[Home] [Back to Ironwork & Metalwork page] [Iron & Copper Entryway Gate] [Beautiful Fountain, Nurenburg Germany] [Modern Brass & Glass Railing] [Baroque Drive Gate Reproduction]
UPDATED September 16th, 2019.
One
of my earlier projects was this drive gate styled after a set of park gates in
France dating to the late 1600s. Parts forged in my shop to be later assembled,
painted, and installed by an ornamental ironworking shop. Heavy bars with half
penny snub scrolls, pierced blockings, large acanthus leaves, heavy forged frame
members, hot collared and welded construction.
The
scrollwork and decorative parts of this gate were forged using traditional
ornamental blacksmith techniques. These forgings were produced in the author's
first shop. To see pictures of the little blacksmith shop where these parts were
made, click here:
http://www.beautifuliron.com/cf_BrickAndSteel.htm
The
finished gates would be much too large for my little shop, so after the parts
were forged in my shop, they were then transferred to the ironworks in Des
Moines, IA, for final assembly and painting. For assembly we used a combination
of traditional blacksmith's techniques and modern welding. Hot collaring,
riveting tenons, piercing, and stick welding and mig-welding. The gates were
roughly 12 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Pickets were 1-1/2" x 3/8" flat stock.
Stiles were made of 1-1/2" square stock. These gates are very heavy. The columns
that support them were actually steel beams enclosed in the brick walls.
A
full size drawing was made to show the gates full size. Layout tables were set
up in my shop with the dimensions of the drawings transferred to the steel table
surface. Scrolls were too thick and short to bend cold, so a fireproof surface
and drawings were needed to check the forged parts against during the forging
process. After making several test pieces, the scroll forms and jigs were marked
for reference and the scrolls and scrolled pickets were forged and turned- each
as a single piece- and checked for accuracy against the layout table drawings.
Pierced blockings- the bars do indeed pass through themselves. Holes that are
larger than the width of the bar, are made by slitting and upsetting and
drifting to final size.
All
tooling was made in my shop. Scroll forms and jigs, leaf veining tools, hammers,
hardie tools. These tools cannot be bought anywhere and must be custom built by
the smith that uses them.
Latest update: September 16, 2019.
Page created December 12th, 2003.