Concealed Gate and Pivoting Slide Bolt

In March of 2018, a Nor'easter persuaded a large section of an even larger tree to drop a flying elbow onto my fence ... it was a slobber-knocker. Since that storm also threw my roof shingles around the neighborhood like a game of 52 pick up, which in turn opened the literal floodgates for water intrusion, I had quite a mess on my hands.

After cleaning up all the water damage and calling in the insurance claim, I borrowed a chainsaw and got to work in the yard. The tree was limbed, bucked, and given to a friend for future fire pit enjoyment. Parts of the fence were already in need of repair (loose and/or rotten off posts, insect damage, squirrel damage, algae), so I took the opportunity to just cut it all down. It ended up in a dumpster with the old roof a few months later.

Putting up a new fence was low priority since I was busy with a full gut job of the second floor bathroom and hall closet, as well as ceiling repairs in the living room. Adjusters, electrician, plumber, permits, inspectors, supplemental claims, multiple insurance battles - it was a nightmare.

During that span of time, the neighbors got impatient and put up their own fence, which was great for me. The back and other side are on hold until I get a retaining wall replaced, but while I wait for that ... I decided to close in the ground zero side of the yard.

This Instructable is primarily focused on the concealed gate mechanism, so I'll try to quickly overview the actual fence building. I also didn't take many pictures of that process because it's just a basic fence.

2 3/8" galvanized posts

2 3/8" galvanized wood posts adapters

Galvanized

Galvanized screws

Pressure treated 2x4 boards

Pressure treated fence pickets

The former fence was cedar and due to the climate in my area, was rotting out after 10 years. I decided to change tactics and go with galvanized posts and brackets with pressure treated wood. Some of the pickets will need replacing down the road and corrosion will become a factor, but the posts will probably out last me.

I'm close to an esker ridge, which means tons of rocks. An auger on a skid steer might do it, but I don't have one, so I just dug the holes over the course of a week - pry bar, shovel, and post hole digger, sweat, minimal tears.

Posts were set with concrete, brackets bolted on, and 2x4 boards attached with lag screws. I didn't worry about leveling the post tops because it was easier to run them long and cut them off with a portaband - except that one near the house ... ran a bit short on that fella.

There are adjustable metal gate kits on the market, but I decided to make one using readily available parts from the big box store. I was planning on welding the frame, but aluminum corner brackets made the job much easier - and arguably more accurate considering I haven't welded in many years.

The frame was attached to the post with hinges and easily adjusted until it sat flush against the horizontal boards. This dry fit in turn reveals the six locations for bolts, which was a multi-step process.
1. 5/16" holes drilled through the galvanized pipe.
2. Those hole locations marked on the inside face boards.
3. Pilot hole drilled through the boards.
4. 3/4" holes drilled on the outside faces of the boards - deep enough for a washer, split washer, and nut.
5. 5/16" hole drilled on the inside faces of the boards.

Why the heck do I do it this way? Few reasons.
1. If you just drill through with a 5/16" from one side, you're gonna get blowout. I don't like blow out. I always drill from both sides in order to have a clean face/surface.
2. Trying to enlarge a 5/16" hole to 3/4" with a Forstner bit is rather difficult. It can be done with a drill guide, but that's just more extra steps.
3. I'm insane and like to punish myself.

5/16" carriage bolt was inserted through the pipe and through the wood. Washer, split washer, nut, tighten .. done.

All that remained was to cut the horizontals to free the gate. I did this by clamping a DIY saw track to the fence and making the cut with a circular saw. I started with the unhinged side, then clamped it shut so it wouldn't move before cutting the hinge side.

To help resist weight and gravity, I did end up adding a third hinge in the middle.

Since I wanted a concealed gate, I had to experiment with a few layouts in order to dial in the board spacing and placement. I ended up with a spacing of 3 1/4" and had to shift the pattern to the left about 3/4" in order to make it work. This layout is what will be the top layer or second layer of a board on board fence pattern.

With the layout determined, I marked the locations, removed all the boards, and attached the first layer boards with brads and a nail gun. The top layer boards were clamped in place, screw locations marked, pilot holes drilled, and attached with stainless steel screws.

Hinge side: A top layer board on the gate overhangs to the left and slips over the bottom layer board when closed. The bottom layer board is slightly chamfered for clearance [Fig. 4].
Latch side: A top layer board overhangs the fixed fence to the left and the bottom layer board on the gate nests behind it [Fig. 5].

And of course I made jigs [from left to right] [Fig. 6]
Spacer/height gauge: Width of 3 1/4" for board spacing and height of 6" to easily keep the front of the fence level - just clamp it to the top of the board and it registers with the top horizontal 2x4.
Screw centering jig: The small top plate sits on top of a horizontal 2x4 and the long board is 1 3/4" wide, which centers your mark/screw location within said 2x4.
Note: You could just brad nail all the boards and then run a chalk line for the screws, but the galvanized brads corrode over time and cause staining. You could also shoot stainless nails and not worry about an OCD straight line, but I wanted to be able to easily replace boards as necessary and I wanted to straight line.
Offset jig: Just a scrap board with a rabbit to mark the screw location 9/16" in from the edge of a board. The board overlap amount is 1 1/8", so this centers the screw within that overlap.

The side of the fence took far less time and fiddling due to no gate, but it wasn't without annoyances.

The land elevation slopes and I wanted my fence to seamlessly flow into the neighbor's existing fence. I decided the quickest and easiest way to achieve this was clamp all of the bottom layer boards upside down and run a chalk line [Fig. 1-2]. Once marked, I just took them down a few at a time, cut them with my small DIY saw track, and tacked them back in place with brad nails [Fig. 3]

Same upside down marking method for the top layer boards - then cut to length, marked, pilot drilled, and attached with stainless screws.

Three boards did have to be cut.
1. I ripped the dog ear off the corner top layer board, so that it would pair up with the front face [Fig. 4].
2. The last top layer board had to be ripped to fit against the neighbor's fence [Fig. 5].
3. One board bottom had to be scribed to fit around the neighbor's short retaining wall. I used the bandsaw to make the cut [Fig. 6-7].

On to the fun part ... finally.

The gate latch mechanism is going to need a knob/handle and that's where I started. I did briefly consider using a billards 8 ball ($6 on amazon), but the fun would run out of that quickly, so I just made one.

It's a 2 1/2" length of 2" diameter poplar dowel stock [Fig. 1]. A 1" hole was drilled down the center to a depth of 2" for the EMT pipe [Fig. 2]. A 1/4" hole was drilled through the diameter for what will be a brass retention pin [Fig. 3-4].

The latch pole is galvanized EMT. It needs two holes on the same line, so I ran a piece of tape and then put the pipe and a pen on a flat table to strike that line [Fig. 1].

Hole location will depend on the fence framing and once I had them marked, I drilled pilot holes with a twist bit [Fig. 2]. These were then widened to 3/8" using a step bit in order to accept 5/16" bolts [Fig. 3].

Hole location for the knob pin were marked with a punch and drilled to 1/4" [Fig. 3-4]. My alignment wasn't dead on, so inserting the pin was a bit of a struggle. Once in place, I added superglue around the brass and EMT. I also decided having the bottom of the pipe open was an invitation for wasps, so I plugged it with a quickly reduced section of dowel and superglue [Fig. 5].

The brass pin, any burs, and bottom plug, were sanded flush using the oscillating belt sander.

The wooden components were finished with two coats of marine varnish, so we'll see how they hold up in the elements.

The deadbolt is a 19 1/2" length of 2x4 and the hole location was marked in place instead of measured because it needs to land in the center of a fence picket - also centered on the width of the 2x4.
Note: I did chamfer the leading edge of this board so that it doesn't bind against the gate during operation.

The back face of this hole was drilled using a 3/4" Forstner bit to a depth necessary for one washer and two nuts. The rest of the depth was drilled with a pilot bit so the hole could be located from the other side. The front face was then drilled using a 1/2" Forstner bit and a length of PEX was cut to length for this smaller hole section [Fig. 1-2].

Lastly, the 5/16" carriage bolts need modifications. The square section was rounded using the 1" belt sander, and they were cut to length using the angle grinder [Fig. 3-4].

Assembly
1. Insert PEX bushing into the 1/2" hole.
2. Carriage bolt through the EMT and through the bushing.
3. Flip the assembly over and slide the washer over the bolt in the 3/4" hole.
4. Thread on the first nut till it seems just a bit too loose.
5. Thread on the second nut until it hits the first and then tighten it with a socket wrench.
Note: It might take a few tries to get the jam nut in a place where the pipe can swivel without binding, but not be loosey goosey,

The pivot point is located in the center of the two 2x4 horizontal board and centered within a top layer picket. The picket was removed so that the dual diameter hole could be drilled. Same process as with the deadbolt, but this time with a hand drill and outside on the actual fence - bushing, bolt, washer, jam nuts .. same deal.

A test run revealed that Ia few shortcomings, which could easily be resolved.

Issue #1
If allowed, the deadbolt will move away from the fence when being unlocked. That's wasted movement and unwanted stress on the pivot bolt. The keep the board moving in the single desired path, I made a retention strip using 1/8" aluminum flat stock.

It's 5" long x 1" wide, corners rounded on the top end, and two holes drilled on the bottom end for #10 x 1" stainless screws (what I had on hand). It could be longer, but the stock I had was reclaimed and I had to work around some existing holes.

Issue #2
The deadbolt could open further than necessary and lacked any tactile feedback when unlocking from outside the fence. A simple stop would solve both issues.

The stop is a #8 x 2" stainless screw and a 1" length of sprinkler tube. With the deadbolt in the open position, I marked the opposite end, drilled a pilot hole, and drove in the screw/stop.

The mechanism works shockingly well. Reaching over the fence and finding the knob takes a bit of practice, but the muscle memory sets in quickly.

Because of where the pivot point ended up, it takes very little travel to lock and unlock, which is nice. I did mock up a version with the pivot point being in the board directly under the deadbolt, but the travel of the knob ended up being 3 boards - inconvenient at best.

I have no idea how this will hold up in the elements, but I'll find out. I'm sure it will freeze up in the winter, but the entire fence and gate will also be blocked with snow drifts and historically, I've never used this gate in the winter. If the EMT pole starts to rust, I can grind and paint it - maybe powder coat even.
If the deadbolt swells, I can run it through the thickness planer.
If the wooden knob cracks or breaks or gets loose, I can always replaced it ... that would be the second opportunity for a sweet billiards 8 ball.