Pensacola Florida Aluminum Driveway Gates

Custom Designed Plasma Cut Logos & Mexican Clavos

by JDR Metal Art

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 the 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! 🙂