# Metal framed garden gate



## TFrench (8 May 2018)

Been tasked with doing the wood infill on a gate my uncle has fabricated. It's a box section frame about 1.8m high x 1.2m wide that he wants 8 vertical iroko boards fitting flush into. I've got two main questions - 
1. How much gap should I leave for expansion around the perimeter - I was thinking about 5/6mm?
2. Tongue and groove them together and bolt them on or bolt them on individually? 
Never done anything like this so any pointers appreciated!


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## basssound (9 May 2018)

What size box section are you using and are you going to put a flat bar on edge inside the box to place the timber face up to.
I don't bolt each individual timber as this usually ends up looking horrid, I much prefer to makes the panels in one large section and then bolt them in. 
I glue and screw the boards together with a Z frame on the rear.


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## katellwood (9 May 2018)

If you are boarding with individual boards then instead of leaving a large gap at one end for expansion I would leave a small gap between each board, thereby they look more proportionate in the frame, also in my experience Iroko has minimal movement.


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## TFrench (9 May 2018)

I think its 50x30 box section. (It was a couple of weeks ago when we made the frame!) Yes, we have fitted a flat to bolt the timber to, along with the box section cross braces.


20180316_163945
As you can see there's not room for a Z bar on the back. I was thinking if I do them individually we can just use small stainless coach bolts on each rail to hold them.


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## basssound (9 May 2018)

For a frame that size you don't need the centre cross braces, a flat bar square frame welded inside will stop any sagging and allow you to use 18mm timber with an 18mm Z frame.
I would use 40 x 2mm flat bar for the insides.


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## basssound (9 May 2018)

Here are mine for some inspiration.


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