Dog Run Gate
I converted the walk along the side of my house into a dog run. In order to confine the dogs "business" to that area, I needed a gate to block off the rest of the back-yard.
So, as usual, after taking some measurements and finding some design inspiration online, I jumped into SketchUp and modeled out the gate to determine, size, design and function.
I decided to have the gate hinge from the wall rather than the house, and swing out into the backyard. I also decided to have two catches for the latch so it could be held open as well as closed.
I picked up some redwood 2x4s, 1x6 fence panels, and a 2x6 for the top arch. Construction was fairly straight-forward. I cut a 1/2" dado on the middle and bottom rails to accept the center panels. I also ran a stopped dado on both stiles to accept the center panels and middle and bottom rail tenons.
The panels all got rabbets so they overlap each other where they meet so that as the wood expands and contracts there won't be any gaps between them. I did stray from my plans for the top curved rail and decided to run it full width instead of inside the stiles.
After dry-fitting the main components, I laid out a bottom mortice for each of the top pickets. I opted to just do a dado in the top rail to accept the top of the pickets and stiles. Once those were all cut and finessed, everything got glued up.
I then attached the hardware and test hung it to ensure everything worked and I had everything mounted where it needed to be.
Then I could take the hardware off, plug the screw holes, final sand, and apply a spar varathane to everything. Once the varathane was dry, I re-mounted all the hardware and hung it up.
