RobinBHM
Established Member
as others have said the tongue and groove design will lead to premature failure
I would also mention that if you are making from kiln dried oak the t&g boards will swell considerably when the gates go outside
if it was me I would condition the wood outside before machining it to finished section
Ive made plenty of outside gates and know the problems -professional gate makers leave their timber stock outside under cover.
10 -12% MC of kiln dried stock is far to low for external use where it needs to be 16%
the tongue and groove boards cant be used as a structural element, each board needs a gap of probably 3mm between the next one and so they can only be fixed top and bottom
you have around 20 t and g boards, each one might swell up by 2mm so you could be looking at total expansion of 40mm over the span of the boards -if you dont give enough gap the boards will force the gate joints apart
I would also mention that if you are making from kiln dried oak the t&g boards will swell considerably when the gates go outside
if it was me I would condition the wood outside before machining it to finished section
Ive made plenty of outside gates and know the problems -professional gate makers leave their timber stock outside under cover.
10 -12% MC of kiln dried stock is far to low for external use where it needs to be 16%
the tongue and groove boards cant be used as a structural element, each board needs a gap of probably 3mm between the next one and so they can only be fixed top and bottom
you have around 20 t and g boards, each one might swell up by 2mm so you could be looking at total expansion of 40mm over the span of the boards -if you dont give enough gap the boards will force the gate joints apart
