cutting holes in steel gate post for hinge bolts

[Industrial Toys]

A friend shot a hole (.223 or .308) through the roll bar of my VW dune buggy. Like a hot knife through butter! At some point later, I convinced him to shoot a hole through the corner of his Gremlin bumper. Said it would look neat! So we did. When he went to leave, we found out that the bullet had veered around, taking out the rad and a bunch of wiring!

I think the OP said he DID NOT have a torch.

I never saw a ramset fastener bigger then 1/4". Not to say there aren't any. Those things are neat.

 

[BukitCase]

Not to say it isn't still fun, but it's obvious to me this thread has veered steeply into "Hold my beer and watch THIS" territory... :laughing: Steve

 

[k0ua]

Not to say it isn't still fun, but it's obvious to me this thread has veered steeply into "Hold my beer and watch THIS" territory... :laughing: Steve

ayup...

 

[setxjeff]

The unibits are awesome for large holes. They do not grab like a normal large bit does.

 

[alchemysa]

Why not just weld them on?

The threaded hinge bolts let you adjust the gates horizontally to allow for a crooked post or a post that leans once the weight of the gate is added. This is especially useful where a couple of wide farm gates meet in the middle.

I've done a few recently. I used my cheap welder/plasma cutter to blast the holes through. Without the plasma cutter I would have used a stepped drill bit. You can pick them up cheap if you look around.

 

[beowulf]

Drill hols through the post with a 1/4" bit, no twisting danger with that size. Then enlarge the hole as required with a UniBit.Unibit Step Drills - Drill Bits - Tools - IRWIN TOOLS

Ditto on the step drill bits. They have saved me a lot of work many times. I would not be without them. They are also available at Harbor Freight which is where I get them. I have used them for the precise same purpose - enlarging holes in steel pipe to put gate hinges all the way through. They work amazingly well and are fast.

 

[bob 59912]

For materials 1/4" or less thick Hougen makes RotaCut Sheet Metal Hole Cutter with arbors that will fit in a 3/8" or 1/2" drill chuck. These have triple flats on the arbor to enable use of cutters up to 3/4" in diameter.

Hougen RotaCut Sheet Metal Arbor for 3/8" Chucks with Pilot Pin 11088
Hougen RotaCut Sheet Metal Arbor for 3/8" Chucks with Pilot Drill 11089

You don't need a magnetic base drill.

Another annular cutter from them is the Rotabroach 16,000 Series Extended Reach Cutter that are meant to drill through tubing. It has the triple flats on each bit to be able to chuck it in a drill.

If you need more depth of cut you can use 12,000 series annular cutters with 1" or more depth of cut, with arbors for a hand drill, drill press or mill.

If you have trouble holding a cutter while starting a hole by hand, you can cut a guide hole in a piece of metal using the drill press and clamp it to what you want to drill by hand to prevent the cutter from wandering. Much easier to control than a large twist drill.

 

[jbwilson]

Bob1476
Have you considered using Tek screws - they're similiar to self tapping screws but beefier. They come with a drill bit extension on the screw making them self-drilling. If you're not confident of doing this in one step, you can pre-drill the hole and then manually screw them in - but use the hex head ones as opposed to the screw head types as they are difficult to turn with a screw driver. That way you won't have misaligned holes emerging from the other side of the post.
Recommend that you don't use a rifle to make the holes, because the washer won't fit flush against the face of the post on the other side. There was another reason, but I can't remember what it was, so it can't be that important.
John

 

[dickfoster]

The threaded hinge bolts let you adjust the gates horizontally to allow for a crooked post or a post that leans once the weight of the gate is added. This is especially useful where a couple of wide farm gates meet in the middle.

I've done a few recently. I used my cheap welder/plasma cutter to blast the holes through. Without the plasma cutter I would have used a stepped drill bit. You can pick them up cheap if you look around.

I think a better approach to wide and or heavy gates is to put casters under them so you take weight and sag out of the equation. Things tend to last much longer that way. If needed you can lay bricks or something down so the caster has something to roll on.

 

[farm boy00]

I think a better approach to wide and or heavy gates is to put casters under them so you take weight and sag out of the equation. Things tend to last much longer that way. If needed you can lay bricks or something down so the caster has something to roll on.

Have you ever been out on a farm in springtime through a dirt path gate, usually pure mud. You would either need to dual a few tires together our get a 12in or so tire to keep it afloat. Used to have one on our main gate. Easier just to keep the gates floating and ajust them. Also the mud will eat bricks for lunch