Dad's Gate

Jesus is the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14). Words contain meaning. So in a sense, Jesus is Meaning made flesh. That's why meaning is meaningful to us. We like it, it speaks to our hearts. I'm fairly convinced, that when we encounter meaningful things in this world, we encounter Christ. 

I'm a meaning guy. If an action isn't meaningful to some degree, I pretty well avoid it. On the contrary, when a task is meaningful, I run to it. Little is more meaningful to all parties than sons working with their dad. 

Having a few days off during the Christmas Octave, I worked ahead of time to be able to finish one big gateway into the pasture at our ranch. Making a sign to hang from it was the first step. This 2x8 came off of Grandpa's old corrals. 

Finding a little free time, I ran it over to Dave's and routered in it GREG LUNGREN & SONS, along with a couple of family brands. Though this is not an official business title, it sums up a lot of the work that Dad does in our 25 acre irrigated field. 

Then I painted in the letters. The routered lumber looks cool, but wouldn't stand the test of time without paint. 

Meanwhile, I had a couple gates to build before heading home. Plan your work and work your plan. I knew the dimensions I wanted, so I cut all the pipes to length. 

For some of the smaller stuff, I tried a new way of saddling pipe with a chop saw. 

You basically take about a 30 degree angle out of each side of a pipe. 

Fits great. No grinding slag off from the cutting touch. 

Done x 2. Dad worked in oil and gas production all my growing up. Consequently, 2 3/8" tubing was a common material for him to work with. Over the years we have gathered a little stock pile of pipe that needed to be removed from locations. This string of wobbly 2 3/8" came from the Hay Barn field, 20 miles south of Shoshoni. 

Once Christmas liturgies were over in the parish, I took gates and sign back home to be put to work. Like most things I build, the gates were heavy. The hinge style I planned to use was plenty strong when the gate was closed. However, when cranked to the side, it had a lot of leverage against the welds. We had this gate tacked up pretty strong, but when we went to open it, she broke the welds. 

So we reinforced them when we welded everything up on the final pass. Overall, the hinge step up works. Just a little 2 7/8" sleeved over the 2 3/8" with a welded cap on top. Should hold up. 

To mount the sign, we bolted two straps together, sandwiching the board tight. Then welded a strap to connect the two. A little easier than trying to bend a strap around just right. When welding near the wood, we made sure and hit it with water right away so it didn't char the lumber. 

Then welded it up high. 

Giddy up. 

Hopefully, it works as good as it looks. Simple, strong, and ordered to his boys, just like Dad. Sometimes words can convey the right meaning. Other times, gates do a better job. Let's ranch.