# Building a Gate



## josh88 (Jan 11, 2012)

So here's my dilemma, I'm doing a show that requires a gate, specifically this one if you want to be historically accurate. It's a gate to a textile mill. Late for work, you get shut out. 



Because of time and budget and lack of welding skill I can't make it from metal. My only ideas thus far have been PVC and or wood. I'm not married to the idea that it needs to look like this, it just has to close and have bars. I'm trying to decide if it will be easier to go with wide spaced slats of some kind so you can still see through it, and trying to figure out how to get a look that will work out of wood without having a lathe. Any suggestions on how to approach this? I've been to busy with the rest of the set to sit down and think this one out yet.


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## Footer (Jan 11, 2012)

Best bet would be to cut the entire thing out of a sheet of ply and route the edges to give it a round look. The ply will give you strength. Its going to be a ton of time with a jig saw, but worse things have been done!


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## Morte615 (Jan 11, 2012)

Can be done in a weekend. Furring strips for the horizontal pieces, predrill holes and use PVC pipe for the verticals. Standard Halloween Fence construction, you can find many pictures and step by step instructions online.


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## josh88 (Jan 11, 2012)

Footer said:


> Best bet would be to cut the entire thing out of a sheet of ply and route the edges to give it a round look. The ply will give you strength. Its going to be a ton of time with a jig saw, but worse things have been done!


 

And that's what I hadn't thought of! That makes perfect sense and should keep the size of things down and keep the top and bottom from being too thick. Don't like the idea of that much detail work but I've done worse and the show is in the round so people will be able to see all the detail for once haha.


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## Van (Jan 11, 2012)

I gotta go with Kyle on this one. Morte615 has a great Idea, but I'm afraid that for the width of the project, anything other than welding or ply is going to have WAY too much wiggle in it. 
This would be a great project for a Cut-Awl. 
<or a CNC router.>


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## venuetech (Jan 11, 2012)

I just built a similar gate out of 1x2. I clamped all the verticals together and then cut a 3/8" deep notch in for the horizontal members. the notches were tight and glued with gorilla glue and stapled. The gate was only 3' wide left and right units. details such as the rings could be made of 4" abs pipe cut thin. It could be longer if the end could be supported by a glide on the floor. once it was all assembled i marked and cut the curved top then trimmed the bottom square.


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## Morte615 (Jan 11, 2012)

Van said:


> I gotta go with Kyle on this one. Morte615 has a great Idea, but I'm afraid that for the width of the project, anything other than welding or ply is going to have WAY too much wiggle in it.
> This would be a great project for a Cut-Awl.
> <or a CNC router.>


See I was actually thinking that the ply would be too fragile and have a lot of wiggle. That is a lot of the structure of the wood removed after all. (Unless of course I am just misunderstanding what is being done  )
My way actually offers a lot of support because the 1x2 (or 2x4) runs across the whole thing strengthening it. Also if you use sch. 40 PVC it should be stiff enough to help with vertical support.

Of course if you go the plywood route you just have to add a 2x4 horizontally to strengthen that also.


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## Footer (Jan 11, 2012)

Morte615 said:


> See I was actually thinking that the ply would be too fragile and have a lot of wiggle. That is a lot of the structure of the wood removed after all. (Unless of course I am just misunderstanding what is being done  )
> My way actually offers a lot of support because the 1x2 (or 2x4) runs across the whole thing strengthening it. Also if you use sch. 40 PVC it should be stiff enough to help with vertical support.
> 
> Of course if you go the plywood route you just have to add a 2x4 horizontally to strengthen that also.


 
I wouldn't do it out of CDX, a good 3/4" ply is what you really need.

And van... if you have a CnC in your shop, I have a few choice words for you.


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## josh88 (Jan 11, 2012)

I won't be making it that large, average fence gate size so a sheet of ply should be perfect for this application


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## PrescottJr (Jan 11, 2012)

Definitely use AC ply, CDX will give you a huge headache you don't want to have to deal with!


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## Van (Jan 11, 2012)

Footer said:


> ...And van... if you have a CnC in your shop, I have a few choice words for you.



Not yet, but I found a plce here in town which is a "Technology Graveyard". I found all the stuff I need to build a CNC router router table, including the control server. Ah, Someday when I have time....


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## kicknargel (Jan 14, 2012)

I'm sure the plywood idea would work well. I think what I would do (and I think this is similar to other suggestions) is build what is essentially a studio flat frame for the perimeter and internal horizontals. Pre-drill hole through the internal horizontals (toggles) and half-way through the bottom and top members. These will hold the PVC verticals. You'll probably need some corner blocks to keep the whole frame square. You can buy finials at an ornamental iron shop (they're not that expensive) or cut them from 1/4" ply or lauan. Now there's where you need that CNC.


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## TheatrePros (Jan 18, 2012)

Instead of cutting it out of a whole sheet I would half flap it. Cut strips and then notch each strip halfway at the intersections. It is one of the strongest joints you can create as long as you give your glue time to set. This will also eliminate the eventual Wiggle you will get from the jig saw when your eyes go crazy. As for the CNC....i bet you could find a shop near by that has one. We are near Chicago so I have a few choices to go to, but it might we worth saving yourself the frustration and time.


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## derekleffew (Jan 18, 2012)

TheatrePros said:


> Instead of cutting it out of a whole sheet I would *half flap* it. ...


Indeed, the half-lap joint is one of the strongest. "Half flap" however, _might_ refer to one side of a Hinge, loose-pin, or backflap.


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## josh88 (Jan 19, 2012)

well I haven't checked the booth for a day or so and missed that advice, in either case... finally tackled the project today and made my students to a good chunk of the grunt work as part of their midterm exam. So they cut the large sections between the bars and I came in after and did the fine cuts and detail work. Honestly it turned out better than I had originally expected it to and its plenty sturdy. No wiggle in it and I left a couple of spots that I could throw some 2x3 supports on the back of it to help hang it to the rest of the frame, but I don't think I'll need it. Router all the edges front and back with a quarter round to help round the bars out some and its looks great in person. Just needs a bit of sanding and some paint now.


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