The Monster Lock

You go to a lot of lengths to avoid paying a guy with a welder a few bucks!

GWE

snipped-for-privacy@tr2.com wrote:

What kind of power is available?

Actually of you look on sci.engr.joining.welding via google groups, you should be able to find people that say you can weld it with a small mig. It will just take lots of passes.

Best look or ask there for the information. I forget if they said use flux core and/ or preheat.

Dan

Dan

Have you considered thermite welding? (:

I think you will find that a used stick welder in the 280 to 300 amp range costs less than a new MIG, even a taiwan cheapie one, and a plain old stick welder will do the job you need done, correctly, the first time. Unless you have enough current, the weld won't penetrate the metal and it won't be very strong.

snip-----------------

Instead of going through all of this, have you considered getting yourself a better piece of property in a better neighborhood, with better tenants?

Where you have no need for security fencing and power gates?

Abrasha

Hi,

I am a locksmith.

Here are some things to consider. First off you may not have to replace the box. If you have a 2 3/4" backset you are in business. The grade 1 Schlage will adjust down to 1 3/8 thickness.

If you do need to replace the box, buy one prefabbed. They are cheap.

You should get good longevity out of your gate hardware if several things are done. First off your gate should be solidly constructed so you don't have a lot of flex and alignment problems. Next, consider a good quality hydraulic door closer as a requirement over a spring hinge. This will prevent slamming, but have enough oomph to reliably shut the door.

You are going to need to routinely service what ever kind of lock you install. This means periodic lubrication and making sure the lock does not get loose.

As far as supporting the latch, the easy way is to buy a plastic piece that fits inside the hollow part of the box, or just have the welder tack in a few rods to keep the latch in place.

If you have not buggered up the new lock, consider something. This is on a gate. ADA compliance should not be a big deal and you can still buy the same grade key in the knob lock rather than a lever handle set. These are preferable for several reasons. First, the lever is an inviting target for vandals to try and force. Secondly the lever will tend to droop over time. this is because the weight is unbalanced. This eventually causes problems.

You local locksmith may very well have a bunch of really good used grade 1 locks in his used pile that may give you better service than that expensive one you just got. Often these were removed to comply with the ADA laws requiring levers for reasonable access. This should not be an issue on a fence gate.

The few bucks are not an issue. The issue is scheduling - can I get the guy with the welder, myself, and the properly prepared gate all together at the same time? Will the work be done as I wish? I want to bolt or magnet the lock block to the gatepost with a 1/16" spacer, swing the gate ( with the cutout ) over it,and then weld.

In my experience, good people who do good work are in high demand, and cannot be scheduled at will. People who do crappy work are easy to get.

I am 180 miles away from my complex, and remote scheduling is an issue.

I have a very good steel fabrication guy - who put up the fence in the first place - and he is so busy that he can't even find time to invoice the last three jobs he did for me!

- Jerry Kaidor ( snipped-for-privacy@tr2.com )

110VAC at the end of a 200-foot run from the main box.

OTOH, I'd be perfectly willing to go rent a portable 220V generator. Why not rent the welder? Because it'll take a week or so of playing with it to learn how to use it, that's why!

And - I admit it - the whole thing is partly an excuse to buy a new tool :).

- Jerry

110VAC at the end of a 200-foot run from the main box.

OTOH, I'd be perfectly willing to go rent a portable 220V generator. Why not rent the welder? Because it'll take a week or so of playing with it to learn how to use it, that's why!

And - I admit it - the whole thing is partly an excuse to buy a new tool :).

- Jerry

this remark resembles me. I have to invoice a few customers who use my software...

i

Hi,

I am a locksmith.

Here are some things to consider. First off you may not have to replace the box. If you have a 2 3/4" backset you are in business. The grade 1 Schlage will adjust down to 1 3/8 thickness.

*** The original box was pretty buggered, else I would have done just that.

If you do need to replace the box, buy one prefabbed. They are cheap.

*** This I did not know. But now I spent a week fabbing my lock block, and have a certain sentimental attachment to it :).

You should get good longevity out of your gate hardware if several things are done. First off your gate should be solidly constructed so

*** It's extremely solid. It even has an overhead arch that connects the two gateposts into a solid structure.

. Next, consider a good quality hydraulic door closer as a requirement over a spring hinge.

*** Am definitely considering this. Can you recommend a model? I did have a "KantSlam" on the gate, but they broke it.

If you have not buggered up the new lock, consider something. This is on a gate. ADA compliance should not be a big deal

*** I think it is. This is the front gate to the complex. I'm told that lawyers these days are wandering around looking for ADA-noncompliance - even suing landlords who may or may not be compliant. Having a noncompliant lock in front facing the street is just asking for it, IMHO. The ADA is apparently one of those laws that allow lawyers to do "drive-by" lawsuits and sue you on behalf of somebody who has not even been harmed in any way by your (alleged) lack of compliance.

First, the lever is an inviting target for vandals to try and force.

*** The lock is supposed to have a feature ("Vandlgard" )where if somebody forces it, the handle just pops loose - some sort of pin clutch - and my maintenance guy just pops it back in place.

Secondly the lever will tend to droop over time. this is because the weight is unbalanced. This eventually causes problems.

I'll take mechanical problems over an ADA lawsuit any day.

- Jerry Kaidor ( snipped-for-privacy@tr2.com )

You need a relatively powerful welder. You have two choices, weld the plates in the intended location, or not.

If you want to weld the plates in their intended location. These kinds of jobs are traditionally done with stick welding. You have three options, buy a welder and cabling (expensive cabling if you weld not too close to your power panel, in addition to the cost of the welder), rent a engine driven welding machine, or hire a weldor.

If you can take whatever you weld the plates to, and weld elsewhere, a welding shop can do what you want fast and relatively cheaply.

The easiest option is, as everyone said, is to hire a weldor to do this particular job. Since these plates will be banged a lot, it is also the most reliable way to do it. What if you make a poor weld that would fail. Now you look at repairing a broken weld. Not cheap and also embarrassing. Usually, people are charged an arm and a leg for repairing their DIY failures.

Now, if you want to buy a welding machine for fun, that's fine, but it is not necessarily wise to make welding of a 1 3/4 inch plate to be your first welding experience.

Another possibility is to use bolts and such instead of welding.

i

*** Indeed. I search constantly. Unfortunately, rental property in California ( I see you're in SF ) is consistantly priced at the "breakeven" or "zero cash flow" point. As painful as ownership of my complex is at times, it's a living. For two years I have been looking, and have been unable to find anything that even comes close.

Also - the activity is not devoid of fun. When I bought it, it was in very sad shape. Over the past few years, we have been restoring it

- making a better life for our tenants. It brings the pleasure of creating something from nothing - or at least from very little - kind of like restoring an old car. It also brings the satisfaction of doing a good deed.

- Jerry Kaidor ( snipped-for-privacy@tr2.com )

Small MIGs are really only suitable for metal 3/16" thick or less. It would be very easy to get a "pretty" weld with zero strength on thick metal like that. If you have someone TIG-weld 3/16" tabs on your block, you could probably weld the tabs to your gate with a small MIG and fluxcore wire. Or, drill and tap the block, bolt it to the gate and weld or braze the bolts so they can't be removed.

Breaking even isn't bad, especially in San Francisco. And if you do, you win in the end in capital gains when you sell. Providing an earthquake doesn't take it all down.

You can even find properties with positive cash flow, you just have to be patient.

Abrasha

Sure look for a Norton or an LCN. Your local locksmith should be able to set you up here.

Good luck.

Of COURSE! You think you had to EXPLAIN this part to THIS GROUP? What with Ignoramus dragging home anything that isn't bolted down, and then asking the group how to hook it up? (And, the rest of us being Ignoramus wanna-bes or recovering from that syndrome?)

Jon

Zeez - warn a guy eh? Says me cleaming the coffee off my monitor!

Ken.