Pergola and more!

[B.Scott]

As I mentioned in the 1st pergola thread I was planning on making a Japanese port in the back of the yard. This was the drawing I posted that will be the template for what I plan to make:

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/newgate1.jpg[/img]

Having been given some lumber by the supervisor of the construction site I was working at I started right away to make the curved trusses for the roof of the gate.

I started out with a couple of 5 meter long X 8 inches wide and 1.5 inch thick, unplaned scaffold planks (5m x 20 cm x 3.4 cm)

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate1.jpg[/img]

I then cut these into 1 meter long lengths and after making a single half truss, used it as a mold to trace the shape of the next truss.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate2.jpg[/img]

Using a jig saw, I cut out the arch.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate4.jpg[/img]

Because the jigsaw tends to cut less than vertical, I had to cut slightly over sized and then sand it down to the line traced on the wood on both sides.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate3.jpg[/img]

The unplained sides were then given a going over with a belt sander and the shape of the roof is clear for all to see.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate5.jpg[/img]

So this was the part before it starts to get expensive... Or not, did I mention I bought a new belt sander? After this part I need to sart buying materials!

B.Scott

[Gazza]

Very nice young man.....

[B.Scott]

Wood was ordered and arrived yesterday The 2 4"X 4" vertical supports weigh a ton!

[Bob Hart]

Looking good Scotty, keep the pictures coming

[B.Scott]

Well here we are a month later and last weekend finally gave me a break to do some more work on the gate. The first job was to get the massively heavy uprights off the roof of the shed. This was the only place I could put them where nobody was breaking their neck over them or they were in danger of being nicked. The first job was to mark all the places where I needed to drill holes. These are the many spots where the wood will be keyed into place. A round hole was drilled through each end of the keyed slot and the middle was crudely cut away with a jigsaw. The finishing up was done by hand with a wood chisel.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/pergola3.jpg[/img]



After many hours of tapping away and driving the neighbors nutty the first upright is done.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/pergola4.jpg[/img]


Now I needed to make the horizontal supports. These are made of two pieces with a notch in the bottom of the lower half . The wood I used had a tongue and groove which I cut off except for the place where the upper and lower halves come together.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/pergola5.jpg[/img]

The two pieces joined... The colour difference is due to the wood being partially rained on with another piece on top

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/pergola6.jpg[/img]

Now the smaller bottom bit slides into the keyed hole and slots downward leaving just enough room for the top piece to be firmly wedged into the top slot.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/pergola8.jpg[/img]


Now with a bit of not so gentle persuasion the top half of the vertical is put into place. The only thing that remains is to secure it with a peg.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/pergola11.jpg[/img]

Did I mention that what was once a very heavy post has gained considerably in weight?

B.Scott

[Gazza]

Hi Scooty,

Your be OK a big old guy like you,Ive seen the post you smashed into the ground

Cant wait to see this all done and finished as it will look fantastic

[Jules]

Looking good. What hard wood is it you're using?

Jules

[B.Scott]

Jules,
The wood is Angelim Petra (Hymenolobium excelsum), a Brazilian hardwood. Also called simply Angelim. It's most remarkable charictaistic is that it stinks strongly when cut. Everyone walking past started commenting on the smell at about 10 yards distance. Left along it's ok though, it only smells when you cut it.

B.Scott

[TicToc]

Looking damn good Scottie. Keep it up can't wait to see it all finished. Will you need planning permission?

Inspired and fascinated regards, Tic Toc

[B.Scott]

Planning permission? Never even considered it. Who know what they might come up with once you set the juggernaut wheels of the local civil service in motion. I think most likely not and don't plan to worry about it too much. It's in the back, not very large (2.4 X 0.9 mtr.) and not visible from the road.
With any luck it will now dry up as of tomorrow and i can get some more work done on it. The next step I wish to take it coat the underground potion of the poles with red-lead (minus the lead) primer in a hope of extending it's lifespan in the ground. The last thing I want is for the bloody thing to get foot rot and get blown over! Then I can put the vertical supports in the ground and attach the cross members

B.Scott

[dho]

Hi Scotty,

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

BTW why don't you encase the post in concrete when in the ground with sloping sides, instead of a flat top to drain off any water. It should last a good few years that way.

David.

[B.Scott]

Hi David,
I may well pour some concrete around it but I will still put the paint on it first. It's standard practice to prepaint any wood coming into direct contact with masonary or stone. Can't hurt in any case.

B.Scott

[dho]

better safe than sorry.

BTW is the wood oozing oil (the stinky smell) when you cut it?

[B.Scott]

No Dave, No oil. Very hard and a bit grainy though.

[B.Scott]

I'm just about ready to plant the posts in the ground but I am already thinking long and hard about the roofing. My original plan was to cover it in slate. I have some slate set aside for this purpose but it fall just short of what I will be needing. On the same note, I find slate a bit mundane and wanted something "special" to put on top. I would have loved to put red cedar shingles on top of the roof but these are just too far outside my budget. Then I came up with a solution much closer to home and in my opinion very original.

A large part of my job now-a-days involves applying metal clading to monumental buildings. This is usually zink or lead. Here is an example involving 3 tonnes of lead cladding...


[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/tower.jpg[/img]


Now lead is a bit extreme and heavy but there is a method used by the French called a "Lozenge". These are diamond shaped panels applied in a scale-like pattern and interlocked into each other. Normally these are 50 cm (20") across but I needed to go quite a bit smaller to accomodate the curve of the trusses.

So the basic pattern starts with a square of zink sheet metal 25cm (10") square. A 2.5cm (1") line is scribed around the edges and the points are cut off.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate30.jpg[/img]


Now the edges are bent inward on the top and inward on the bottom but in the opposite direction forming fold on the under/back side and on the front/top side

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate31.jpg[/img]


Top start laying the losenge I need to start with a half plate.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate32.jpg[/img]


Then the fold on the underside hooks into the fold on the top of the losenge below it.

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate33.jpg[/img]


Now it is simply a matter of building rows of interlocked scales up to the top of the roof!

[img]http://www.koi.excalibur-nw.com/images/gate34.jpg[/img]

Of course there is a bit more to it that that as it needs to be mounted to the roof so it can't blow off as well as the finishing at the sides and top but this is the basic concept.

You might ask "What do French lozonge have to do with an oriental gate"? My thought was "Dragon Scales"!

B.Scott