And this may have something to do with why it's been so long since I posted anything. Shop time takes time. Especially since I forgot to photograph most steps. So yeah. Sorry 'bout that.
Will you forgive me if I give a reveal picture at the beginning of the post instead of making you wait until the end?
Step 1: Planning (as always).
It started as a rough sketch on an index card during breakfast. Then it moved to a scaled drawing on grid paper. I usually do a full sized drawing next on the back of wrapping paper, but I got lazy this time.
If you are making one yourself, the most important dimension is the base stretcher. Measure the floor of your opening. This measurement determines most every other one. Ours was 53 1/4" The second most important measurement is the gate size. Ours was going to be 40 1/2", but then I had an argument with the router and it became 39 3/8". I increased the width of the abacus side panel by 1 1/8" to accommodate that booboo.
With these measurements, you can start figuring out the rest of them. 53 1/4" total length was reduced by the 39 3/8" gate door, 1 1/2" for the right post, 1 1/2" for the left post, 2 1/2" for the center post, and 1/2" for clearance of the gate door and the hinges. The remainder is the side panel in our case, 5 3/8".
I wanted it to be 23-24" high, just above the minimum requirement. I wanted to keep it low enough to be able to easily step over it. I also didn't want any gap to be larger than 2". This was especially important in planning the slats for the gate. In all, here was my cut list:
A: Side Posts, 2, 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 23"with 1/2" x 2 1/4" notch to accommodate floor trim
B: Center Post, 1, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 23 with 3/4" x 1 1/2" rabbet cut into one long side
C: Stretcher, 1, 1" x 2 1/2" x 53 1/4"
D: Gate Rail (Bottom), 1, 2" x 1 1/2" x 39 3/8"
E: Gate Rail (Top), 1, 3" x 1 1/2" x 39 3/8" with top edge curved (leave 2" height on each end)
F: Gate Stiles, 2, 2" x 1 1/2" x 20" with 1/2"D x 3/4"W dado cut into one edge each
G: Gate Slats, 13, 1" x 3/4" x 17"
H: Side Panel Rails, 2, 2" x 1 1/2" x 5 3/8"
I: Spacers, 28, 1/2" x 3/4" x 2"
J: Dowels, 5, 5/16" (round) x 7 3/8"
Step 2: Milling and Cutting
I used leftover 4x4 common pine construction lumber for this project, though I with I'd had 2x4s. It would have been a lot less resawing and planing during the milling process. In all, this gate cost me $10 for the abacus beads since we already had the lumber and hinges laying around the shop. I used two 4x4s, so if you are making one, you can probably get by with four 2x4s... around $12 total for the wood plus a little more for hinges and a latch. This assumes you have the ability to resaw and plane the pieces down. Without this ability, you'll have to buy dimensioned wood and it'll cost you more.
Once everything was cut according to my list, I spent significant time at the router, rounding over all edges that my baby could bonk herself on. I used an aggressive 3/8" round over since I wanted to make the edges as safe as possible. This would have been even more important if I'd been using a hard wood rather than the pine. (Side note: pine is actually a really good choice for something like this. It's non-toxic naturally and it's a relatively soft wood. Win Win!)
The trickiest round over is for the slats. I marked 1/2" on all sides of each end. This 1/2" would be inside the dado and as such I wanted to make sure to NOT round over this section in order to keep the dado tight. Leaving these sections un rounded over also gave me a flat piece on each end to stabilize the piece as it was being routed, keeping the piece flat on the work surface which would have been impossible had I been rounding it over all the way down each side.
I lined up the line with the outside edge of the round over bit. Keeping the right short edge in contact with a stabilizing pin, I started the round over on the right side of the 1/2" line. Pushing the piece to the left, I routed until the outside edge of the bit was lined up with the 1/2" line on the right side of the piece (picture below). I removed the piece from contact with the router before I hit that line. Repeating this on all four edges gave me oval shaped slats with rectangles on each end to fit in my dados. Again, using those rectangles to keep the pieces stable allowed the shapes to happen. NOTE: be super careful when working near power tools. Wear protection and be attentive. Your fingers are softer than wood and the router would have no trouble profiling your digits. If this step confuses you, think about it like a coloring book, except with power tools: route INSIDE the lines.
In the end, you will have slats that look like these below. You can see the ridges left behind by the router. Do yourself a favor and sand these away now since doing that on the assembled gate would be super tough. In the background you can see the dados that they will go in to during assembly.
Step 3: Assembly
I started with positioning the slats. I did this dry first, checking the gate for square before marking the position of each slat, starting with the center slat. (This allowed me to cut the outside spacers to fit, keeping the slat spacing symmetrical) Once I was happy with the dry fit, I removed one half of the spacers, and slid the slats towards the outside. Moving them back one at a time, I glued each spacer in place before tacking the spacer with two brads. The brads are only there to keep the spacer in place while the glue dries. Once that glue is dry, the brad isn't doing anything. If you don't want to use brads, that's fine... but you'll need to have a LOT of clamps and a decent amount of patience.
Notice I only put glue on the center of the spacers. The slats need to be dry so they can move seasonally. You don't want glue from the spacers to get onto your slats.
Repeat this with the rest of the slats. Once all the slats are in, measure the end spacers and cut them down to size so they aren't protruding out of the dado. Glue and brad the end spacers.
Next attach the stiles to your gate rails/slat assembly. I used Dominos for this process because butt joints aren't particularly strong. That being said, unless your child is the Hulk, you could probably get away with attaching the rails and stiles using good ole' glue and screw method. It's your call. Part of the reason I did this project is that I've been feuding with the Domino and needed a low pressure project to figure it out. While I don't have my Domino technique perfectly down yet, I got it to work. And pine is soft enough that it was easy to sand the joints smooth (thus hiding my poor Domino technique).
Next assembly is the Abacus Side Panel. Mark the positions of your dowels for the abacus. (Find the center point between where your rails will go, then mark away from that center point to locate the 5 dowel positions. Mine were spaced just over 2 1/2" apart.) I used the doweling jig to find the center of the width and make sure I was drilling perfectly 90 degrees in using a 5/16" bit. This could also be done with the drill press, but I have trouble keeping my piece aligned when I use the press. AKA: the doweling jig is my friend, and the drill press is my weird uncle that I tolerate when I need to.
To get perfect placement, use the aligning lines on the side of the jig to match your pencil marks. The jig will handle centering the hole on the width of the piece, so all you have to do is match this one mark, tighten the jig and drill to your depth. I drilled 1" into my piece. I kept that consistent by putting a piece of masking tape on the drill bit at 2 1/2" from the end. (1 1/2" for the jig depth plus my 1" finished hole)
There aren't a lot of pictures from here on, because the side panel was a tough glue up with a lot of pieces that needed to be positioned quickly before the glue set. But you'll get the idea. Align your pieces where they need to go. Ease the edges of your dowels so they will slide in easily (or at least easier) during assembly.
Place your dowels dry. With 1" depth, trust me, they aren't going anywhere. Once my dowels were set firmly in one post, I glued in my Dominos to my center post (I rested the rabbet hanging over the edge of the table to keep the piece level on the table and give me the full other post to whack with the mallet.) Getting the other post attached required the use of that mallet. Very carefully, yet working quickly, I aligned all the dowels and my dominos, tapping it with the mallet to keep things moving together. Finally, I got it together. I lifted it up in victory!
... and then noticed that I had mis-oriented my post so the post was upside down. UGH! So as quickly as I could before my glue set, I whacked it apart using the mallet, chased down the abacus beads that had gone flying (including one that eluded me under the miter stand) and repeated my alignment and mallet assembly.
And this is why you have no pictures of any of this assembly. It was chaos. And more than a little muttering insults at myself.
Once it was assembled correctly, I finished bringing the joints together using parallel clamps. I've got to tell you, if you aren't particularly muscular, using clamps to pull your pieces together is the way to go.
Step 4: Sanding, Finishing, Final Assembly
Sanding is so boring, but so necessary. Remember you don't want any splinters that could catch on little hands. Thankfully, pine is soft and sanding isn't as arduous as it could otherwise be.
I chose to dry brush on paint using just leftover trim paint. Dry brushing allowed me to keep the grain of the wood visible (thus making it clear that it's real wood) without leaving it unfinished. I also like the softness and slight rustic feeling of the whitewashed appearance once it's dry. For anyone wondering, once paint is dry it is also non-toxic. Apparently from what I've read all finishes sold within the US are required to be non-toxic once dry.
Finally, assemble the unit by screwing the posts to the stretcher from the underside of the stretcher up through the bottom of the posts --- make sure to align the inside of the notch with the edge of the stretcher if you have floor molding like we do.
Attach the gate to the side post using heavy duty hinges. Attach your gate closing hardware... which we still need to re-buy. Ugh. Let me know if you find something awesome because my hunt isn't going well. We have a temporary latch that is keeping it closed, but doesn't help align it vertically. I'd like the gate to get some support from the latch to relieve some of the pressure from the hinges.
In the meantime, get ready for the cuteness!
It's just high enough for E to peek over it. She's still in the cruising phase and she likes to use it to walk along. Note how the rabbet in the center post catches the gate.
She has discovered the abacus beads and loves them! I had thought about painting them, but ran out of ambition. While E isn't particularly mobile, she has a little friend that comes over and has already fallen down our stairs three times. Getting the gate up to contain our friend was important. Hopefully I'll have made a decision, purchased, and installed new hardware before friend L comes over again.
Once more: the (mostly) finished gate.
I like the way in turned out. What do you think? Was it worth the money I saved? $10 for a wide baby gate? It's not adjustable, but I'm pretty sure we can sell it to any one of the neighbors when we move. We live in military housing so everyone has pretty much the same house around here. What do you think? What should I sell it for once we move?
