Domush
Platinum Member
I was just finishing up a fenced in area for my horse and was walking down my driveway and saw just how ugly wire fencing really is. It makes my house look trashy, but I couldn't figure out any other means of making it look nice.
The next day I went to Lowes for something and while wandering around I found landscape timbers were on sale for $1.97 (usually $3.97), so I had an "aha!" moment.. homemade split rail fencing!
Now, this isn't a new idea for me, as I did exactly this at my last house and it looked awesome. Since then, though, landscape timbers went way up in price and I was feeling poor. But a bit of good timing came my way and I found myself buying 99 timbers for my fence.
The pile of timbers. I stacked them this way hoping they wouldn't warp quite as much, but it's really hot here recently, and I'll be lucky is they stay reasonably straight. Any tips on keeping them from warping (besides bringing them inside)?
I used my table saw to slice 1/2 of them down the center.
Unfortunately, my 14amp Ryobi table saw wasn't too keen on my slicing them during 95F heat and melted down on me. My fencing project just got a lot more pricey.
I managed to find a used Craftsman 3HP table saw on CL for $100, which was less than a new cheapy Ryobi, so I ran down to get it. A few pulley fixes later and I now have my first real table saw!
Now, if anyone has ever used one of these 'real' table saws, you'll know the top is cast iron which means for a heavy move, especially for a single guy. I always love a reason to use my tractor..
Notice the current wire fencing in the background. That is what I'm looking to pretty up.
Now that my table saw is in place I began making angular cuts in order to make the 'split' in the rails. Nothing complex, just cutting notches out.
Here is the result
Tomorrow I'll be drilling holes in the posts for the rails to slip into.
The next day I went to Lowes for something and while wandering around I found landscape timbers were on sale for $1.97 (usually $3.97), so I had an "aha!" moment.. homemade split rail fencing!
Now, this isn't a new idea for me, as I did exactly this at my last house and it looked awesome. Since then, though, landscape timbers went way up in price and I was feeling poor. But a bit of good timing came my way and I found myself buying 99 timbers for my fence.
The pile of timbers. I stacked them this way hoping they wouldn't warp quite as much, but it's really hot here recently, and I'll be lucky is they stay reasonably straight. Any tips on keeping them from warping (besides bringing them inside)?
I used my table saw to slice 1/2 of them down the center.
Unfortunately, my 14amp Ryobi table saw wasn't too keen on my slicing them during 95F heat and melted down on me. My fencing project just got a lot more pricey.
I managed to find a used Craftsman 3HP table saw on CL for $100, which was less than a new cheapy Ryobi, so I ran down to get it. A few pulley fixes later and I now have my first real table saw!
Now, if anyone has ever used one of these 'real' table saws, you'll know the top is cast iron which means for a heavy move, especially for a single guy. I always love a reason to use my tractor..
Notice the current wire fencing in the background. That is what I'm looking to pretty up.
Now that my table saw is in place I began making angular cuts in order to make the 'split' in the rails. Nothing complex, just cutting notches out.
Here is the result
Tomorrow I'll be drilling holes in the posts for the rails to slip into.
