Shopsmith Forums

Good point! I'll see what I can do to provide a drain there.

onetrack

robinson46176 wrote:The real problem spot with this design is the diagonal brace. It creates a spot where the water is funneled directly into a joint with no provisions to drain it out. The brace should be moved about 1/4" away from the vertical member so that any water that follows it down to the joint can drain out the bottom.
I am a lifetime farmer... I know gates.
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About 20 years ago, Fine Woodworking had a simple finish for outdoor furniture and decks - one quart of exterior spar varnish added to one gallon of mineral spirits, then dissolve in two ounces of shaved (I use a cheese grater) paraffin. You can add tinting colors if you want. The finish leaves a coat of wax on the surface. The nice thing is that when you want to refinish, you don't have to remove the old finish - any remaining paraffin gets dissolved by the new finish.

Mike

Your beautiful design is probably going to be stressed by your environment in Ontario. So you might want to consider not using any glue at all since you have wood grains crossing such that humidity changes are causing the mating woods to move in contrary orientations.

And unless you plan on re-finishing every year, you will not be able to protect the wood from the outside environment.

You might think of using the dowel closest to the foot of the tenon to draw the pieces together tightly and then thru drill for the second outermost dowel.

Tight fitting dowels in the right places might provide enough structural support.

Any structural engineers out there with advice?

Forrest

I used epoxy, hoping it would be better at retaining a water-tight joint and high shear strength. Guess we'll find out in a few years!

onetrack

forrestb wrote:Your beautiful design is probably going to be stressed by your environment in Ontario. So you might want to consider not using any glue at all since you have wood grains crossing such that humidity changes are causing the mating woods to move in contrary orientations.

And unless you plan on re-finishing every year, you will not be able to protect the wood from the outside environment.

You might think of using the dowel closest to the foot of the tenon to draw the pieces together tightly and then thru drill for the second outermost dowel.

Tight fitting dowels in the right places might provide enough structural support.

Any structural engineers out there with advice?

Forrest

I rebuilt 300 feet of cedar fence - 33 new 4x4 posts and 2 double and 1 single gate. I reused the siding boards. I've always let them go silver with oxidation - way easier than finishing them every couple of years. If you don't like that look, you do the painting. On the gates I used mortice and tenon with pegs and exterior glue. I haven't had any problems with the through tenons, and by going all the way through the stiles I elminated the cross or 'Z' brace. I haven't had any problems so far. Also, by going through the stile or upright it should help water stay out of the joint.

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