Fig. 192.—A Well-made Gate.
The posts, a, a, [figure 192], of oak or other durable wood, are eight inches square, and stand five and one-half feet above the ground. The posts, b, b, three and one third inches thick, four and three-quarter feet long, are mortised to receive the slats, c, c, which are of inch stuff, three inches wide and ten feet four and three-quarter inches long. They are let into posts, b, b, at the distance marked in the engraving. The slats, d, are three inches wide, and one inch thick, and are placed opposite each other on front and back of the gate as braces; e, e, are simply battens to make a straight surface for the hinges, f, f; all except the upper and lower ones are very short and carried back to the post. The hinges, made by a blacksmith from an old wagon tire, are one and one-half inch wide, three-sixteenth inch thick, and are fastened by light iron bolts through the battens at e, and to the rear post.
The above describes a cheap, light, durable gate, which in over twenty-three years’ use has never sagged, though standing in the thoroughfare of three farms, and also, for years past, used for access to a sawmill. It is made of the best pine. The hinge is an important point. It is not only cheap and easily made, but acts as a brace for the gate at every point, and thus permits the gate to be lightly made. With this hinge sagging is impossible. A gate of this kind will rot down first.
LIGHT IRON GATES.
Fig. 193.—A Light Iron Gate.
The gate shown in [figure 193] may be made of wrought iron an inch and a half wide and half an inch thick, or preferably of iron gas-pipe of any diameter from half an inch to an inch. In the vicinity of the oil-regions, pipe can be bought very cheaply, which is in condition good enough for this purpose. For guarding against hogs, it should be hung near the ground, and have one or two more horizontal pipes near the bottom.
Fig. 194.—A Wrought Iron Gate.
[Figure 194] shows the construction of a gate intended for situations much exposed to trespassers. It is made of upright strips of flat iron, pointed at the top, and fastened by rivets to a stout frame-work of iron. The “pickets” are placed two to three inches apart, as desired, for the appearance of the gate, or according to the size of the poultry or animals to be kept from passing.