# Horse Mounting Block



## Timmo (15 Jul 2008)

Hi Gents,
This is my first time to post in the projects section so please don't be too harsh...I am relatively new to woodworking although my Dad has always been into it..
A friend of the wifes who is into horses asked me to make a mounting block for the stable yard where she keeps her horses...
I figured I would take the challenge and this is what I came up with....Dimensions were specified by her so I didn't have much say in it...
Its 28 inches high, 14 inches wide and each step is about 18 inches long...(Roughly)
I have just used B&Q 2x3 ish (47x75mm) pressure treated wood for the frame and some decking board for the top.

Now I am not properly trained in woodwork..never really did it at school and I was a bit of a M&T psycho on this project as there are 28 in total..
I use a simple router jig for cutting the mortices and I cut the tenons on the bandsaw.

All glued up and painted with timbercare or some variant...

I think it turned out pretty good and it looks the part..
I had to buy myself an extra long straight fluted kitchen fitter router bit to rout the 2 inch deep mortices but thats not a problem...The joints were nice and tight fitting altough I did find that it took me a fiar amount of time getting all the tenons to fit nice and snug...I am not the quickest so it took me 2 whole days to mark out, cut all the wood and do all the mortices and tenons then I glued up in 3 stages..

I didn't want the end grain in contact with the damp ground even though it is pressure treated but the block will be outside all year and all weather so I got a shed load of rubber door stops cheap of e bay...cut 2/3 off on the bandsaw and screwed 2 on each of the 6 legs...They really work a treat and it is surprisingly stable considering the slightly narrow dimension..

Oh yeah - I squared all the routed mortices as I find that gives a better fit than trying to round the tenons...

OK so now I will try and attach the pictures to this post...
I would gladly welcome constructive comments..like I say, I am new to this and have a lot to learn...I realise that M&T's are probably overkill for this project but I liked to challenge myself...I also realise that if I had made the lower cross piece in one length of wood on each side I could have got rid of 4 M&T's and used a couple of halving joints instead...But I can do M&T quicker than halving until I practice some more...
I obviously used waterproof glue and am hoping there is no reason for it to fail..























Thanks for looking!
Cheers
Timmo[/img]


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## filsgreen (15 Jul 2008)

Nice job Timmo, well done. =D>


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## Timmo (15 Jul 2008)

Thanks buddy...I did find it pretty stressful working with the pressure treated wood as it was only the cheap stuff from B&Q and the widths and thicknesses varied slightly from piece to piece which I wy I had to pretty much hand finish the tenons to ensure a nice snug fit...
I think I saw something on the wickes or B&Q web page called C16 or regularised pressure treated wood or something...Is that what it actually means that it is all a uniform dimension?
Thanks again
Timmo


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## Paul Chapman (15 Jul 2008)

Looks good - ideal for it's purpose I would think =D> And the colour looks a good match for green wellies like they wear in the countryside :lol: 

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Timmo (15 Jul 2008)

Thanks Paul - Thats not the first comment I have had about the welly matched colour but it was just what I had in the shed...well either that or terracotta


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## PowerTool (15 Jul 2008)

Useful project,also like the idea of the rubber feet to keep the timber off the ground  

Andrew


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## Digit (15 Jul 2008)

You're on the slope! :lol: 

Roy.


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## brianhabby (15 Jul 2008)

It looks just the job Timmo, and I don't think M&T joints are overkill in a project like this, It will stand up to a lot of wear and tear for many years.

Well done.

regards

Brian


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## smokey (15 Jul 2008)

As Brian says the M&T's will hold up well and I should know as SWMBO rides

No doubt this will be added to my long list of must haves lol


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## TheTiddles (15 Jul 2008)

How are you going to mount the horse onto that, with coach bolts??

Aidan


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## George_N (15 Jul 2008)

TheTiddles":2hykk3v2 said:


> How are you going to mount the horse onto that, with coach bolts??
> 
> Aidan



ROTFLMAO


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## Timmo (15 Jul 2008)

Thanks a lot guys for all the positives...I'm glad you like it asmuch as I do..it means a lot to me  
A couple of other "horsey" friends have seen it and want one aswell so I know what I'll be doing for the next week or so....Am seriously considering buying a bench top morticer tomake doing the mortices even easier..The axminster one with the sliding tables look very nice and at £130ish is a very good price...
Thanks again for all the positives..
Cheers
Timmo


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## mr (16 Jul 2008)

Is there something to hold the horses tail out of the way?


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## Anonymous (16 Jul 2008)

mr":cnz88hk2 said:


> Is there something to hold the horses tail out of the way?


 :shock:


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## George_N (16 Jul 2008)

If you are making a few it would be a good excuse to buy a new :tool: (as if any of us need an excuse). You never know, this could be the start of a nice little side line for you.
Will you deliver them for free or will the carriage be extra :wink:


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## mr (16 Jul 2008)

With the price of fuel these days carriage should always be extra. Please excuse my previous flippant remark, it seemed amusing at the time but then it was late. 

Cheers Mike


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## Timmo (16 Jul 2008)

Thats OK Mike..nothing wrong with a bit of humour....Well I hope it was humuor  
I did think this could be a nice little side line but it did take me about 2 days flat to do all the mortices and tenons so I would need to find a way to be more efficient (bench top morticer)..
It is surprising what people sell mounting blocks for..very astonomical!..
My other dilemma is that, like another Tim on this forum, we have applied to emmigrate to Canada and am hoping to get there within the next couple of years but there Power is different over there so I try not to buy anything electrical unless I have to...although I suppse on something like a bench morticer it shouldn't be too hard to get the motor changed...
I should have more confidence in myself because I am still finding it quite stressful when I am going through doing all the joints etc because I always feel like I never know it will work until it is all together and I can see it finished (and square!)...
I am still waiting for the wifes friend to come and pick this one up although she has had a few probs but I would consider delivery...am just looking for exposure with them at the moment so I can get some money by making some more (to buy a morticer!!) but haven't really given price too much thought...I had to buy the waterproof glue for this one and the decking screws and the extra long router bit for the mortices so I am asking £60 for this one but that doesn't cover much more than the materials and the other bits and bobs..well maybe just a little bit for me but the wifes friend was worried that wasn't enough....methinks these horsey people must have money...Any ideas what I could get for one of these in the real world?
Any thoughts and suggestions..especially about reducing the number of joints would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Timmo


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## George_N (16 Jul 2008)

Tim, I think you're right, these horsey people must have loadsa money. A quick search found this on Ebay for £145, plus another £50 to " personalise it. It may be difficult to charge what something's really worth when making for friends but it is their word-of-mouth recommendations that will get you the next commission and the next contact (non-friend) might not be so keen if the price takes a big jump over what you charged your friend.


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## Anonymous (16 Jul 2008)

mr":2op0nomr said:


> it seemed amusing at the time
> 
> Cheers Mike



It was. :lol:


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## Timmo (16 Jul 2008)

Hi George,
You are very right...Thanks for that link by the way..Not a bad looking mounting block but I intentionally did not want a closed in design as I think it just hides potentially shoddy workmanship..I wouldn't want to use exterior ply like that anyway..not on something that is going to sit outside in all weathers..I just don't think it would last....Personalising is nice for a stable yard but these aren't really for individual people / horses but more for the stable yard..

I have made a portable small version (a glorified stool) for the friend aswell as she does that dressgae stuff or as I call it - Horse Dancing!..Non slip paint is a nice touch and I am thinking about getting hold of some myself but the prices seem to vary quite a lot from about £25 a tin to £80 a tin (same size but different make)

You are also very right about price hiking...its hard to get paid the right amount of money for your time isn't it but if I could get in the region of £90 to £100 then that would be a start...Is that toally unrealistic?
Cheers
Timmo


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## George_N (16 Jul 2008)

Timmo":3l3eej9r said:


> Hi George,
> You are very right...Thanks for that link by the way..Not a bad looking mounting block but I intentionally did not want a closed in design as I think it just hides potentially shoddy workmanship..I wouldn't want to use exterior ply like that anyway..not on something that is going to sit outside in all weathers..I just don't think it would last....Personalising is nice for a stable yard but these aren't really for individual people / horses but more for the stable yard..
> 
> I have made a portable small version (a glorified stool) for the friend aswell as she does that dressgae stuff or as I call it - Horse Dancing!..Non slip paint is a nice touch and I am thinking about getting hold of some myself but the prices seem to vary quite a lot from about £25 a tin to £80 a tin (same size but different make)
> ...



If the guy selling on Ebay can ask (and get, I'm sure) £145 for a plywood box, I don't see why you shouldn't ask £100 (or more) for something better.


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## davegw (16 Jul 2008)

£100 seems reasonable to me, if a Plywood one makes £150 the tag "Solid Wood" should add a premium to that - not reduce the price

(looks really good btw)


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## Timmo (16 Jul 2008)

Thanks a lot for the support guys...I know the best thing to do is to get some made and then see what they go for...
Its been really beneficial having this post because you guys have really encouraged me a lot and I am thankful to you for that


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## brianhabby (16 Jul 2008)

Timmo":24dso0i6 said:


> Non slip paint is a nice touch and I am thinking about getting hold of some myself but the prices seem to vary quite a lot from about £25 a tin to £80 a tin



Throw a handful of sand in the paint, I've used it several times and it works a treat.

As for pricing, you should start with the highest price you think your item is worth. It's easy to come down in price but difficult to increase.

regards

Brian


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## Timmo (21 Jul 2008)

Thanks for that tip Brian...I'll give that a go on the next one...I think I have some builders sand left somewhere...would probably make a good combination with the grooved deck boards...
Well the "Customer" picked it up the other day and was very happy so thats good and I am going to make another one to take to a few equine shops and see if I can leave one as a demo model to get some more orders..
Have already decided that I am going to lose the 2 m&t's on each side that go into the centre leg and replace the 2 pieces of wood with a halving joint or cross lap or whatever the correct name is...Does anyone have any other suggestions around how to improve this model?
I might make a bigger one with 3 steps a bit like a podium (<sp?) aswell.....The wood doesn't cost too much and I was happy with the result so will give another one or two a go and try and work out what I could realistically sell them for and whether it is worth the time it takes...
So please..shoot away with any constructive criticism / suggestions / best practice..
Cheers
Timmo


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## brianhabby (21 Jul 2008)

Just make sure the sand is dry Timmo.

regards

Brian


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## Timmo (22 Jul 2008)

Brian,
So might it be better for me just to get a bag of that kiln dried sand then to ensure that?
Thanks
Timmo


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## Anonymous (22 Jul 2008)

Timmo":2mc7amap said:


> Brian,
> So might it be better for me just to get a bag of that kiln dried sand then to ensure that?
> Thanks
> Timmo



Not Brian last I checked but, yes, you want washed and dried sand.


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## Timmo (22 Jul 2008)

Thanks Steve...


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## Timmo (22 Jul 2008)

Doesn't say washed but is this the stuff:


sand

Cheers
Timmo

edited to make the url short as I saw someone say that as a mod that is what they spent most of their time doing so trying to save them a bit


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## DaveL (22 Jul 2008)

Timmo":2w7vblhk said:


> edited to make the url short as I saw someone say that as a mod that is what they spent most of their time doing so trying to save them a bit


Thank you Timmo, you have worked out how to do it, keep up the good work. 8)


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## Timmo (22 Jul 2008)

No worries Dave...Hadn't realised it was a problem until I saw your post the other day...
Cheers
Timmo 8)


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## Anonymous (22 Jul 2008)

That 'should' be OK. Try a little bit in water first and if the water stays reasonably clear then use it.


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## Timmo (23 Jul 2008)

Thanks Steve..but if not then is there some that will definitely be OK?
Cheers
Timmo


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## devonwoody (23 Jul 2008)

How do you get off the horse if the destination is a couple of miles away?


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## Anonymous (23 Jul 2008)

devonwoody":3exza7yu said:


> How do you get off the horse if the destination is a couple of miles away?


Just say 'sit' and slide down the back.


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## Anonymous (23 Jul 2008)

Timmo":2shrahoi said:


> Thanks Steve..but if not then is there some that will definitely be OK?
> Cheers
> Timmo



Silver sand will do it but it isn't as cheap. Failing that, and to be a bit more 'pro' you can get antislip additives from boat shops but, that's even more expensive (about £4 to cover a couple of sq metres) :shock: Mind you, you shouldn't need all that much and a £4 bag should do several.


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## Timmo (1 Aug 2008)

Just wanted to report back and let you know that I bought myself a sack of kiln dried sand from the local B&Q (Crewe) and tried it in some water where the water stayed clear so went ahead and mixed it with some of the paint....
Worked a treat so I was dead impressed..
Many thanks for suggesting this it should make the decking less slippery...
I'll post a pic of the new block with the textured finish when I get them downloaded off the camera..
Cheers
Timmo


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