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| SketchUp of my Dog Fence |
The Need:
You may have read about my two old dogs. Well, little Cha Cha and developed a heart condition cough. More like a dying goose. It goes on day and night, and it's frequency is dependent of the ambient conditions such as temperature and humidity.Normally, both dogs will sleep in either the kids bedroom, or our bedroom. Well, they are part of the family, so don't say "oooeeee yucky yuck". With Cha Cha's worsening honk, it has become necessary to move her out of the bedrooms for the sack of a good nights sleep. Sorry, but poor Cindy must go too. Not fair you know.
So, the NEED is to construct some type of fence to keep them locked away in the kitchen at bed time.
The above SketchUp drawing is what I intend to make for this project.
Materials and Price List
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| QTY | Size | Description | Price |
| 1 | 120cm x 60cm | Wire Fence (2nd Hand) | Free |
| 4 | 120cm | 1" x 4" Recycled Pine (these sizes were very approximate) | 108B |
| 18 | 1.5" | Screws | Minimal |
| 5 | 5/16" x 3/4" long | Bolts | Minimal |
| 5 | 5/16" | Nuts | Minimal |
| 10 | 5/16" | Washers | Minimal |
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| This is the recycled pine. Various widths and lengths. |
Tools Required:
Miter Gauge. (Or Cross-cut Sled)
Cordless Drill.
Drill Bits.
Counter Sink Bits.
Square. (I used a medium framing square)
Tape Measure.
Pencil.
Clamps.
The Build:
The build started with trying to achieve some type of true angles and flat surfaces on the recycled wood. As you can see from the photos, there were a few knots, splits and damage that I didn't want in my finished job.
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Using the table saw (because I don't have a jointer), I ripped along one length of each plank ensuring only to remove the smallest amount. From this side I measured to obtain the widest plank size I could, but remove the damage and knots
I was able to finish with 2 lengths 3" wide (for the vertical members) and 2 lengths 3 1/4" wide (for the horizontal members). Not bad going. These would make the base.
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| The Rabbet |
Using some 1 1/2" wood screws I had in my screw box, I glued and screwed the vertical member to the horizontal one. I drilled the pilots holes with counter sinking to prevent splitting of the cheap wood.
Utilizing some G Clamps to hold it together while doing so. Not the best, or correct tool for the job, but it's all I have at present. Damage to the finished job was negligible. (Photo below left)
I then needed to drill the bolt holes that would go through both vertical pieces of the base with the wire fence pressed firmly between them.
To ensure all bolt holes were aligned, I temporarily stood the wire fence between the base, and mark the positions of the bolt holes so they would go through the wire without hitting it. I estimated that five would be sufficient.
Removing the wire, I then clamps both feet of the base together and drilled the holes.
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The next step was to put it all together.
Putting the wire in place and bolted them together using the bolts I had on hand. A bit over kill, but didn't want to make a trip to the shop.
One thin I forgot to do before assembly, was to cut the 45 degree pieces off from the lower members of the base. These are needed to give some clearance with the walls etc at the location the fence would be used.
Didn't matter too much. My trusty hand saw did the trick in no time. (Photo above right)
A quick sanding to remove splinters and there we have it.
Summary:
I am reasonably happy with build. As it is only temporary fix until we move into our new place, a quick and dirty, cheap, cheap job is all that was required.With the use of recycled material I was always going to have a so-so end result. Bowed, twisted and splitting wood etc.
A few things I discovered during the build:
- The Miter Gauge that came with the table saw is CRAP. Worse than useless, very, very dangerous. Check my review of this table saw. I will be updating it as appropriate.
- Need proper wood clamps, and lots of them. Added to my shopping list.
Before and after shots.....
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