Planning the Gate: Purpose and Proportions

Before you strike a blow, decide what the gate must do. A traditional wrought iron garden gate is architecture, not just a barrier. Measure the opening at its widest, then subtract 20–30mm for clearance. A typical garden path gate is 900mm wide and 1.2m high. A driveway gate might be 1.8m wide and 1.5m high, but weight matters. Heavy gates need sturdy hinges and posts.

Think about swing and latch. A gate opening towards a slope can drag, so allow 50–75mm ground clearance. The frame should be a rectangle with a diagonal brace or curved top rail. Sketch full size on plywood or a clean floor. This template becomes your assembly jig. Good planning saves hours at the forge.

Materials and Stock Selection

True wrought iron is rare, so most traditional work uses mild steel. It forges well, welds cleanly, and takes paint. For a garden gate, use 12mm or 16mm square bar for the frame, and 10mm or 12mm for scrolls. Flat bar of 25mm x 6mm works for decorative bands. Reclaimed wrought iron is lovely but inconsistent. Avoid galvanised stock—zinc fumes are toxic when heated.

You will need rivets—traditionally hand-forged with domed heads. Solid mild steel rivets in 6mm, 8mm, or 10mm are fine. For tenons, forge down the bar end rather than cutting it; this preserves grain flow. A good anvil, leg vice, hardie, hot cut, fuller, and set hammer are core tools. Buy the best steel you can afford.

Forging the Elements: Scrolls, Tenons, and Rivets

Scrolls are the signature of traditional ironwork. Make a scroll jig from thick plate with pegs or a welded spiral. Heat the bar end to bright orange, then bend it around the jig. Work from tip inwards, keeping the scroll in one plane. You will need mirrored pairs. Make left-hand and right-hand jigs, or reverse the bar. Consistency comes from jigs, not from eye.

Tenons are traditional joinery. Heat the bar end and forge it down to a smaller square or round section—say 12mm to 8mm. Leave a shoulder. The tenon passes through a punched hole in the receiving bar. To punch, heat to high orange, drive a slot punch through, then drift to size. The tenon should be snug, protruding about 1.5 times its diameter. Rivet it over a domed header, or peen into a countersunk hole.

Rivets can be hand-forged: heat the end, upset into a dome, cut to length. To set, heat the rivet, push through aligned holes, and hammer the protruding end into a dome with a ball-peen hammer or rivet snap. The rivet shrinks as it cools, pulling the joint tight—a cold joint that stays firm for decades.

Joinery and Assembly

Assemble on your full-size template. Start with the frame: two stiles (vertical) and two rails (horizontal). The tenons on the rails pass through punched holes in the stiles; rivet those first. Add the diagonal brace or curved top rail, tenoned and riveted corner to corner. Now add scrolls—rivet them to the frame, or run a horizontal bar through them and rivet that bar to the stiles. This sub-assembly is strong and easy to handle.

Check squareness by measuring diagonals—they should be equal. Adjust with a twisting wrench or careful hammer blow. Metal moves as you rivet, so check square after every few rivets. For latch and hinges, forge or buy traditional strap hinges. A strap hinge rivets to the gate and hinges on a pintle driven into the post. The latch can be a simple forged thumb latch with a keep. Test the swing before final finishing.

Finishing for the British Weather

Bare steel rusts quickly in our damp climate. Linseed oil is traditional but needs annual renewal. A durable modern approach: wire-brush to bare metal, apply zinc phosphate primer, then two coats of quality metal paint. Black is traditional, but deep green or bronze suit a garden. For a forged finish, heat the gate to dull red and apply boiled linseed oil with a rag—this gives a rich black-brown patina. Do this outdoors; the smoke is pungent.

Pay attention to crevices around rivets and tenons. Before assembly, coat mating surfaces with primer or grease. After assembly, brush paint into every joint. Let the gate dry thoroughly for a week before hanging. Fit a small drain hole in any hollow bottom rail. A well-finished gate will outlast its hinges.

Maintenance is simple: check rivets annually, touch up scratches, and oil hinges. With care, your gate will serve for a lifetime, growing more handsome with age. That is the quiet reward of traditional metalcraft.