Printable View
I built the three gates for my fence using pressure treated lumber and spring hinges. By the time I was done, I had $130 worth of lumber and hinges! :smiley5: That doesn't include the price of the nails or screws, and I haven't even bought the cane bolt for the double gate yet (another 8 bucks)!
Here I thought DIY was supposed to be cheap! :smiley6:
On the plus side, nail guns are fun! :smiley17:
Check out your local tract housing development for supplies. I know a dude who built his house courtesy of CP Morgan
Next time, price out a contractor, and you'll change your mind again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenyth
Will
It's just funny how quick those "cheap" boards all add up. I screwed up and bought 8ft 2x4's. I needed primarily 3 foot lengths for the frame, so I should have bought 10 ft. ones to minimize the waste.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevin7
He picked up stuf out of the .........ummmmm....."scrap" pile, right? :smiley2:
I've built functional things, such as a frame for the bed of my truck, a workbench, etc. out of 2X4's. I don't use treated lumber, usually. Probably should have with the truck bed frame. Anyways, it wasn't so much that the wood was expensive (I can buy a 2X4X96" for $1.67 here), but the hardware - I think I paid a dollar a bold the last time I put it together. For me, that is where the expense lies.
When I'm building furniture or other household goods, I usually use oak. In part because I don't really know 100% what the finished product is going to look like. I have used black walnut, I have also used birch. For carving, I actually prefer oak. That gets expensive, but I usually don't have tons of that stuff around, either. AND I'm not building a fence out of the stuff.
Another option I've been enjoying since moving back to the south are going around collecting fallen wood, trees in the aftermath of a storm. I picked up some nice logs after a storm took down a few big trees in the past month or so. I realize I need to let that stuff dry out for a while, but am not really sure how long. They are really nice blocks, and I know I want to carve a bowl out of one, but am kind of at a loss as to where to go from here.
Find a sawmill who'll cut it up for you. Or you can invest in an alaskan saw.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrtr33
This will tell you if its dry enough, but plan on it sittin green for about a year (unless you have a solar dryer or something to accelerate:smiley2:)
Will
Drying big logs can take a long time IIRC. There was a show on about milling your own lumber once. You strip the bark and then let it sit on a dry level surface for up to a year depending on the wood and conditions. Then, you mill it and let the rough boards dry some more. Then, you plane the boards.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrtr33
Outside conditions will deteriorate untreated lumber very quickly. Treated lumber is a little bit less than twice as expensive as untreated. You're correct about hardware though. The hinges were more than a third of the cost of the purchase.
Quote:
Originally Posted by badwhale
I guess I should have been more specific. Sorry for hijacking this thread, Kenyth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenyth
The log had been cut up in order to be thrown away easily. I just went by and picked them up when they were sitting on the side of the road. I got three of them. One is really wide, but maybe only a foot/foot and a half high. The other two are a bit narrower, but probably 2 feet high each. I don't want to plane them down. I want to carve them. They were heavier than all hell.
The wide one I want to make a salad bowl out of. I carve wooden spoons and forks that are about 16-18" long. They are meant to be for salad serving purposes. I usually carve those out of oak, sand the hell out of them (start with 80 grit down to #0000 steel wool) then use mineral oil to finish them. I was hoping to carve a bowl out of the wide one.
I don't mind waiting. I guess my biggest concern is that the wood will crack, flushing my bowl idea down the toilet.
On the untreated lumber: without going too much into detail, the frame on the truck was a temporary thing. Sometimes I needed a frame to carry extra big crap, or contain something, or carry something where I didn't want to purchase a huge truck cover. So, I just built a quickie frame, thinking that one day I would buy the treated lumber, get a custom canvas top, and do it right. Something to sleep under when camping. I've just never gotten that far, that's all. I bet the frame didn't cost $20, but more than half of that was for hardware.
There is a question that I ask myself most every day. Which do I have more of: time or money? There is also the "manly" factor, applied mostly to the humble abode. I sometimes required one of my sons to cut the grass, but I mostly did it because it was a "manly" chore. You built the gate as a manly chore as well. Its your turf.
I'm need a wheelchair "garage" for the side of the house. Daughter's chair is too big to come in the house and luckily, she doesn't need it there. I'm getting one of those $200 Tupperware sheds (this one just big enough for the wheelchair) rather than building one. In this case, I have more money than time.
I have an affinity for nail guns. They make projects fun and the coated nails hold really well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenyth
[QUOTE=NullSmurf;125550]There is a question that I ask myself most every day. Which do I have more of: time or money? There is also the "manly" factor, applied mostly to the humble abode. I sometimes required one of my sons to cut the grass, but I mostly did it because it was a "manly" chore. You built the gate as a manly chore as well. Its your turf.
For me it's therapy. Also, very rewarding, even if not the most professional job, I stand back and admire my work. Usually spot a mistake or two, but hey I only pay myself with cigars. Now I can sit back and enjoy a well-earned Camacho.