On 08/03/2013 21:36, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
I've read the FAQ on building a gate and there is a lot of quite
complicated mortice and tenon work plus different thicknesses of frame to
fit the planking in flush.



So how important is the mortice and tenon jointing for an external gate?

I have a lot of off cuts of 2 * 5 which are tempting me to make a 'robust'
gate with perhaps inch thick planking.



I just built 2 gates ..
fist off made a frame out of 4" x 2" using 1/2 half joints, glued and 4
screws per joint.
A lot of the effort was done with a standard jack saw ... minor
adjusting to fit with a chisel.

Made sure these were all nice & square and let glue set ... used
external PVA wood glue.

Then I fitted in a diagonal brace. To make sure load was towards bottom
hinge ... just cut it to correct angles with a bevel, let it into the
vertical by about 1/4" to provide a 'stop'
This was using some 5" x 1 3/4" scrap I had from some trusses.
Glued & screwed.

No difficult mortice & tenon joints all just saw work.


Next I used 4" x 1" slats, spaced at 1" gap, these were arranged so that
they were 8" higher & lower than horizontal rails.


On one of the gates, made more interesting shape by putting an S profile
on top of slats to follow curve of the fence.

Very solid ... very stable ... and as all cut ends were follow soaked in
preservative and I used treated wood should outlast me.

Gave it 2 coats of fence treatment for colour.


Pics here if description to difficult to follow.
http://tinyurl.com/cm2lbs7
http://tinyurl.com/bq2db7y
http://tinyurl.com/c9yr3vk
http://tinyurl.com/bwhusls