Cat Gate

[Matt Riegerix]

Hello,

Longtime reader, rare poster. Trying to answer the call for more project posts. We had a problem with our cats causing mischief in our bedrooms, to put it kindly. We wanted to allow airflow through the house while keeping the cats in the main living area, so I designed a door to do that.

Here is the finished product-

IMG_2710.jpg

The diagonals are friction fit, sort of like a paired down kumiko asa-no-ha pattern. The grid is lap jointed. All other joints are mortise and tenons.

I processed all the stock from rough boards from a local sawmill with hand tools.

IMG_1505.jpg

IMG_1510.jpg
In this process, I broke a blade on my Japanese pull saw and decided to invest in a western push saw, happy I made the switch.

IMG_1553.jpg
IMG_1530.jpg
Cutting the through mortise and tenons was very satisfying.
IMG_1543.jpg
IMG_1652.jpg

[Matt Riegerix]

Laying out the half lap joints was helped by some clamps.
IMG_1698.jpg

IMG_1708.jpg

IMG_1730.jpg
IMG_1746.jpg
IMG_1749.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

Great looking door Matt.

I made a gate to keep cats out of some shelves used for clothes and such > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?262272

Mine was only a few feet tall instead of a full doorway.

jtk

[Curt Harms]

I'll echo Jim, great design and execution. Cats causing mischief? I can't conceive of such a thing. I inherited 4 of the little moggys.

[Bruce Mack]

That's handsome, Matt.

I'll echo Jim, great design and execution. Cats causing mischief? I can't conceive of such a thing. I inherited 4 of the little moggys.

Curt - A few years ago I decided to allow full access to my basement shop when I'm not there. Nothing has been disturbed and no one pees on the floor (even I). Stella, the beauty of the family, sleeps on the old leather chair in the corner. It's a quiet and happy place.
05BAD2AF-6486-46AD-963B-7648DD0A618C.jpg

[Matt Riegerix]

Thanks,

Unfortunately, a few feet tall wouldn't stop these cats.

[Bruce Mack]

Thanks,

Unfortunately, a few feet tall wouldn't stop these cats.

Matt,
Absolutely true. My wife and I adopted many kittens and young cats from a nearby rescue. We can now laugh at the memory of them defeating all of the barriers and going where they wanted. I kept the shop door closed while the rest of the house took hits. The remaining seniors are relatively sedate.

[Christopher Charles]

Hi Matt,

That's an elegant solution to a vexing problem. What wood did you use? Looks like white oak?

We have a child barrier up in the hallway to keep our cat contained. We have to step over to get into the bedrooms. As much as I like your solution, I will not be showing your pictures to my wife

Thanks for sharing and will look forward to seeing more of your work.

Best,
Chris

[Matt Riegerix]

Hi Chris,

The wood is ponderosa pine, I got wet from a local sawmill, air dried it in my backyard.

I had originally planned on filling in the full asa-no-ha pattern like this smaller grid I made-
IMG_20210118_091010_486.jpg
But I decided to simplify, I am glad I did as the mechanics of a swinging door are much different than a sliding shoji door(especially with kids in the house), and my humidity swings in New Mexico are quite different from Japan, causing my friction fit pieces to have fallen out and had to be replaced with longer pieces in the last year since I built the door.

Thanks,
Matt

[Christopher Charles]

That's some nice looking p-pine, which we have lots of in the woods here, but I haven't ever used for wood working (but have for wood sheds!). May have to rethink!

Best,
Chris