Tree of Life | Plasma Cut Driveway Gate

Metal driveway gate by JDR Metal Art installed in Lexington, Kentucky.

Custom 12′ Single Swing Gate Design for Lexington, KY Client

This gate concept was submitted by a client in Lexington, KY.

Installed by Overhead Door Company of Lexington.

Driveway gate design with tree of life for Lexington, KY.

Plasma Cutting the Silhouette from 1/4″ Plate Steel

Bringing the metal tree concept to life begins with the plasma putting operation. The artwork for the tree silhouette is loaded into the plasma machine and cut out.

Plasma cutting program with tree of life design. shown on the screen.

Plasma cutting the metal art tree of life from steel plate.

Plasma cutting the Lexington, KY driveway gate with tree of life decoration.

Plasma cutting the tree design cut from steel 1/4" plate.

Plasma cutting a leaf on the metal art tree.

Plasma torch and plasma cut ornamental whimsical design.

Once the plasma cutter has finished its job the unwanted parts are picked out and scrapped. The completed part is sent to the fabrication table for cleanup and preparation for fabrication.

1/4" steel plate after it has been plasma cut into a tree of life iron gate design.

Then a ring is rolled from 2″ x 3/8″ flat bar that is wrapped around the metal tree.

Rolled flat bar and design of tree cut out of 1/4" plate steel.

The flat bar is drawn tight with a clamp against the plasma cut tree and tack welded in place.

Clamping the rolled flat bar to the tree design.

A couple dozen tack welds hold the ring tightly in place before the heat and pressures of the full and final MIG welding process are later applied.

Attaching the rolled 2" x 3/8" flat bar border to the plasma cut plate.

Once the tree has been wrapped in flat bar, the outer frame of the gate is put together.

Assembling the tree of life gate frame.

Framing up the tree of life entrance gate.

The corners of the frame are double checked for squareness. As they are tacked together and welded, the parts have a way of moving due to the heated metal shrinking as it cools. Assembling the components of the tree of life gate.

Once the outer frame is tacked together the wavy pickets are laid into place and marked out for cutting.

Assembling the pickets into the frame and artwork.

Rolled flat bar welded to ornamental tree and wavy pickets.

Once cut, the pickets are tacked into place where the marks were established earlier.

The pickets all get welded solid to the flat bar. Fabrication of tree of life driveway gate on welding table.

Then the outer frame is welded solid.

Rolled tubing pickets welded into the tree of life gate frame.

Wavy pickets being placed into decorative Lexington, KY gate.

Back side of welded steel tree of life gate.

The tree silhouette is welded solid everywhere it touches the flat bar.

The top frame welded solid where the tree/flat bar meets the gate frame.

Whimsical tree design plasma cut from steel.

Plasma cut steel tree of life design.

The gate is stood up & flipped over so the backside can be welded up.

Tree of life custom gate stood up beside the welding table.

1/4″ plate steel tree leaf cut with a Hypertherm 45XP plasma machine. Near laser quality with super clean cuts.

Plasma cut edge of steel art cut from 1/4" plate by JDR Metal Art.

Looking across from the end of the gate, both ends are doubled checked for plumb.

Once flipped, the backside of the gate is welded up; frame, pickets, flat bar and tree.

Now all the welds are completed and this gate is built. The customer will be installing the hinges and painting the gate.

Aluminum Driveway Gates | Custom Florida Keys Project | Palm Trees & Fence Design by JDR Metal Art

Aluminum Driveway Gates – JDR Metal Art

Custom Florida Keys Entry Gate Project

Palm Tree & Fence Design

Driveway gate with palm tree design at residence in Marathon, Florida. — Florida Keys Palm Tree Themed Custom Driveway Gate.

These unique dual-swing, marine-grade aluminum driveway gates were custom designed, plasma cut, built and powder coated by JDR Metal Art.

They were then crated and shipped via FedEx Freight to our client in the Florida Keys.

Plasma Cutting The Artwork

Here is the plasma torch.

Plasma cutting uses an electrical arc and a stream of air to cut through the aluminum.

The CNC table is a computerized machine that the plasma torch is mounted to. The table follows the cut path exactly how the designer created the file. Once the design is programmed into a file, the file with all necessary parameters is loaded into the plasma table.

Once the plasma cutting program has completed it’s course then the silhouette is removed from the table and cleaned up with a grinder and zirconia flap disc to remove the slight amount of dross that formed on the back of the metal while it was being cut.

Framing The Gate Panels Up

Laying out the frame on the back side of the plasma cut palm tree/fence silhouettes. The design hides the frame so it won’t be seen from the front by passersby.

Fabricating The Gate Posts

These dual swing gates will be hanging from aluminum gate posts. We build our own gate hinges. The hinge tabs are welded to the gate posts and the hinges are ready to bolt onto the posts at the time of gate installation.

The gate posts are 4×4 aluminum with 1/4″ wall thickness. The hinge tabs are plasma cut from 1/4″ plate aluminum and welded to the posts by spray arc with an aluminum spool gun.

Powder Coat Finishing

These gates are built from marine grade aluminum which, after fabrication is first de-oxidized and conversion coated, then given two coats of a super durable grade white powder coat finish. The second coat adds several mils of thickness to the finish, bringing the total finish to between 6 and 8 mils thick which is much thicker than paint. Perfect finish for resisting corrosion in a salty environment.

Smooth white powder coat after it has been applied and baked at 400 degrees.

Side shot of the gates and posts after powder coat finishing.

Thanks for reading our blog post. If you need a custom gate JDR Metal Art definitely has your solution, no matter if you’re located in the Florida Keys or anywhere else. Please don’t hesitate to reach out for a quote!

Pensacola Florida Aluminum Driveway Gates – Plasma Cut Logo & Mexican Clavos Design

Pensacola FL Aluminum Driveway Gates

Custom Designed Plasma Cut Logos & Mexican Clavos

Here’s a 20′ dual swing aluminum driveway gate project recently completed by JDR Metal Art for a Pensacola, Florida property entrance.

Starting Out: Plasma Cutting The Gate Logos

Logos and signs cut from 3/16″ thick aluminum sheet, marine grade 5083.

Rolling Gate Logo Frames

Using a bender to roll the frames for the gate logos from 1/4″ thick by 2″ wide flat bar.

Sawing The Gate Frames

Using a horizontal band saw to cut 45 degree miters into the ends of the tubes which get mitered and welded together. 2 x 2 x 3/16″ aluminum frame material.

Parts Prepared for Fabrication

All materials are saw and plasma cut, then prepared for fabrication.

Framing Up the Gates

All welded areas are degreased with acetone, mitered with a flap disc and scoured with a stainless steel wire brush prior to preheating and welding.

Preheating the Aluminum Prior to Welding

Preheating aluminum prior to welding evaporates the “sweat” i.e. condensation which forms on the metal from humidity in the air. Moisture can cause the welds to be brittle and weak so preheating is important. The preheat also makes the initial section of weld stick better to the base metal.

Condensation sweating off the material after preheating the weld zone.

Tack Welding Pickets In Place

All the pickets were placed first, then the logos placed on top and the spots traced onto the pickets before cutting them again.

Layout of the Logos

Layout of Top Sheet

Tracing out the area to be plasma cut. The Mexican clavos will be applied to the sheet once it is installed.

Locating the Clavos

The Mexican clavos are laid out in position and will be permanently applied after sandblasting the gates down to raw metal.

Hinge Brackets Welded in Place on Back of Gate

Ready for Sandblast

Loaded on the sandblast rack with 2 other sets of gates.

Powder Coating the Gates

Each gate panel and sign is pre-treated with an environmentally friendly corrosion control chemical followed by 2 coats of polyester powder coat. The film thickness of powder coat is around 6-8 mils. This is 4-5 times thicker than a 2-coat paint finish.

Completed and on to the next project! 🙂

Charleston, SC Custom Iron Gates – JDR Metal Art

Charleston, South Carolina Custom Iron Gates by JDR Metal Art

Plasma Cut Scrollwork & Wrought Iron Ornamental Elements

These custom iron gates are going to a property in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.

Designed and fabricated by JDR Metal Art, a nationwide supplier of custom gates.

Custom design for driveway gates by JDR Metal Art created for Charleston property.

A set of custom dual swing steel driveway gates after they were sandblasted.

They are dual swing steel, each panel is 8′ wide, created for a 16’10” driveway opening. They will be hanging from 6×6″ steel posts, 1/4″ wall thickness.

Driveway layout for custom gates with columns and steel posts.

The scrollwork is plasma cut from 1/2″ thick steel plate.

Sandblasted steel driveway gate with plasma cut scroll and 1/2" flat bar.

Fabrication of metal art driveway gate for Charleston, South Carolina property.

Fabrication of wrought iron and plasma cut driveway gate.

Construction of driveway gate with steel elements.

Square tubing, flat bar, plasma cut steel welded together for a driveway gate.

Plasma cut scrollwork, 2x2 square tubing steel and hammered wrought iron scroll.

Welded metal element for ornamental driveway gate.

Wrought iron baluster for driveway gate fabricated by JDR Metal Art.

These Custom Gates feature a Stunning Bronze Maple Tree

Custom Gates with Maple Tree Design by JDR Metal Art

Custom gates are more than just a great way to keep people out of places they don’t belong.

The process of creating a unique custom gate brings people together, connecting them with a singular purpose.

When an idea for a custom gate finds fertile ground it has all the potential it needs to unfold in the form of an intricate work of art.

Appearance matters but can be deceiving to the uninitiated. True value is found in things that not only look great at first impression but will also withstand the test of time.

custom maple tree gate-front

custom maple tree gate-back

Bronze powder coated finish

14′ dual swing driveway entry

6″ x 6″ x 1/4″ steel gate posts with adjustable hinges

springtime in grand rapids, mi

7′ tall center height

custom maple tree gate-side view

Detail, Detail, Detail…From Start to Finish

Creating custom gates involves in many skill sets which are applied in succession to bring forth the finished product.

Each project begins in the design stage. The concept is formed into a shape that fits accordingly with the details of the client’s exact needs and desires.

The concept then converges with the materials provided by nature and the energy of labor.

The outcome is of course determined by the amount of skilled attention and detail applied throughout the process.

If you have an idea you would like to discuss for a custom gate, please inquire using the form below or contact us! Hope to hear from you soon.

We are now booked through February 2021! Please email your questions or to set up a phone consultation!