Nikita Maree

DIY Easy Bridge.

12/29/2019

Easy DIY bridge made from
pallets and logs.
We built this bridge so our sheep
could cross the creek and eat the grass on the other side.

Starting with the beams.
I used the pallet stringers to make these.

I used a total of 12 stringers.
6 each side.

Pre-drill your holes, larger than
the shank of the screws.

Drill 4 holes in each stringer.
Keeping in mind, that only half of them
need to be drilled.

Give the holes a chamfer.

Overlap your stringers roughly in half.
And leave a mark.

Wood glue on one half.

Place your drilled stringer back on top.

Attach them together with batten screws.

The stringers may vary in width,
so keep the top side as flat as possible.

Continue to overlap and attach,
until you reach your overall length.

Time to pick the location.
I chose to put the bridge right beside
this large water plant.

Owen dug the post holes.
If you don't have an Owen of your own,
you could dig the holes yourself.

I dug the creek out.
Because we haven't had rain in a while and
the water level was getting low.

Space your posts according to the
length of your palings.
Allowing for a little overhang.

Time to attach those beams.

Pre-drill and chamfer 2 holes
on either end.

I used extra long decking screws
to attach these.

Attach one of the screws.
Go to the other side with a spirit level and
attach your beam once level.

Time to attach the palings.

I used cheap chipboard screws.
And staggered the palings to give the bridge
a bit more character.

Pre-drilled a line of holes down the
center of all the palings.

Attach a line of palings on the underside.

Between the 2 beams.

The center support really takes up
any of that flex in the thinner palings.
And makes the entire thing secure.

Time for the jump test.

Works great.

One of our favorite places to hang out
of an afternoon.

If you like building with pallets.
Or other cheaper materials.

Than you might like to check out
some of my videos.

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DIY Rustic Bar

9/18/2019

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I built this rustic style bar for my sisters wedding.

Made from logs, corrugated iron
and pallet wood.

Start with 4 logs,
with as much character as you can find.

I used 90x45 mm pine.
That we had left, from
concrete form work.

Measured the 4 posts
to the same length.

I cut the first post with the circular saw.
With the blade set at full depth.

Rotating the log as I went.

If the blade depth is still not enough.
Just give the cut end a wack with a hammer.

That took too long.
So I switched over to the chainsaw.

Now all 4 posts are the same length.

Here we are looking at the top
left hand side post.

Mark a straight line. Just shy of half way.

Then mark the center of that line.

Use a protractor to mark 60°

You should be left with something like this.

We are going to be cutting out
that 120° wedge.

Draw a vertical line 100mm down,
from one side of the 120° wedge.

Another vertical line for the other side.

Roughly sketch a horizontal line across,
joining those 2 points together.

Owen Is better on the chainsaw than I am.
So he volunteered to cut out the wedges for me.

The 120° wedge is now cut out.

The front right hand side
is a mirror image of the other side.

The back is marked out the same as
the front. Only we will be cutting out the
60° wedge opposed to the 120° wedge.

The ruler is demonstrating were
the side wall will be.

Now that all the top wedges are cut out.
We have to do the same for the
bottom of all the posts.

I am using a straight edge as a guide, to make
sure the bottom wedge lines up with the top.

Checking and adjusting the lines slightly.
To make sure the degrees are the same.

I scraped as much concrete as I could
off of the pine lengths.

Mark the 2 spots to be drilled.

Pre-drill the holes.
Larger than the shank of the screws.

Chamfer the holes.

I used a decking screw in reveres
to score the post bellow it.

Then with a drill bit smaller than the shank of the screw. Drill a pilot hole, to prevent any splitting.

Do the same for the bottom as we did
for the top.

Now we have the
front face of the bar all framed out.

If you want the corrugated iron to fit neatly up against the post. . . .

You are going to need to cut a channel for
it to slide into.

Only take a little off at a time.

Keep sliding the iron up against the post, to see were you need to take some more from.

Now the corrugated iron fits.

Square up one end of the iron.

With the cutting disk on an angle grinder.

Measure the height of the bar and
cut the iron to length.

Use a nail and a hammer to punch a hole through the corrugated iron. So that the screws can easily got into the timber behind it.

Moving onto the sides of the bar.

Here I am marking 2 parallel lines.

So I can pre-cut a channel for the
corrugated iron.

Set the circular saw to the ideal depth.

Cut along both the lines.

Pull out the scrap material.

Clean it up a little if need be.

The sides of the bar are half the width of a corrugated iron sheet.

Leaving the sides alone for now.
And moving onto framing up the back of the bar.

I cut the 2 lengths of pine to the same length.

Roughly mark the angle.

Set the circular saw accordingly.
And make your cuts.

Moving on back to the sides.

We have the corrugated iron tucked into the groves
that we pre-cut earlier.

It's easier to attach the iron first.

And then attach the frame afterwards.

These angles were cut at 35°

It's starting to come together.

Before we put the top on.
We awkwardly carry it into position.

For the bar top. I cut and pulled apart
some pallets. And ran the palings
through the thicknesser.

Square up the first paling.

Mark 20mm in, from both sides for
the screw holes.

Pre-drill the hole.

Then chamfer.

Square it up again.

Attach your first paling.

Do the same thing for the paling
down the other end.

Fill in the center with as many loose palings
as required.

These will all be left oversized and we will just cut
them all at once to length, at the end.

If you are left with a gap that needs filling.
Chances are that one side of the gap is larger than the other.

Take a measurement from either side.

Transfer those measurements to a paling and
draw a straight line between them.

Clamp one end to a bench.

Run the circular saw along your line.

Flip it over and re-clamp it.

Finish off the cut.

Now that it is cut to size . . .

Place that paling among the others.

Grab a straight edge and mark were the
screw holes will go.

Use some tape as a depth gauge on
your drill bit.

So you can drill the holes right were
the palings are.

Chamfer all the holes.

Attach them all with cheap chipboard screws.

Now that it is all attached.
It is time to cut the top to size.

Measure 135mm from the screws.

Connect the dots, with a straight edge.

Clamp down a straight edge.

Run the circular saw along it.

I am glad we moved it before attaching the top.
Because I don't think we would of got
it out of the gate otherwise.

Also, it is heavy.

I ran some paling through the table saw,
set at 30mm.

Pre-drilled and chamfered the holes.

These will be attached to the entire
underside of the bar.

Because of the amount of over hang there is
at the front of the bar, I didn't won't any
twisting and warping in the individual pieces.

If you like working with pallets,
or other cheaper materials.

You might want to check out
some of my videos.

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DIY Wire Spinner

3/26/2019

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How to build a Wire Spinner

I built this wire spinner from scraps
I had laying around the home.
It worked far better than I expected and saved us a ton of money.

Mark out three 800mm x 800mm squares.

I used left over MDF, but marine ply
would be a better option
(especially if it happens to rain while you are fencing).

Cut out your 3 squares.

Marked center.

Placed on the role of wire.

Then worked out were I wanted my uprights to go.

Pick a hole saw bit,
that is going to be larger than
your center pole.

Then drill out a hole,
in all 3 plates.

"You can skip this step" if you want....

This just lifts the reel up above the lower arms,
that I attach a bit later on.

Cut all 8 uprights to just above the wire height.

Pre-drill the square plate
and attach the uprights from underneath.

Pre-drill and attach the top plate into the uprights.

Attach 4 arms to the top.

And attach 4 arms to the bottom.

These are to prevent the wire from uncoiling.
and creating a huge coil mess.

Time to make 3 washers.

Mark out 3 small squares
and hole saw the middle.

Give them a good sand.

Place them on top of the bottom plate.

The 3 washers allow the spinner to take
the path of least resistance.

Place the Bottom plate were you will be working.

Carry the reel into potion,
using the center pole as a handle.

Hammer your center pole
into the ground.

Re-attach the arms, once it's in position.

"It's to difficult, moving it around
with them attached".

And you are done.

We ended up not using the arms, and
the wire stayed nice and neat on the reel.

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DIY Easy Bridge.

DIY Rustic Bar

DIY Wire Spinner

How to build a Wire Spinner

Nikita Maree

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