Post a photo of the last thing you made

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Chris JH

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2020
Messages
21
Reaction score
55
Location
Norfolk, UK
The last thing that I've made is this gate in English oak. The final picture shows the ancient softwood gate that it replaced. The new gate is slightly higher and square at the top, which is intended to stop the local cats from jumping over it! I like cats, but over many years they have damaged the gate as they clawed their way up and over it. The new gate also features a cap to protect the end-grain from water ingress.

I purchased the timber from a Wood Fair at Ickworth House, at National Trust estate near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK. The estate sells its timber to the public over 2 days each year and this was the first year I have attended. There was a variety of English timber on offer and I purchased 3 oak boards 2400 x 300 x 25mm and another board that was about 30mm thick and just long enough to make the rails (without thru-tenons!). I already had the oak for the stiles. Originally it was my plan to use 5 oak planks to face the door and to have thru-tenons on the rails plus diagonal braces, but I had to compromise on the rails (haunched tenons, about 12 mm short at each end) and during construction I decided the extra rigidity of the 2 broad facing boards made diagonal braces redundant; time will tell if this was the correct decision.

The frame was the most challenging part of the project with a lot of fettling to get the joints tight, which I managed without any splits. The frame then was checked for square (all good) glued and clamped; the capping piece is not structural and was glued in place at the end with 2 dowels. The boards were screwed to the frame with brass 11/4" No 8 woodscrews, set in deep, then plugged and trimmed flush. After final sanding the gate was treated with OSMO UV 410 Protection Oil clear satin finish. The overall dimensions are 1550 x 905 + cap. Installing the door furniture and hanging the gate was another adventure that took a full day to complete.

This is the most ambitious project I've undertaken for many decades and was very enjoyable. A lot of the work was done using hand tools, including most of the stock preparation and finishing. I hope you agree the new gate is a big improvement, it remains to be seen whether the local cats can raise their game to the new challenge.


image1 (4).jpeg
image2 (3).jpeg
image3 (3).jpeg
image4 (2).jpeg
image5 (2).jpeg
image0 (5).jpeg
 
So... the last thing I made was I suppose the first thing I made.. or at least the first thing I cared about turning out properly and looking reasonably nice as a gift for the gf. Her eyes leaked briefly so either I didn't sand it, the plywood gave off fumes or she liked it. I dunno!

GF: 'So now you're a woodworker do you have things to make a bowl with? I need a yarn bowl'
Me: 'No, we don't have those things. You probably need a lathe...'

A month later, lots of googling, and a few near death experiences for myself and the project...
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4172.jpeg
    IMG_4172.jpeg
    116 KB · Views: 7
  • IMG_4171.jpeg
    IMG_4171.jpeg
    134.4 KB · Views: 8
  • CEBA6348-8177-4023-959F-DBAD04FE16A9.jpeg
    CEBA6348-8177-4023-959F-DBAD04FE16A9.jpeg
    70 KB · Views: 7
  • IMG_4116.jpeg
    IMG_4116.jpeg
    134.3 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_4072.jpeg
    IMG_4072.jpeg
    244.6 KB · Views: 9
  • IMG_4073.jpeg
    IMG_4073.jpeg
    111.4 KB · Views: 10
  • IMG_4093.jpeg
    IMG_4093.jpeg
    117.5 KB · Views: 10
Yeah I think you've fallen in to the usual facebook marketplace trap of wood identification by idiots "if it's reddish then it must be proper Mahogany, and everything else is Oak."

At least it was free, but if you intend to buy wood from anywhere other than a reputable yard, (including places like B&Q as the staff there don't know **** )then I softly suggest you get yourself a book or do some online reading.

Probably a good job it's not oak otherwise it would weigh even more :)
 
So... the last thing I made was I suppose the first thing I made.. or at least the first thing I cared about turning out properly and looking reasonably nice as a gift for the gf. Her eyes leaked briefly so either I didn't sand it, the plywood gave off fumes or she liked it. I dunno!

GF: 'So now you're a woodworker do you have things to make a bowl with? I need a yarn bowl'
Me: 'No, we don't have those things. You probably need a lathe...'

A month later, lots of googling, and a few near death experiences for myself and the project...
LOL you done good but err - isnt that ball of yarn suposed to fit inside?

You might find a YT channel called Michael ALM interesting as he does soem interesting stuff with plywood glued together as you have.
 
Yeah I think you've fallen in to the usual facebook marketplace trap of wood identification by idiots "if it's reddish then it must be proper Mahogany, and everything else is Oak."

At least it was free, but if you intend to buy wood from anywhere other than a reputable yard, (including places like B&Q as the staff there don't know **** )then I softly suggest you get yourself a book or do some online reading.

Probably a good job it's not oak otherwise it would weigh even more :)
It was heavy enough, wife is happy with it. That’s all that counts 😉
 

Latest posts

Back
Top