WIP driveway gate (update 25 oct)

[Chris_belgium]

:shock: Thats Huge! Very impressive scale of work mate. How the heck are you going to fit it!!??

No problem now, the wheels are fitted so I can roll it around Did have to use a chainblock to put it in the vertical position, roughly calculated the weight of the gate and came to +/_ 300 kgs. The metal posts are +/_ 120kgs a piece might have gone a bit over the top with these

 

[Fecn]

Did have to use a chainblock to put it in the vertical position, roughly calculated the weight of the gate and came to +/_ 300 kgs. The metal posts are +/_ 120kgs a piece might have gone a bit over the top with these

No such thing as over the top... You wouldn't want the gate to blow away in a gale would you now.

If you haven't already done so, don't forget to weld caps on the tops of your posts to stop them filling up with rainwater.

Anyway.. it's looking really good now Chris. I reckon you'll have that fitted this weekend.

 

[Chris_belgium]

A gate is born :

In place.

All the fixtures are bolted to the posts, will have to be removed when I fitt the wood to the metal posts.

Next job is joining the boards to make the 'wooden box' wich will slide over the metal posts.

Job isn't going very well.

I cut the mdf boards for the shooting board with a Festool saw + guide rail, so they should be straight, but no matter what I try I always end up with 1mm gap on one side. The boards are 1,7m long, is this acceptable? I can easely get them together with a clamp on them without using to much force.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TEO]

Really impressive Chris,
and great to have been able to have followed it in so much detail. I didn't quite get how you resolved the problem with the cracked rail end; did you glue and screw or go with OJP's suggestion of routing out and glueing in a filler?
TEO

 

[Chris_belgium]

Really impressive Chris,
and great to have been able to have followed it in so much detail. I didn't quite get how you resolved the problem with the cracked rail end; did you glue and screw or go with OJP's suggestion of routing out and glueing in a filler?
TEO

Followed OPJ's advice, worked perfect. And if had paid a bit more attention to the direction of the end grain before glueing the filler board, it would be a nearly invisible repair. But even now you can hardly see it.

You can vaguely see the repair in this picture.

 

[Mattty]

Nice Job Chris. Serious piece of joinery that mate.

 

[TEO]

Thanks, I see (or rather don't, V neat), went back and had another look at your pics and there it was. Apologies for an silly person question.
Well done again,
T

 

[carpenteire2009]

Wow, I just stumbled upon this thread, what a fantastic piece of work! Joinery on that scale is very impressive, well done!

 

[Chris_belgium]

Used a skew mitre plane to get all the edges straight, couldn't get it perfect, and it was a lot of work, since most of the boards were cupped about 7mm along their length. Worst thing is, I've got a planer thicknesser standing in my garage, but it isn't hooked up since my electrician doesn't have time to come round and do it

Anyway, made a big mdf shooting board

Glued the boards together and then made a box slightly oversize to the metal pile. I made the box 5mm oversize and this is a bit to small, for the other piles I will make them 10mm oversize.
'box' in place

Electrician came round to mount the motor, gate runs very smoothly, very happy with the result, there is a little bow in the gate, but this has no effect on the smooth running of the gate. Seems that head clansman was right when he told me not to worry about the straigthnes of the rails when I started this project.

Gate catcher, metal will be compeltely boxed in with wood to prevent water seeping in and corroding the metal.

 

[Fecn]

Excellent work throughout Chris. Welcome to the Electric Sliding Gate Owners club

 

[Mattty]

Superb job all round. Is that a Philly plane in the shooting board shot?

 

[Chris_belgium]

Superb job all round. Is that a Philly plane in the shooting board shot?

Yes it is, already bought this plane, a clifton and a starret combinaiton square for this project. Have nearly spent more on tools than on the wood itself

This project is the perfect excuse to justify these tools to the wife though .