"Gerald Miller" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:17:56 GMT, "Ivan Vegvary"
wrote:


"Don Foreman" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:17:24 GMT, "Ivan Vegvary"
wrote:

Trying to make a spring latch for a recently finished gate. Gate needs
to
swing both ways. I made a striker plate for the post. Striker has the
typical "ramp" on each side so when you swing the gate the "spring" will
slide along the ramp and come to a stop in the middle detent.

The "strike" or "keeper" is available at King Architectural Metals and
other
ornamental metal sources. However the spring latch part is not. When I
talked to "King", they said "make your own".

Okay, spring will be a 3/4 inch strip with about 5-6 inches unsecured.
The
unsecured part needs to spring about 1/2 inches back and forth. What
gauge
metal should I use? ASCII drawing below.


|
|
| Springy part of spring (about 5 inches)
|
|
| Secured part of spring (about 2 inches)
|

All advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Ivan Vegvary

The ones I've seen are not springs. They're just flat bits of metal
pivoted on one end, relying on gravity to fall into the notch.


Don, I know of what you speak, BUT, mine, out of necessity, is a vertical
application. I.e., it's has to be a vertical piece strip of spring metal
that will swing with the gate (gate can be opened both ways) and catch on
the stationary latch attached to the post. What you speak of typically
works with a swing in only one direction unless I install it in the middle
of the gate edge. In that case I would have to slot my vertical 'gate
edge'
member (1" square steel) and let your horizontal pivoted metal pass
through
and allow gravity to do it's thing.

Too complicated. I thought a springy thing between the stationary post
and
the 'gate edge' would be a simpler solution.

Thanks for your attention,

Ivan Vegvary

My Granny's was ~3/4" wide by ~1/8 thick, riveted to the gate frame at
the bottom (of the strip) with about a foot of spring with a loop on
top to eliminate any form of sharp point on top (think crude ball
shape) About an inch below the level of the strike, there was an angle
bracket with a hole in the horizontal portion large enough to allow
the spring to be moved about an inch. This bracket provided lateral
reinforcement to the spring to resist "edgewise" forces.
Clear as mud?

These memories are from the early '50s. The "ball" was maybe an inch
above the top of the gate and two inches above the strike.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

Gerald,
The above is very clear and gives me ideas. Thanks for the reply.

Ivan Vegvary