STYLE 1 - Heritage Scroll & Wire Gates
The following two illustrations are from an early 1900s catalogue which show how plain or fancy these gates could be:
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The Macarthur region and Southern Highlands of NSW have some of the very best Australian Heritage scroll and wire gates in our country. The gates made by the original craftsmen from the time of Federation onward were so good they were made for important public buildings, churches and stately homes. Those craftsmen and the craftsmen who taught me have passed away. I have selected the best of their designs and have made slight 'improvements': 1. The main top scroll is upgraded from 3mm to 5mm thickness because a high percentage of repairs are for bending, by children and due to accidents, of the unshielded top scroll 2. The finial is upgraded from a single to triple flat bar. Again, many repairs are for bending of the single finial.
NO Changes have been made to the materials used : exactly the same galvanised steel pipe and low carbon steel flat bar (electroplated) of the same guage/thickness as that which has stood the test of time on the originals. These gates are heavy. They are made to look good and last a literal lifetime
A. Horizontal Circles "HC"
B Horizontal Scrolls "HS"
HC and HS are the most versatile designs. They can be made in widths of 950mm,1.2m, 1.47m,3m and even 3.6m, or any size in between. Standard height is 1150mm to top rail but this can vary. These two designs lend themselves to modern interpretations using square section frames, tube pickets and plasma cut decorations - see photo gallery
C. Vertical Scrolls "VS"
D. Kangaroo Fancy
Surprisingly this design is versatile lending itself to varying heights and widths - see photo gallery
E. Tulip Gate
Varying heights but restricted to set widths
F. Charity Gate
Varying heights but restricted to set widths - see price guide for widths
General Notes: If you choose a top scroll assembly the smaller inside scroll forms part of the finial in one continuous piece- only seen on the best examples of the past. A hot forged beaded collar around the finial sets these gates apart from all others past and present. The gallery shows gates as small as 900mm high up to 1800mm high with and without top scrolls and with top scrolls but without a pointed finial which may injure naughty climbing children.
Single Driveway gates have a single top scroll spanning approx 2/3 of frame. As stated above the top scroll flat bar has been upgraded from 3mm to 5mm thickness which is particularly important for large single gates. A double top scroll is also an option and the gallery shows a "HS" gate in 'Pale Terracotta' with double top scrolls
OTHER DESIGNS: These gates are 'cold formed', they are made from scroll dies. Email us with your design and we will check to see if we have the scroll dies and will quote on the surcharge to make them if we do not.
STYLE 2 - Federation gates
These designs are from before the invention of oxy acetylene and elecric arc welding. They feature three rounded corners and the fourth with a casting. Rails are joined with 20mm NB pipe clamps over fully welded joins. In fill can be chainmesh or woven wire.
Old catalogues show the bottom round corner replaced with a square corner with a casting or clamp to "keep the rabbits out" - that is also an option.
A. Federation Basic
A versatile design, can be made in non standard sizes
B Standard Federation
C Stanmore Gate
Made in 2015 for a home in Stanmore in Sydney
Notes: Chainmesh 50mm diamond or smaller period correct 30mm diamond. Split 1/3 : 2/3 or 1/2: 1/2. With or without top scroll assembly. varying heights but restricted widths.
STYLE 3 - Cast Jointed Gates
Waratah Gate
Combines the strength of all electric fusion welded 22mm dia frame with decorative "cast -in-place" castings which enhace the attractiveness of the geometric shapes. Incorporates hot forged double ribbon scrolls growing out of the vertical stiles. Features latest sand casting technology for Waratah centre casting, with true modelling and 'undercuts' - formerly only possible with "lost wax" process at several times cost.
Diagonal flat bar braces mitred into the frame on a jig. Single gates more than 2.4metres wide are made with two X braces. Whole gate finished off to a high standard
Berrima Gate
The "Berrima" gate (above) with top scrolls at both ends of the gate and a centre hot forged rosette with bronze florette. A very verasile gate. Can be made in varoius widths and heights. Hot forged rosette can be replaced by cast nameplate or the popular pierced metal decorations
Daylesford Gate
The "Daylesford" gate (above) with large scrollwork in the centre above the top rail.
The "Berrima" and "Daylesford" gates have 6 or 8 cast joints and are constructed from heavy walled 33mm (outside diameter) frame and 27mm OD internal rails galvanized . The flat bar braces are double, front and back, like the antique Sunshine Harvester design and represent a cost saving over the labour component of the single mitred Waratah designt. These gates are very strong,They are versatile and can be made to measure to fit most existing openings.
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Rust Proofing
There is no such thing as rust proofing steel - there is only rust protection. We use all of the usual strategies: galvanized pipe, zinc plating for scrolls on scroll and wire gates, epoxy zinc etching for wrought iron, and weld thru primers etc. However, rust protection is an ongoing maintenance issue.
Painting and Powder Coating
Painting Traditionally, these styles of gates were painted by hand with a brush with a slow drying exterior oil based enamel paint. This offers by far the best protection as the paint crawls by capillary action into the folds of the scrolls. A new gal/zinc gate requires one coat of etch primer and two top coats all on separate days hence professional painters charge accordingly - about three times the cost of powdercoating
Powdercoating is an economical alternative and the local powdercoating plant has a large array of colours, however it is the nature of the electrostatic process that it cannot get paint into the folds of scrolls. There are strategies for minimising this problem, and we use them all! but you should adjust your expectations and be aware that powdercoating plants provide only limited warranties
Plain Gal/Zinc finish can be provided along with a spray can of 99% zinc matched to the colour of the frame. This 'cold gal' is not a paint and does not stick like a paint but is rather a proven way of interfering with the chemical raection that causes rust. it needs to be applied regularly.
Deliberate rust as a design element: No metalworker wants to see their work rust so in the first instance investigate rust coloured paints like heritage red or indian red. Porters 'real rust' is a good alternative. However If you want the authentic Australian "gal/rust" look then the good news is all the scroll and wire gates here are made from the same guage low carbon steel as the ones made by the old timers, so you can let them rust and provided you do not live on the beach you can still expect them to last a literal lifetime.
Warranty
12 months warranty on materials and workmanship (does not include powder coating). My name SL Smith goes on every gate I make and I always stand by every gate after that time
STYLE 3 - Reproduction Sunshine McKay Cast Joint Gates (This section under amendement.Go to photo gallery for gates deleted from here)
One can still see examples of the original Sunshine McKay cast jointed gates on properties throughout Australia.
The Sunshine Harvester Works were a huge Australian enterprise from before Federation up until their takeover by Massey-Harris-Ferguson in 1955. At their height they had 2500 workers and exported harvesters to over 160 countries. They made many different styles of gates. We make very accurate reproductions of five of their best designs
"Medallion" Gate
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This is a "4 foot" (1.2m high) catalogue illustrated gate which we produce (for pedestrian or driveway gates) in standard openings of 1m, 1.2m, 3m,& 3.3m . Unlike the six bar diagonal braced "Emu Egg" gate and "Bow tie" gates, this gate can easily be made to fit any existing opening up to 3.3m wide.
Six Bar "Emu Egg" Gate
Old Catalogue b/w photo. This, according to collectors, is the oldest of the six bar Sunshine designs that did not last very long and was replaced by the "Bow tie" gate that apparently lasted up to the 40s and 50s
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Six Bar "Bow Tie" Gate
This is a "4 foot" (1.2m high) diagonally braced driveway gate. Standard openings are 3m, 3.3m & 3.6m wide.
Small X Frame gate
Large X Frame gate
Streamlined Sunshine Mckay Gates
Six Bar Emu Egg, Bowtie and Medallion gates made with 10 castings instead of 19 at reduced cost but without sacrifice of the very strong lines of these true Australian classic designs
General Notes for Sunshine Reproductions "The cheapest and quickest way to make a cast jointed gate is to buy the castings from an Iron foundry and either tig braze the cast iron to the steel rails or weld with nickel rods, pre-heating, post-heating and peening as you go. However just a little bit of research will reveal that brazing/welding cast iron has a bad worldwide reliability reputation: also we only have to ask why is it that cast iron lathe beds and press frames are never welded or brazed but always drilled and tapped to hold the steel guideways?
There is no stronger or better way to join steel to steel with a 99.9% certainty that it will not fail than electric fusion welding. That is the foundation of these gates; the castings and scrolls are purely decorative; they have no structural function. However the gates have the look and feel of the originals because they are cast in situ, just like the originals. Molten aluminium is poured from a crucible into green sand moulds built around each welded rail intersection. Granted I could use cast iron instead of aluminium which brings us to the second reason why cast iron is banned in this workshop. Cast iron for small castings tends to crack and chip without any provocation- it has virtually no modulus of elasticity so even a bad frost or heatwave may make it crack. Just walk around the older parts of any town and look at the cast iron fence panels and verandah friezes to confirm that. Aluminium alloy AA 303 is extremely tough.The only way to crack or chip it is by multiple cuts and repeated blows with a large hammer and cold chisel.
Reproduction normally means a cheap lookalike built down to a price. In these gates I have gone in the opposite direction and attempted to make the best possible reproduction in honour of a long gone Australian manufacturing icon." - SL Smith
This style of gate comes complete with adjustable cast hinges and hot forged wrought iron latch. They are also supplied etch primed and brush painted with final coat spray painted in either Heritage Green or Satin Black.( Other colours OK)
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Detail of scroll assembly - an almost perfect
reproduction of the original
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