Deign Requirements:

No Sagging, (Critical Client Item)
- No support caster-wheel where the gate rides on as it opens
- Gate Post strong enough to support itself
No Gaps between wood boards
- Need them tongue and grove
Minimize Open Gap at bottom of closed gate
Likes spikes (spires) on top
Desires decorative rings at top
- The neighbor’s rings down the street are 5in dia, he likes them
Top section curved
- Likes single radius curve on top, not double
Gate and posts are THICK tubing
- No cheap thin Sheetmetal
- Support posts 1/4in thick
- Gate side posts at hinge 1/4in thick metal
- Everything else 1/8in thick

First Things:

Need to engage with the client to understand his likes and dislikes. Make sure the final product is something he wants to pay for and enjoys looking at (or I will here him complain about it every day).

Thus, I spent about 20hrs gathering different gate designs, sharing them with the client, finding out what what he likes and does not. We Drove to existing gates in the neighborhood for deriving a list of design requirements.

Neighbor Gate Details

Sketch Things Out:

Next, I got a rough Idea on the layout, gate dimensions and any interference like a gas meter.

Generate CAD:

I then create a layout of the house, concrete pad and adjoining fence-line.
Fully Created the Gate in CAD, total CAD time 16hrs

Finalize The Deign:

Meet with Client
- Show CAD, Get Feedback
- Provide Client with quote $$$$
  - WOW he said YES, that’s a relief.
Modify CAD per clients request
- Add a second locking pin for holding door OPEN

Start Building

I know I wanted the gate’s THICK welded frame to remain flat and parallel. Thus, I designed my own welding stand/table to accomplish this. See more on this personal project

Learn more

Order Material

Measure parts, position, clamp down and start welding.

As you can see, the garage barely had enough room to complete this welding task, one gate-side at a time.

Add some Black premium Paint (POR 15) to Metal frame

Cut Redwood boards to length, tongue and groove the edges, cut top of boards to curved profile. Seal wood boards

Install Gate

Remove Old Gate

Have all utilities marked

Core-drill through existing concrete for new Gate post

Excavate dirt to a minimum depth of 28 inches

Place Posts into holes and position to correct depth/height

Because I don’t own a nice portable, truck mounted welder, I needed to fully weld the gate in the garage, then install. This required the design of a custom locating/alignment jig for this project. The jig consisted of two (upper and lower) horizontal beams spanning the distance between the hinge pins on the main posts. The beams were constructed of a rectangular-tubular section welded to a laser-cut position plate on each end. The gate-pins would slip into these position plates. The position plates had two sets of holes, “Lower” and “Upper.” The “Upper” holes were positioned outward by 0.075inches to set the posts leaning outward, so when the gates were hung they would be straight. This Calculation found here…

The Jig worked by suspending a plumb bob from a grove in the top position plate and aligning the posts until the tip was positioned at the grove in the lower plate. This ensured the post was leaning outward the correct amount, perpendicular in the other direction and parallel with the opposite poste; basically ensuring perfect alignment.

Now just cement into place and pray calculations/welding was correct.

The Calculations

After waiting 14 days for concrete to strengthen, I installed the Gates metal frames onto the hinges

Installed wood panels on one side

Then I thought, I’m a curious engineer, I should test how strong these gates are in deflecting. So I got my dial indicator and all four of my children to hang from the one gate. I measured the difference in height from the ground. Found it moved (sagged) by about 0.04inches. WOW that’s very strong