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A home owner from Lancaster, MA says:

My cousin lives in Radnor, PA, and I am helping her replace broken hardware on sliding bypass closet doors. This is a then-modern-style 1950s custom house with many built-ins, fixtures, and hardware from that period. There are perhaps 18 sliding, bypass closet doors with unusual roller assemblies that hold each door onto a two-track rail mounted on the underside of the top door jamb. We probably need at least ten roller assemblies to replace the broken and missing assemblies presently mounted.

Attached are annotated pictures of the roller assemblies presently installed. The two pictures of removed hardware actually show 1 1/2 sets of hardware, so you can better see the two main pieces of the original assemblies.

I thought one of the distributors I already contacted could provide correct hardware, but they cannot source the parts. Nonetheless, my last attachment is of their catalog page which shows some possible replacement hardware, including part numbers 3-170, 3-171, 3-206, and 3-185, that MIGHT be candidates for my project. As described, the distributor cannot source these parts.

I am not certain how the offset is calculated, but hope the pictures attached to this email help clarify what is needed. The attachment "Hardware offset" is really a question for you. Is the hardware we need properly described as 1/2" offset?

Please let me know what hardware you recommend for this project. I am not sure whether it is best for me to buy two modern roller assemblies and confirm that they work properly, then buy additional hangers to complete the job. If you require any more information, please let me know.

Thank you.

Larry

Thumbnail of the uploaded file named Closet-facing side.jpg
Thumbnail of the uploaded file named Hardware offset.jpg
Thumbnail of the uploaded file named Installed roller hardware.jpg
Thumbnail of the uploaded file named Room-facing side.jpg
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Tom from SWISCO responded:

Thanks for contacting us, Larry. This looks incredibly old. I doubt that you'll find an exact match for this anywhere on the market, but that doesn't mean we can't try to dig up a working substitute. Before we begin, can you tell me the diameter and thickness of the wheel?

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Tom from SWISCO responded:

Awesome, thanks Larry. Please give our team a little time to come up with something. I hope to have an answer for you soon.

A home owner from Lancaster, MA says:
The house was built in the early 1950s and has many interesting, high-end features.
The nylon wheels are 0.26" thick and 0.685" diameter. While the thickness may be little changed from original and is likely best described as 1/4" thick, my guess is the diameter has worn down somewhat from 65 years of rolling around. The original diameter may have been 3/4". I would be pleased if we could identify a working substitute.
Thank you.
Larry
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Tom from SWISCO responded:

Hey, Larry. I'm afraid I just couldn't find anything matching those dimensions. Since this was made in the 50s, there's a good chance that most manufacturers have moved away from this roller size as a standard. Most bypass closet doors like yours use rollers that are 7/8" to 1".

The only option I can thin to recommend is to replace the whole track system. We offer a few different sizes: see our 23-500, 23-501, 23-502, and 23-503. I'm sorry we cannot offer an easier solution.

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Tom from SWISCO responded:

Sounds good to me! Sorry again that we couldn't offer a better option. Either way, we'd love to hear an update on this project once it's all done. You have a pretty unique roller setup, but I have no doubt I'll see other customers in the future with the same thing. As always, we're here for you if you have any other questions.

A home owner from Lancaster, MA says:
Tom,
Thank you for your help with this problem. Replacing the tracks and rollers will be part of a larger remodeling project that we will outsource. In the interim, I'll get as many of the doors working as I can with hardware I can salvage. I'll remove doors from less conspicuous places where I lack working hardware.
Thanks, again.
Larry
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