So, I recently built a new cedar gate & needed some handles. I didn’t want to go out & buy some, so decided to make my own. Inspired by “http://lumberjocks.com/projects/48854” CaptainAhab’s handles, I ended up with:
Here’s how I built them:
Starting with a lamination of 3 pieces of clear Cedar which I planed down to about 2 1/8” thick:
Obviously, I made a little template for the top curves out of 1/4” plywood & cut the top curve with the bandsaw.
Cleaned up the saw marks on the belt sander:
And some hand sanding:
I drew the rest of the cuts on the piece (poorly):
Then to the dado stack to make the first cut on both sides. I was just eye-balling the depth, as this was a design-on-the-fly deal:
Cut dado’s on both sides ending up with:
Moved the fence in & the dado up for my next cuts:
Ran it on both sides, moved the fence in a couple more times to end up with:
Needed some holes to put the mounting bolts through. First a recess with a forstener bit, the smaller hole for the bolt:
To the band saw for a couple cuts on each end:
Cut both ends off up to my lower cut on the bandsaw:
Cut the middle of the “leg” out on the bandsaw:
Didn’t need the “feet” anymore:
A little work with the hand saw to finish off the shoulder />
Back to the band saw to cut the angle on the top (yes, should have done this prior to cutting the “feet” off:
More sanding:
Second one went much quicker. I have another gate to build, so will make a couple more of these. They were surprisingly easy to make, and were a fun puzzle to work out. I am installing the gate this weekend, so will update with more photos later.
Thanks again to CaptainAhab for the inspiration. Feedback is always appreciated. Did I do this the hard way? Anyone see any unnecessary steps?
Thanks for looking.
Crafty Puzzles
