I couldn’t find one so then I designed one. Since there were both OPEN and CLOSED 2×4 bar holders in market I created a design for BOTH the open and closed in my compact (because it only takes a 2×4 width) and secure (because you can’t unscrew the screws with the bar in place) 2×4 holders.
Notice that since I have the screws UNDER the bar when it is installed you simply cannot use a screwdriver to remove the bar if the bar is in place. I had to create the holes in the front to get a screwdriver through. This is what makes my 2×4 bar holders so much better than the current bunch.
Here are the drawings which I made using only Apple Keynote to create. It was faster than using a 3D drawing program (at least for me).
Closed Small Compact 2×4 Bar Holder – Drawing & Dimensions
Open Compact 2×4 Bar Holder – Mechanical Drawing Dimensions
I ended up with actual products that look like this below:
Find these innovative Bar Holders here!