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On the rear of my property I have a six foot fence with a gate that borders the alternative high school. The factory gate latch was made out of 1/8" steel and was very wimpy. Some time in the last two weeks when they mowed the school yard I think that the tractor hit the gate and knocked it off its hinges. At the same time the latch portion of the gate latch assembly disappeared. I looked around but couldn't find it, so I made a new improved one. Instead of 1/8" steel I used 1/4". I TIG welded the latch because I would have to back my car out of the garage to access the MIG welder, so time wise it was a wash.
I modeled it in SolidWorks so that I could make a print to use as a template for bending the strap and a second template to use as a drilling and contouring guide for the pivot portion of the gate latch. To bend the strap I wrapped in around a piece of 2-3/4" bar stock in the vise. I bent it until it matched the print. For the pivot portion of the latch I glued the print to the steel part and transferred the holes and contouring.
It's not like I need it secure because I never lock it anyway. I just don't like it swinging around because at the extreme of travel the hinge bottoms out when it hits and bends the fence that is attached to the gate. It can also rotate the portion of the hinge that is attached to the post, which is how the gate fell off.
Don
I modeled it in SolidWorks so that I could make a print to use as a template for bending the strap and a second template to use as a drilling and contouring guide for the pivot portion of the gate latch. To bend the strap I wrapped in around a piece of 2-3/4" bar stock in the vise. I bent it until it matched the print. For the pivot portion of the latch I glued the print to the steel part and transferred the holes and contouring.
It's not like I need it secure because I never lock it anyway. I just don't like it swinging around because at the extreme of travel the hinge bottoms out when it hits and bends the fence that is attached to the gate. It can also rotate the portion of the hinge that is attached to the post, which is how the gate fell off.
Don
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