johnnyb
Established Member
hi Scott I've just caught up with your pergola thread...wow. very nice. have you made something similar before because the design seems very complete?
A Garden Gate
- Thread starter ScottyT
- Start date
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ScottyT
Established Member
Alright Johnny, I very rarely make the same thing twice, but have made all manner of things in the past that they all overlap each other in the end.
I have made lots of pergolas before, never the same but variations on a theme.
I guess you mean the huge Oak pergola? Thanks for the interest
ScottyT
Established Member
Well the gate is almost finished now so i can take you pretty much write up to the end.
Here is the two posts, they are a finished size of 120mm (just shy of 5” in old money) you can get the lumber in that size but it is a shiny penny so two pieces of 3” laminated up does the job, i surface and thickness all 4 square, and leave myself with a 5” laminated post at the end, ready for final size and squaring after the glues gone off.
Squaring it up on the planer
Finishing them to 120 on the small but mighty thicknesser.
That’s about that aside from cutting to length and running two bands around them in-line with the top and bottom rails. I now just need to do the arch top that fits on these.
So I get my template that I got out at the very start when i rodded it all out, drew round it onto the timber and cut them out on the bandsaw ready for the spindle. There is nothing fancy going on here, the finished size of the arch is the same size as the posts (120) by 44 thick. So what I am doing is profiling two at 60 to stick together making up my 120 o/a on a staggered joint making it pretty strong!
Basic set up on the ring fence
Coming off it like glass. I need to run 3 passes on here now to make up the basic mouldings.
Rebate
Quarter round plus a 15 degree angle up topsides to shed water. Back over to the rod now to start marking things up.
I have to two little ears coming off of the arch that sit down on the posts, that’s how it’s all connected. The above photo is said piece for the ears. I machined this on the ring fence too at the same time so it’s all identical.
Here is the two posts, they are a finished size of 120mm (just shy of 5” in old money) you can get the lumber in that size but it is a shiny penny so two pieces of 3” laminated up does the job, i surface and thickness all 4 square, and leave myself with a 5” laminated post at the end, ready for final size and squaring after the glues gone off.
Squaring it up on the planer
Finishing them to 120 on the small but mighty thicknesser.
That’s about that aside from cutting to length and running two bands around them in-line with the top and bottom rails. I now just need to do the arch top that fits on these.
So I get my template that I got out at the very start when i rodded it all out, drew round it onto the timber and cut them out on the bandsaw ready for the spindle. There is nothing fancy going on here, the finished size of the arch is the same size as the posts (120) by 44 thick. So what I am doing is profiling two at 60 to stick together making up my 120 o/a on a staggered joint making it pretty strong!
Basic set up on the ring fence
Coming off it like glass. I need to run 3 passes on here now to make up the basic mouldings.
Rebate
Quarter round plus a 15 degree angle up topsides to shed water. Back over to the rod now to start marking things up.
I have to two little ears coming off of the arch that sit down on the posts, that’s how it’s all connected. The above photo is said piece for the ears. I machined this on the ring fence too at the same time so it’s all identical.
Attachments
ScottyT
Established Member
I can place the curves on the rod, and using my centre square I can cut, butt and stagger them together.
Making sure with a square it’s in the correct position
And that’s the curve out and done. Glued, clamped and then screwed and plugged from behind. A light sand and it’s ready to be 45ed off of the rod
There’s the mark for the ears, I cut these out on the chop saw and plane in any imperfections to get the angle just right. I can dry fit it around the door now to see the lie of the land.
Very close to completion now. I’ll hinge it and sand it proper, fit the furniture and call that it.
Attachments
ScottyT
Established Member
So this is just a side note really on T&G, it is simple to machine it out, it’s another beast entirely getting it out spot on. Attention is paid to a number of things, but critically it’s the size of boards and the allowance for expansion, the fit between the tongues and the grooves, and the fit between the doors grooves and the boards themselves. It all has to be ‘just right’ and if you can get it machined in this way assembly is no problems.
Care must be taken for sanding allowance, always take into consideration the sanding.
I have done a short video that I had to crack into two to load up, it demonstrates my point slight better (maybe
)
Thanks for looking
They maybe out order I have no way of telling until it’s uploaded
Care must be taken for sanding allowance, always take into consideration the sanding.
I have done a short video that I had to crack into two to load up, it demonstrates my point slight better (maybe
) Thanks for looking
They maybe out order I have no way of telling until it’s uploaded
I’ve just read this in one go. Fantastic work and an interesting read. Your skill and craftsmanship make it look much easier than I know it is. Almost makes me think I could do it too. 
Thanks for taking the time to let us all see how it’s really done. I appreciate it. Mick
Thanks for taking the time to let us all see how it’s really done. I appreciate it. Mick
ScottyT
Established Member
I am pleased you enjoyed it, thank you for the kind words.I’ve just read this in one go. Fantastic work and an interesting read. Your skill and craftsmanship make it look much easier than I know it is. Almost makes me think I could do it too.
Scotty
HOJ
Established Member
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through all this, and love the look of the end product too. Is it iroko?
ScottyT
Established Member
It is indeed Iroko. Thank you for the interest
white horn studio
Member
Wow, that is a stunning gate, thanks so much for sharing the very detailed post. Great work, looking forward to your future posts
thetyreman
Established Member
great job! good tutorial as well.
What a skill to be able to do thatView attachment 156767
The head of the curved section ready for marking out, this is where a big advantage to this method comes into play.
View attachment 156766
From this photo you can see that I am leaving about 3/8 on instead of the usual 1/8 or so for machining, I shall let you know why a bit further down the line.
View attachment 156768
The spindle is set for taking up these edges after everything has been thicknessed, there is too much fat on this at the moment so i banded the edges down to leave around an 1/8 to machine off. This is done in one nice easy pass, with fresh knives in the block it really does cut superbly well leaving a lovely finish to work with.
View attachment 156769View attachment 156770
I have purposely left the curve not machined, the same as the top piece that’ll join both together, it’s this that allows me to get a really nice half lap on both sides, and I don’t have only the one crack at it (if I had machined these pieces to finished width you have no wiggle room on adjusting your angle, or making it slightly smaller or bigger etc etc as all your eggs are in one basket, this way you can start with an 1/8 waste either side and knock it up, down, re-tenon, adjust the angle whatever it needs and you can do it as you have yet to get to finished width, it makes it so easy it feels like cheating, I am all up for working dead nuts etc, but when you don’t need to it’s lovely) if I were making an arch or multiples of then of course I would have set up pieces and finish all to size, but a one off where it’s not economical to crack out like for like test/set up bits this is a great way. And it’s so easy!
View attachment 156771
Next up is marking out, it’s wedged up this one, i am going 7/8 as it’s 63+ thickView attachment 156772
I had to mortice on little raising blocks that were conveniently in the firewood bin, to get me up out the way of the rough sawn at the curve View attachment 156773
Morticer set, on we go…….View attachment 156774
View attachment 156776
Time for some tenons, and it’s time to look at the rod again, it’s all going in the right direction…..
