# A lot of machining



## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

On Monday I started making a set of gates for a customer out of Idigbo. I say a set of gates but actually it is a set of double gates, a single gate and a blanking panel which will be set in a frame. Anyway I machined up the 2" stock for the frames which took most of monday morning and into part of the afternoon.
I had all of the frames dry fitted by yesterday (Tues). I then had to return to the timber merchants to buy some 1" stock which I am using for the diagonal bracing, centre rail and the panels. (I couldn't fit everything in or on my car) By the end of today I had machined up a good majority of the 1" stock ready for tomorrow.


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## papawd (Jan 5, 2011)

Lookin good


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

You make it all look so easy Alan.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Thanks guys. It is pretty easy for me now Harry as I have made plenty of them. Still occasionally make mistakes though! 
Well I think I must have worn my lad out yesterday as he was still in bed this morning. :lol: Anyway I had a good day on machining up the 1" stock for the rest of the gates. Then my first job was to make the centre rails and the diagonal braces.








I then had a dry fit of the small gate to check everything lined up before making the T&G boards.








I used the spindle moulder and the router table to make the boards. (I wish I had bought a spindle moulder years ago they are brilliant) I did get a bit of splintering with the router table so gave up that idea and cut the 'V' grooves and tongue on the spindle moulder. I haven't got a V T&G cutter for it so had to change cutters for the 'V'. Anyway it gave a very clean cut and the boards were then ready for putting in place. I held together the gate with some screws while I took this shot.








By the end of the day I had the small gate and the blanking panel in glue up ready for the morning. Not too bad a day then.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

You really do make me feel like the amateur woodworker that I am Alan.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Your too kind Harry. We all started as amateurs mate and I know you are more than an amateur now. I machined up the rest of the wood for the panels today and got most of them fitted.








By the end of the day, well early evening again, I had all of them done bar one.








I still have to finish the top moulding and then give them a good sanding. I will have to wait until Monday to get the posts and then I can get the framework complete.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Perhaps one of these days you'll slow down long enough Alan to take a few detail shots showing how you make the joints etc.,such photo-shoots are what helps to turn amateurs into semi-pros.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Well Harry I do have plenty of shots of the joints I make on my gates as I usually make WIP photos for a Magazine. I didn't take any of these gates though as I am a little behind building them. Just let me know what you would like to see and I can post pics for you.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

How you make the joints and how you curved the gate tops Alan.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Well Harry I hope these will help. I have put together a storyboard of how the joints and the tops of the rails were curved. The pictures are not all of this gate build but are the same system I used to build them. 
Firstly I cut the mortises with a dedicated mortising machine:








Once these have been cut I make the tennons to fit on the table saw with tennoning jig:








If the rails are too long to use on the tablesaw jig then I make the tennons by using a dado blade in one of my radial arm saws:








I then cut the haunches on the bandsaw with the aid of stop blocks:








Now on to the curved rails on the top. These are made by using biscuits to join two pieces of timber together to increase the width of the rail:








I now cut the tennons on this piece while it is still straight. The tennons of course are offset on each end to accomodate the rise in the curve. Once the tennnons have been cut then the rail is marked out and the curve cut on the bandsaw:








On the latest gates to keep the grain running in line to give the rail the best strength I had to angle the rails to the stiles. To do this I mesured the angle of the rail to the stile and then cut two blocks to hold the rail at the correct angle on the RAS table. It was then an easy job to cut the tennon shoulders at the same angle. Once the tennons were cut then I used a jigsaw to cut the tennons at 90degrees to the tennon shoulder. This ensured that the tennons would still enter the stiles at 90 degrees. I also used dowels to draw bore the joint together once it was glued up. I hope this has helped you Harry and please feel free to ask any more questions if anything isn't clear.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks Alan for posting these. Doing the tenons while you still had a rectangle makes a lot of sense and has been filed away in memory for future use !

Cheers

Peter


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Glad I could be of help guys. 
I got all of the gates finished today. After fitting the mouldings and rounding over the top and sides I gave them a good sanding.








I also fitted the mortice lock in the small gate to save time on site when I come to fit them.








I will now make up the frame and posts so it is a simple job of screwing it all together. I pick up the posts tomorrow and the rest of the fittings that were out of stock. Will see how I get on tomorrow.


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Those came out really nice Alan. What type of hardware are you mounting them with? Do they get a finish ?


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Thank you Alan, I'm certain that I'm not the only one to appreciate seeing how a professional achieves such wonderful results. It comes as no surprise to hear that you are a published author. Just one immediate question, how did you draw the large radius?


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Thanks for the kind words guys. I do have some of my work published in one of the woodworking magazines over here named 'Good Woodworking' Harry, (Not that I am an accomplished writer) It is nice though to have something in print and it does earn me a little pocket money into the bargain. Well Harry for the curves all I normally do is use a strip of bendy timber and a couple of panel pins. I have tried different ways of drawing curves but found that by far the easiest it the timber and pins. I find it better as you can flex the timber until you reach just the curve you want. 
Well I got them all finished today ready for fitting. (don't look at the state of the workshop It was late when I finished)  








I am hoping to fit them on Friday but the forecast doesn't look too good. :roll: It will be a shame as I have organised an extra pair of hands too! We will have to wait and see I suppose.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

mailee said:


> Thanks for the kind words guys. I do have some of my work published in one of the woodworking magazines over here named 'Good Woodworking' Harry, (Not that I am an accomplished writer) It is nice though to have something in print and it does earn me a little pocket money into the bargain. Well Harry for the curves all I normally do is use a strip of bendy timber and a couple of panel pins. I have tried different ways of drawing curves but found that by far the easiest it the timber and pins. I find it better as you can flex the timber until you reach just the curve you want.
> Well I got them all finished today ready for fitting. (don't look at the state of the workshop It was late when I finished)
> 
> I am hoping to fit them on Friday but the forecast doesn't look too good. :roll: It will be a shame as I have organised an extra pair of hands too! We will have to wait and see I suppose.


Thanks for that Alan, that's a method that I've never thought of, this is the best I could come up with when answering a member's question some time ago!


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Sorry James I forgot to reply to your post. I am hanging them on hook and band hinges which are black there will also be two 'D' handle bolts for the main gates and the small gate will have a mortice lock fitted with a black handle. Idigbo is much like Oak in that it contains tannin which will blacken in contact with steel, so I shall isolate the fittings with thin plastic strips and use brass screws. As for the finish it will be given a clear coat and left to the customer if he wants to stain them. 
Harry, yes I have used the method you describe in the past but of course it does need a lot of space on the bench. What I like about the pin and flexy wood method is you can immediatly see how the curve looks and adjust it to the desired radius.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Well guys, I got the gates up today although rain stopped play so I didn't get them finished. :roll: I am returning tomorrow to finish them and break up the old ones, (Shouldn't take much as they were falling apart) I did have to add a couple of pieces to the bottom of the gates to take the Monkey tail bolts as I had to leave a larger gap to clear the concrete when they opened. We were getting on really well until the rain came so it is a pity. I also forgot to take some before shots as by the time I got back from collecting the posts my mate had taken them all down and dug out the holes for the posts!  (And I thought I was quick) Anyway I shall take some shots of them tomorrow (Weather permitting) Looks like I have some more to make too as his neighbour has asked me to quote on replacing hers.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Well I got the gates finished today, just before the heavens opened up. I will need a lot of WD 40 for my tools now :roll: I didn't manage to get any shots of the gates finished butg I am returning on Monday to get rid of the old ones so will get some shots then. I did speak with the neighbour though and she want's a single gate in the same style but in softwood. Still a result though and another job in the pipeline.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Well here as promised are the pics of the gates finally. It didn't rain all day today so I took advantage of it and got some photos of them. I also got two more jobs from the customer, a set of drawer boxes for the kitchen and a new kitchen cabinet door. What a result. The lady also asked for more of my business cards in case anyone asks about the gates.


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## metalmaker80 (Jul 12, 2011)

Very Nice! Keep it up!


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## mavixyl (Sep 21, 2011)

real craftsman....


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## wdwerker (Jan 21, 2012)

Do you put boards on both sides of a gate or just the front? Beautiful work! I had to look the wood up online, that is not a species I was familiar with.


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