Frog Gate Designs

I am thinking of utilizing round tube for the outter frame work. The vines, branches and scrolls will consist of various sizes of round bar stock that has a "bark" of "vine" texture. The leaves will likely be hammered copper and brazed to the vines. The frog shape will be cut from mild steel. I will scale-up this design on a large format printer to an exact working drawing. Next, I will begin cutting, heating, bending, hammering and shaping all of the individual components. The frog will be cut out of steel plate with a plasma cutter and integrated into the scheme of things as I begin assembling the pieces via welding and brazing.

I really like the look and feel of this gate, and feel that it would be a beautiful addition to the client's gorgeous estate - especially once the steel develops a rust patina or I could "create" one in the shop.

This frog gate design tends to be a bit more on the whimsical side of things. The frame work would be integrated into the overall scheme of things, and consist of round copper tubing, having been annealed and bent into the shape depicted in the design. The remainder of the garden gate would likely consist of a couple of different sizes of round steel bar, heated and bent into the required shapes. I think that various sizes of steel flat washers could suffice nicely for the frog's eyes, finger and toe tips. The same scale-up and lay out method as employed in the first design would be implimented to gain a perspective upon the exact size and shape of each individual component required. Perhaps let this piece take on a natural rust patina on the steel?

This is probably the most time consuming of the three designs, as I would need to maintain symmetry and balance throughout the process.

A more simple design, but fun nonetheless. I have planned to use square steel tubing for the framework. This should probably be powder coated a "forest" green. The pickets will consist of round copper tubing and should probably be left to develop their own patina over time. The frog will be plasma cut out of plate steel and integrated into the tubing. I will run a welded "bead" to simulate body lines contained within the outter perimeters of the frog's shape (e.g., to simulate the line running from the mouth area, down along the center of the body). Additionally, a couple of leaves could be added to the lower left corner, etc.

Which of the designs is your favorite? Let me know here: Project Blog