Advice on fabricating a metal framed door

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Greetings!  Another newbie here looking for advice.  I want to fabricate a metal framed door for the alley entrance to the  house, I live in the city (Chicago) and the 3' chain link door currently installed is a joke. The distance between my neighbors fence and my garage is 5' so I plan to make door and a panel, the panel will also have hinges but will be bolted  to the top beam to be used only when needed. This will be my first time welding so I want to do ALOT of research before actually buying welding equipment or materials. I kind of drew in Windows paint the way I want it to look, it will be 2" square steel with wood pickets (or composite if budget allows). Anyone can estimate steel price in the chicagoland area? Still trying to find a place to buy it from. Your input is appreciated. Attached Images
Reply:Hi mrgto,That will be a nice looking gate. What does the opening look like that you are trying to fill? Any pics?The biggest challenge with something like this will be keeping everything square. Additionally, you want to make sure that what you are anchoring to on each side is stout enough to hold the structure in place while operating. For instance, when the door swings open, that is going to laterally load the left most vertical support. You are going to want to make sure that whatever you secure it to can support this load. If there is a brick column or wall on the left side, you may just need to use a couple of lag connections. Conversely, if it is an old raggedy wooden fence on the left, you may have to bury your own post in concrete. Catch my drift?Pics would be a great start. If you are up for the challenge, there are plenty of "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" folks on here that will feed you sound advice along the way.-NicheLast edited by NicheFab; 01-23-2015 at 06:56 AM.
Reply:I did one a few years ago, my biggest challenge was weight and what it attaches to.
Reply:A couple thoughts... Originally Posted by mrgto26 it will be 2" square steel
Reply:Agreed that 2" square sounds like overkill.  What wall thickness were you thinking?  1 x 2 x 0.083" rectangle would be much lighter and look the same from the outside.  Also, it would make your steel closer to the same thickness as your boards so you wouldn't have to center the boards in the steel.  Would be more prone to twist but that could be countered with the right type of latching system.Multimatic 200Ellis 1800Haberle S225 9" cold sawMM 300;  Spoolmate 30A w/ WC-24TB 302GDynasty 280 DX Tigrunner
Reply:Stick with 1 1/2" tube, as that is the size that locksets come in. Lock boxes come in 1 1/2 and 1 1/4, though I wont make a gate out of anything smaller that 1 1/2". 0.065 thickness tube is fine, but 0.083 is more forgiving. Dont consider real wood pickets as they weather badly. I dont generally frame in the top, unless whatever you are mounting to is crappy, and even then I will usually dig a 2-3' deep hole and set a heavy post in concrete. The overhead bar will be a nuisance carrying big things through.
Reply:I'll post a picture tomorrow but to the right is the garage (wood) and to the left my neighbor chain link fence, I could make a fence panel with the same structure as the door (since if everything goes well I'll get that side of the property fenced too) and that will give it support. For the garage side I could weld a rectangular long piece at a 45 degree angle and anchor that to the side of the garage floor (concrete). Thanks for the quick reply, I'll be posting those pictures tomorrow.
Reply:Thanks for the advice walker, I will then go with 1 1/2" tube as you advised due to the lock boxes/lock sets size.The reason for the top frame is because I plan on the right panel to have hinges (kind of a half a door) which will need to lock at top and also to the ground to make it sturdy. Thanks.
Reply:Weldable lock boxes, closers and barrel hinges from King Architectual.
Reply:NicheFab, here's the walkway I'm trying to close, once the cold goes away I'll clear that s crap off lol, the concrete, shrub roots and dirt left from a previous project I completed in the front yard (built two small retention wall, added junipers, a dwarf pine, "pom pon" shrub and replace the weeds and some turf) I apologize for bragging about it, I can't help it . And my neighbor is getting a gate on his side too, to keep the kids safe while playing in the back yard. Attached Images
Reply:"replaced the weeds and some turf" with sod.
Reply:I would be inclined to make it free-standing with 3 posts buried into the ground with concrete. The left most post would sit right next to the existing fence corner post.-or-You could do a post in the ground on each side of the gate and tabs that secure the right side to the wall on the right. (This is assuming you have a stud to lag to and your ok with doing this to your vinyl)But yeah, personally I would dig 3 posts assuming there is not concrete prohibiting it.-Niche
Reply:Niche, thanks for the advice again,  I think I will clear the debris around that area before continuing with the planning to see how much room for digging is available.  I really don't remember where yhe concrete path ends.