Simple Articulating Gate Project, A Work in Progress

[Jim Koepke]

My current project is getting a little work here and there between other work around the grounds and greenhouse. My wife is getting a shed so we had to move a bunch of gravel by wheel barrow since the dump truck that brought it couldn't drive through the field.

Some images from this project have already been posted so here is a recap:

379189

This is the edges of the stiles being planed.

The pieces at the top left of the image are the rails or end pieces of what will be a gate across shelves the cats like to climb in to as a napping place.

The stiles were planed using a cam based holder and an end stop:

379190

Here is one of the end pieces and a test tenon:

379191

Here it is in a mortise:

379192

The far right mortise is being checked with a depth gauge. The reference face is marked on the tenon and the mortised piece.

Besides the 1/4" mortise chisel, a pair of swan neck or lock mortise chisels are used along with 1/4" & 3/4" paring chisels. The swan neck chisels are helpful in cleaning out the debris inside the mortise.

Next step is to cut 24 tenons.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

The articulated gate project has been proceeding at its own pace. The reason for using rail and stile construction was to lessen the weight for a 38” span

Twenty four mortises and twenty four tenons were cut for this project. If you count the rails that blew out from bad draw boring technique there were thirty+ mortises cut. some extras were cut for testing and other purposes. Extra tenons were also cut to use as a gauge and a guide when drilling.

The project is done. Following are details including some mistakes and how they were corrected. Hopefully some of the techniques used will be helpful to others.

The mortises were marked with the pieces held together in a block:

384388

Using a pair of dividers the center was found and marked. Then centers for the two outside mortises were marked. The edges of the mortises on one rail were lain out, then transferred to all the rails with a square and knife. A mortise gauge was set to match the chisel and used to mark off each rail. Marking the reference side is crucial to get a good final fit.

At the same time this project was started there was an extensive thread on chopping mortises so not much of that was documented. The mortising was done in the usual manner:

384387

One thing that came from this project was making jaw extenders for my vise. This has been helpful for other tasks besides mortising as will be seen later.

On to making the stiles.

For repetitive marking a story stick is still my favored way of proceeding:

384389

For this marking the story stick head was registered on the end of the piece to be cut for a stile and the try square was set against the other end of the story stick.

In joinery, cutting square is important for preventing gaps. Marking properly is as essential a skill as is sawing well. Most folks know the basics of marking for a crosscut. What follows may help others, especially those just starting.

Good cutting starts with good marking:

384390

Here the stock of the try square is against the reference edge and the blade is on the face of the work in this instance. Three fingers are holding the stock against the work. The index finger is holding the blade on the work. It may be difficult to see in this image but the thumb is against the blade and the work to help prevent the blade from moving when the knife is scribing a line.

When starting to strike a line use light pressure. Make multiple passes to deepen the line. Be careful about pressing so hard your hand drops when you come off the edge of the work. This can result in a nasty scrap or worse.

When this mark is complete the work is rotated toward the person and the try square is set so the stock is against the face of the work and the blade is across the reference edge:

384391

The knife is placed in the kerf from the first cut and the try square is moved to register against the knife. Of course all the fingers also change positions.

The second line is struck and the work is again turned toward the person. Place knife in kerf, slide square, strike line, rotate stock and remember to flip the try square so the stock is away from oneself to mark the last line. Wash rinse repeat a dozen times. Of course this can be done in the opposite direction with the same results.

Making a knifed sawing wall can help improve cutting in many cases. It can also cause one to saw too deep into their mark if one isn’t careful.

384392

Notice the thumb is against the blade, the blade is bevel down and the material is being removed from the waste side of the cut.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON ••• DO NOT DO THIS!!!

384393

That can have a nasty result on a thumb.

Can’t remember for sure who mentioned the tip about rounding the end of marking knife blades. A flattened meeting of the bevel edges works better than one that comes to a ridge created by two beveled planes meeting. So round the tip, flatten the ridge, check.

This one gives me the warm fuzzy feelings:

384394

This is my goal when crosscutting, seeing my knife line all the way around without any proud waste. There is a slight feather at cut’s end. Those are easy to clean off with a sharp chisel.

My gosh, that is eight images and time to go look at the Lyra meteor shower.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I assume you mean the gate will have an articulated closer. :confused:

[Jim Koepke]

I assume you mean the gate will have an articulated closer. :confused:

Well, at times Candy gets tongue tied and isn't very articulate at all.

The gate has four panels held together by hinges so it can fold out of the way when it is opened.

jtk

[James Pallas]

Neat little project Jim. Can't wait to see the pictures of the cats swinging like kids on your gate.
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Oops, one image was left out of the last post. That would be of the rails with the mortises finished:

384487

The face marks are turned toward their mate so they aren’t seen here.

My projects often only have the dimensions something is supposed to be when finished written on a scrap of paper. During the project it was decided to make the rails narrower and the stiles longer. This was decided before the stiles were cut. My dad used to get after me about not drawing plans. The problem is often the plans look good but the project is never done.

One time a person wanted me to build him a model of the project he wanted me to build. My response was it would take about as much time and trouble to make a model as it would be to build the project. He really wanted a model to go with the finished piece.

One of the tips that has helped my sawing is about the reflection on the saw plate:

384486

If the saw cut axis is off square, the reflection will look to be bent. If the saw is leaning to one side the reflection will look to be going up or down hill. When the reflection looks like a continuation of the piece being sawn, the saw is sawing square.

With the ends checked for square the tenons were to be lain out to be one inch by one inch on one end of all the stiles. One end of each stile was marked using a marking gauge and a mortise gauge then sawn:

384488

It is convenient to be able to quickly cut these in sets. The stiles of each panel were kept in their respective groups.

Going a little longer may have been better for my later decision to draw bore the joint. My first choice was to glue the joint but then the weather turned cold.

Once the cheeks and shoulders were cut the tenon width was marked by squaring the tenon to its mortise and marking from the mortise:

384489

Even when great care is taken, one piece might be a touch thinner than the others. This is where having some clean shavings can be handy:

384490

Next comes cutting the tenons on the other end. The story stick was set and then the measurements were checked to see if all was going well. A bit of recalibration and all is good to go forward:

384491

The stiles from one panel were butted square against a fence held in the tail vise and clamped together so the shoulders of the tenons at the opposite end could be marked together:

384492

In theory the pieces should all be the same. It seemed to work. Care was taken to the reference side when transferring the marks around the ends.

They were marked and sawn pretty much like the first ones.

A dry fit was tried:

384493

This is actually not too bad. A little more paring work to be done on this one.

To be continued…

jtk

[Mike Holbrook]

384501

Jim, yours will look much better than the one I built using construction grade treated 2x4 & 2x6 lumber scraps and leftover fastners. Most of my tools are now at the new home. The outside frame is double 2x6s to hold the wire. Mine has to thwart German Shepherds & maybe horses. I used 4” x 1/2” thick bolts to hold mine together. The half laps I attempted on the center supports are not particularly functional as the wood had twist...If mine holds together until I move......

Trying to knock out a few projects at the old ranch so I can move and do projects I want to do. Hoping to be building a new shop and rustic furniture soon.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim, yours will look much better than the one I built using construction grade treated 2x4 & 2x6 lumber scraps and leftover fastners.

Yours looks good for its purpose. It has to hold back some stronger critters than a couple of house cats.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Past few days have been too busy with other things to post more until now.

The dry fit is just a rush to the beginning. Each panel was worked separately.

All the stiles were due for a little more plane work:

384720

The inside edges were all rounded the outside edges with hinges were left flat with the corners rounded over with a #2 hollow. Here again a simple extension on the vise makes it easy to hold a piece on the bench top as it is being worked. This comes in handy again later.

For me a bit of cheek trimming is quicker with a sharp chisel than a shoulder plane:

384719

These were trimmed before cutting to width. With the lines from the mortise gauge as a guide it is easy to get an accurate trim in no time. The corners could also be tested in their mating mortise. Maybe someday my sawing will get good enough for me to get 24 tenons to fit right off the saw. For now some of them need a trim. The chisel is a 1” sharpened to about 15º.

The edges are much easier if the grain is going your way:

384721

These sliced sweetly right down the knife line.

May as well use the chisel for the shoulders when needed:

384722

One thing to consider is mistakes and how to deal with them. Some people may not make mistakes. For me, there is almost always something that doesn’t go quite as planned. Wait a moment, there weren’t any plans. :eek: Of course having to trim a little tenon isn’t really a mistake. A sharp chisel is your friend.

Sometimes a tenon is off just a touch which will cause problems if not corrected:

384723

The mortises were checked as they were cut with a test tenon. It is easy to verify though by just turning the tenon around in the mortise to see if it still leans the same way. If it is, then the mortise is in need of correction. For a tenon it is fairly easy to trim a little off the top of the side to which it leans:

384724

Then a little bit off the bottom from the side away from the lean:

384725

My tenons are getting better. Out of 24 cut for this project only two needed straightening via this method. The mortises all came out straight with the only paring to get rid of a bit of fuzziness. A crooked fit can also be caused by a high shoulder. This is usually more evident by there being a gap at the shoulder and the piece with the mortise.

An interesting coincidence popped up while working on this project. Sometimes things just fall into place without thinking about it:

384726

While using my short bench hooks for sawing the shoulders it occurred to me the stiles lined up with the dog holes. It helped to hold things steady with little effort when working on the tenons.

Bench hooks are so easy to slap together this might get a pair built anytime a lot of piece of the same width have to be worked.

To be continued…

jtk

[Jeff Ranck]

Loving the build thread Jim! I always learn a lot from your posts. IIRC, the head on your story stick was discussed in another thread, correct? I seem to remember that and I really thought it useful at the time. I may have to build one.

[Jim Koepke]

Loving the build thread Jim! I always learn a lot from your posts. IIRC, the head on your story stick was discussed in another thread, correct? I seem to remember that and I really thought it useful at the time. I may have to build one.

Thanks for the kind words Jeff. Yes, the heads for my story sticks have been in a few threads though trying to find a build thread on the story stick itself is not yielding results.

If another one is ever made it will be documented and posted. They are actually fairly easy to make. The idea came from articles on marking gauges:

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/articleindex/mystery_of_the_marking_gauge

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/wedged-sliding-mortise-gauge-2

The construction is fairly simple. Two size heads work good for me. One uses a stick that is ~1"X3/4". The other uses a stick that is ~5/8"X3/4".

The head makes it easy to gauge repeated measurements. The story stick helps to eliminate some math errors and errant markings from a ruler misread. Mismarking from ruler happens to me way too often, even when measuring twice.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Two days into spring and this is the view out in our yard:

384811

This made me decide that maybe it would be better to do this as a draw bore joint instead of trying to figure out how to glue this together. None of my clamps are long enough without buying a couple pieces of 3/4” pipe.

Don’t you just love pipe clamps for that? My other thought was to use a Spanish Windlass since they are fairly easy and there is plenty of rope around the shop.

Because the draw boring was not part of the original plan a few things had to be worked out. Almost all of my dowel stock is 3/8” which would be a bit big for these tenons. Time to set up to make a bunch of 1/4” dowels. Here is the tooling:

384810

A piece of scrap was ripped at 45º and the sharp edge was planed down a bit. This was then mounted on another piece with an end stop. The pieces kept being pushed over the end stop so a 1/4” dog was added. The pencil sharpener was used to point the tips to help get aligned for starting in the Dowel Former. (this one is from Lee Valley, http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=70555&cat=1,42524 ) The molding plane was used to knock down the corners but any plane would have worked:

384812

Then it was a ride through the dowel former:

384813

The boring set-up seemed to be the big challenge. How could all the holes be drilled without causing blow out and getting them centered. That is where a drill press comes in handy. A model tenon was made and carefully marked and drilled in the center. It was then mounted to a piece of scrap to allow bolting it to the drill press table:

384814

The drill press depth stop was set so the tip of the forestner bit barely penetrated the back side. The rail was bored on one side and then flipped to bore from the other side. If the drill press table is set properly the holes will line up perfectly.

The panels were then assembled so the tenons could be marked:

384815

The forestner bit was used to put a mark on the tenon and then they were drilled by eye on the drill press. Some of the holes didn’t line up as desired:

384816

A couple of files helped here. First a small rat tail file to open the tenon hole a bit, then a 7/32” chainsaw file to gauge the bores:

384817

When the chainsaw file was centered in the bore that was good to go.

To be continued…

jtk

[ken hatch]

Jim,

Good tick-tock. I usually plan to document but almost never do.

ken

[Jim Koepke]

With the draw bore components ready to go the dowels were carefully driven in. The point from the pencil sharpener was a help:

384893

My left hand is on underside to feel the dowel exit and to detect any bulging or error before it causes splitting or other problems.

After the dowels are driven through, the piece was flipped and turned end for end to install the dowels for the other end. Then they were sawn off using a flush cut pull saw:

384894

Of course the cut offs were used for the next panel.

After this the dowels were pared flush with the surface:

384895

At this time any spots where the stiles and rails were not flush a plane was used to take light shavings to smooth and remove any discrepancies.

The panels were then held on the bench using the face vise and clamps:

384896

This is one reason for having at least a small apron on a bench. It makes it easier to clamp things steady vertically. In this position trimming the rail and stile to be flush was fairly straight forward:

384897

Finally it is time install some hinges. On some projects it is best to hold pieces together to mark out hinge placement to ensure alignment:

384898

The image is of panel 3 & 4 with the marking indicating various information. The arrows on my work are always pointing to the top if not marked otherwise. The 3-4 and 4-3 indicate first the panel and then its mate. The xxxx is for the waste side or the barrel of the hinge.

The edge of the hinge opposite the barrel is marked with a gauge. This is where a pin gauge sharpened to a knife edge is preferred over a wheel gauge, at least for me. The ends of the hinge mortise can be marked with a knife and square or with a chisel:

384899

The top and bottoms of the rails were rounded over with a 3/4” hollow. Some folks do not like end grain, but with a sharp blade the grain appears to flow naturally around the corner.

My preference is to pare the waste instead of chopping the waste so my first move is to make a vee at the edges:

384900

This makes paring the waste a bit easier and less likely to lift the edges.

To be continued…

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

The hinges used for this project are fairly light weight. It didn’t take a lot of paring to get the mortise to depth:

384902

For me it is easier to get a smooth hinge mortise paring than it is by chopping:

384905

With a wide chisel it also easy to pare away and high spots using it like a cutting straight edge.

With a recent thread on the Yankee #41 it seemed like it might be worth a try:

384901

It didn’t seem as easy as using my awl:

384903

The awl has a shaft that is more like a flattened oval than it is round. This makes it easy to bore a hole with a little twist and spin and correct if it is off a little. Notice there is a shim between the two panels to keep them separated to allow for the hinge barrel.

My brother gave me this awl he found on his estate sale hunts:

384904

He actually makes a bit of a living from selling estate sale finds on ebay. The awl has a shaft that is more like a flattened oval than it is round.

Having centered holes is important if you do not want your doors to be all kitty wampas, as my mother used to say:

384906

Finally it was time to mount this thing. Here it is across the shelves:

384907

It is held closed by a magnetic latch.

Here it is in the open position:

384908

Hopefully it will keep the cats out of the clean laundry.

Thanks for following along, hope it may be of help or inspiration to others.

jtk

[James Pallas]

Very neatly done Jim. Some how I get the picture of your cats watching as you did this project and thinking what a fine new toy it will be for climbing and swinging:)
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Very neatly done Jim. Some how I get the picture of your cats watching as you did this project and thinking what a fine new toy it will be for climbing and swinging:)
Jim

Thanks Jim, one of the cats did watch me at times, the other mostly ignores me and doesn't wander in to the shop.

jtk

[Jeff Ranck]

Nicely done!

[Jim Koepke]

Nicely done!

Thanks Jeff, just realized there is a castor on the third panel that isn't included in the build.

Oh well, it is always something.

jtk