Thanks rick, my niece and nephew are awesome. I'm hoping i can get my niece interested in metal work here in a few years.

Jake

Thanks Chuck, My folks actually made the seats, im not much of a woodworker. My dad's into carving and my mom is into burning.

Jake

Jake,
Now we know where you get your impecible talent!
Chuck

Thanks Gillis, it'll probably hold 700-1000lbs so i think it's plenty strong :). The chains will break before the crossbar buckles. The finish is powder coated.

Jake

I would like to ask you what the cost is to have it powder coated? I'm asking this because in the two cases where I made the gate, I've suggested to my client to have them powder coated but it quite expensive and they did not want to pay for it!

gillis

You know, you're the second or third person to mention how expensive powder coating is. Here in Lincoln, NE it is by far the most economical finishing method, although i have to be very careful to make sure the quality is there. It was $200 to coat the swing set with two colors, had it been one color, probably $125. Railings at one place cost about $6 a foot at the other $10. I'm not sure why it would ever be expensive, they just put it on a rack and run it through line, but who knows.

It may be a blessing in disguise for you though, powder coating is hard to touch up, to re-coat you have to take the project down and run it through again, you can't get a real matte finish, it doesn't do well over galvanizing, and, by far the worse, the factory's attention to detail is usually not that great. If i could get my customers to pay more, i would never have things powder coated. I would galvanize and paint, use a car detailer, or learn it myself if i had the space. It is so difficult to get people to focus on all of the nooks and crannies that are created with custom metal work.

Jake

Hi Jake,

Just getting back into the "swing" of things. Really like this set....finally an artists version of the playground. Not too much of that around. The woodworking is a beautiful compliment. Please express my congratulations to your parents!
Janet R.