Gate Design

[RobinBHM]

as others have said the tongue and groove design will lead to premature failure

I would also mention that if you are making from kiln dried oak the t&g boards will swell considerably when the gates go outside

if it was me I would condition the wood outside before machining it to finished section

Ive made plenty of outside gates and know the problems -professional gate makers leave their timber stock outside under cover.

10 -12% MC of kiln dried stock is far to low for external use where it needs to be 16%



the tongue and groove boards cant be used as a structural element, each board needs a gap of probably 3mm between the next one and so they can only be fixed top and bottom

you have around 20 t and g boards, each one might swell up by 2mm so you could be looking at total expansion of 40mm over the span of the boards -if you dont give enough gap the boards will force the gate joints apart

 

[Inspector]

Something like this would ticks the boxes.. where the centre engages with the boards. It's just alot of wood to remove and a bit of a pain of a shape to router. (I've got close to 6m to cut)



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That is what I was trying to describe. If you make the slope without the little flat then the water won't stay in there once the rain stops. The ones sitting on top being cut flat across the bottom.

Pete

 

[Jameshow]

I'd stop thinking of the panelled area as a web, gates don't tend to use that unless they are plywood or steel. The gate needs to be structurally robust without the panelling ime.

 

[HOJ]

There is a narrow lane your pulling off so your turning 90 degrees as well as pulling in. I've also added a pedestrian gate one side.
It could be made less, but it's surprising how often I want to reverse a luton van in or have hired a skip.

I live on a narrow country lane, drive a long wheelbase panel van and sometimes have a 5m long Ifor Williams flat bed trailer to contend with as well, never had a much of a problem reversing them in through my gate entrance to be honest.

The software is solidworks premium, It's just modelled as one big lump. I could set the model up with all the joints, pins, friction, add the oak properties so it takes into account grain direction..etc etc etc
Then I could model the airflow over the gate.. work out when it will resonate.. I could be optomising it for the next 3 months, maybe shave 40kg off the weight...

I always thought that's what engineers did!

If my oak gate lasts 36 years I will be amazed, I'll be happy with 10

If I make anything for a client they expect a lot longer life than 10 years, and so would I.

Any way best of luck with your project, be good to see it when finished.

 

[johnnyb]

Don't be to optimistic. I'm replacing some 8 inch oak post after 15 years. I snapped both with my bare hands! There being replaced wit 5 inch galv steel. The gates weren't great either but salvageable just.

 

[spanner48]

I already have the wood so the gate posts are going to have to be extened with concrete and steel
happy to go down a meter


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This is very boring.. I'm not keeping in sheep, I also want to reduce the wind blowing down the drive.
I also can't cut curved timbers as I don't have a big band saw.. I cut My first ball with a router and it was painful enough.
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The first design had a curved top, but i decided it was too hard to cut.
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I watched a video on similar and the general consensus was that the rot proofing was a bit of a wate of time.


I'm hoping the post savers will reduce most of the rot in the uprights.

Happy to varnish it every couple of years.

The curve isn't actually necessary; it's just a stylistic thing. Just extend the hanging stile upward until you get a sufficient angle on the gravity brace.