Gate Project

[HobbyWelder]

I am currently in the process of construction a gate that will fit in a 44" space. I want to use hammered tubing for its look, but i am having trouble calculating how far the middle bars need to be from each other to be exactly even. I plan to use 1 3/16 hammered 16 gauge tubing as the outside frame and 3/4" hammered tubing for the inside bars. I also want to add a vine like thing with roses etc. on the front. Is there any program or anything i could use to figure out what i need and spacing. Has anyone done this kind of thing before. THanks, HW

[bruisermac]

get a tape measure and brush up on grade 4 math

[JohnDeere]

How tall are you going to make the gate? When you say its going to fill a 44'' space im assuming your meaning width wise am i right?

- John Deere

[HobbyWelder]

yeah the width of the gate will be 44" and it will probably be about 5 feet high.

[Rocky D]

Take your inside dimension, devide by the number of spaces...this will give you the center to center distance, of the pickets. Change the number of spaces untill you get a dimension you like. Not rocket science.

[david_r]

Hobby,
Rocky's absolutely correct. Of course, I think I'd divide by the width of my desired spacing to get the number of pickets but that's tomato vs. tomahto, I guess.
Here it's broken down in case you're not real comfortable using center to center distances and offsetting half your picket width.

Assuming your outside dimension is 44"
44" - 2*1 3/16 = 41.625
Let's assume you want your picket spacing somewhat under 4 inches.
41.625/4 = 10.40625 SPACES
We can probably round this down to 10 but will be checking it later.
So, we take the number of pickets (which is one less than the number of spaces (9)),
subtract their width from the space to fill
41.625 - 9*0.75 =34.875
and then divide by the number of spaces we need to get our spacing between pickets.
34.875/10 = 3.4875.
May as well be 3.5"
That's close to our spacing desire of less than 4 inches. We also got lucky and will be able to use a couple pieces of 2x4 to space out our pickets.
You'll be off an 1/8 by using a 3.5" spacing. Where to make it up is your choice.
(3.5+0.75)*9 + 3.5 = 41.75
41.75 - 41.625 = 1/8 off over the width.

You can layout the whole gate with 2x4 spacers and check the look before you weld any pickets in.

If you want to go wider, 8 pickets gives:
41.625-8*0.75 =35.625
35.625/9 = 3.958
That's real close to 4 inches spacing.
To check
(3.958+.75)*8 + 3.958 = 41.622

[Errol]

You boys are just too kind! Do you think Hobbywelder'll need a tad of space for hinges and a latch?

[david_r]

Who knows?
First he said opening size then he said, "yeah the width of the gate will be 44""

[HobbyWelder]

Thanks guys this helps a lot!

[Rocky D]

HW be sure you have at least a half inch of space on both sides of the gate...more depending on what latch you use. You won't be able to get a 44" gate into a 44" space....well you might get it in there, but it won't open. Just a thought.

[HobbyWelder]

Thanks Rocky,
I have one more question: What is the best place to buy hammered square tubing for the best price.
Thanks
HW

[Terry Lingle]

Well since you don't post your location the closest place you can find it would be the best. For the amount you need a short drive will eat up a10 % price difference. Terry