Shortening a fence

[DrPhill]

Hi all, I have a fence that I want to shorten. It has vertical ‘planks’ of feather board(?) nailed to three horizontal fence rails(?). I want to shorten it to two rails.

I’m thinking that a circular saw might do the job nicely. I don’t have a circular saw (yet!) so have no idea if this would work.

I would nail up some wood as a guide and initially cut just deep enough to sever the feather board.

Any better ideas?

I’m not sure if it would be worth paying for a Bosch power for all circular saw or getting a cheap Amazon special.

Opinions?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Phill

 

[eribaMotters]

Phill, I'm guessing from your description that you actually mean lower the height. If this is the case I'd pin a horizontal timber onto the face side of the fence and use it's top edge as a guide for a decent hardpoint handsaw. I think you'd get less breakout than using a circular saw.
Also I'd not attempt to cut the tops of the featheredge flush with the top of the horizontal rail, unless you are planning to run a capping piece to cover the exposed edge.

Colin

 

[Agent_zed]

whilst you can get a blade to fit other saws the evolution range is designed to cut multimaterials Evolution R185CCSL240 1200W 185mm Electric Multi-Material Circular Saw 220-240V - Screwfix so you know that it is unlikely to suffer damage if you hit a nail and sparks go into the machine. I've got an evolution chopsaw and I'm pretty happy with it, although I don't cut metal with it as I've got a grinder for that type of thing.

 

[DrPhill]

@eribaMotters Oops yes. I did mean that I want to reduce the height of the fence.

I hadn’t thought of breakout.

Hmm, a hard point saw? I have a six metre run to do, sawing horizontally. I’m thinking that would be hard work. I can see the reduction in break out , but I am not convinced about the trade-off there. Also, how do I deal with the feather board when I reach a four inch square post?

Maybe I am being a wuss?

Good point about leaving the rail hidden. The natural cut line is a few inches above the middle rail. And luckily(?) the face side is towards us - the previous owner expected opposition from neighbours so erected the fence entirely from this side!


@Agent-zed I like the idea of the evolution circular saw. I have the matching chop saw. I do find it needs constant brush replacements though.
The fence has been erected quite well (I have removed another section) - a minimum of nails and only where expected - so I would be happier to risk a blade if there was one giving less breakout.

 

[TheUnicorn]

is it not possible to take the panel down to work on it?

 

[ChaiLatte]

Also, how do I deal with the feather board when I reach a four inch square post?

You should be able to set the depth of cut on the saw. Set it shallow enough so that it cuts the feather edge but not the post. If that is difficult, try to pry or wedge that feather edge away from the post a little, so there is a gap into which the teeth can cut.

More to the point, if you cut all the featehr edge, will the posts not be sticking up?

 

[Doug71]

Just use a handsaw, it won't take that long, do it over 3 or 4 sessions if it's too much in one go.

 

[Daniel2]

Chainsaw = 3 minutes

 

[DrPhill]

You should be able to set the depth of cut on the saw. Set it shallow enough so that it cuts the feather edge but not the post. If that is difficult, try to pry or wedge that feather edge away from the post a little, so there is a gap into which the teeth can cut.

More to the point, if you cut all the featehr edge, will the posts not be sticking up?

That was the plan that I had devised. The query about dealing with the featherboard over the post was aimed at the idea of using a hard-point saw.
If I cut the featherboard first and remove it from the top rail, then I can easily remove the top rail, followed by the excess uprights.

 

[DrPhill]

is it not possible to take the panel down to work on it?

There are no separate panels - it is constructed like this:

EDIT: this is a picture from the we as an illustration. Because all my fences face inward I cannot photograph the construction.

 

[DrPhill]

Chainsaw = 3 minutes

Fast and brutal.... I have not owned a chainsaw for 30 years - too noisy, too dangerous and too dangerous. (mind you a circular saw looks a bit iffy too).

 

[Spectric]

Any reason why ? Apart from not being painted it looks like a nice solid fence that is well built.

 

[Orraloon]

It does look like a waste of a good fence but if you are set on it then this is my view. If you have not used a circular saw before then use a hard point handsaw. Any cheap circ saw would do for a one off job. If you can see yourself using a circ saw for other tasks then get a better one. Nail or screw on a wood strip as a guide to run the saw along. Set the blade depth to just go through the boards. Be aware that the saw may bind and there is a fair chance of kick back so take it easy. Leave the tops of the boards above the rail by say 150mm or so. After that get the top cap off as whole as you can to reuse, Remove top rail, then trim down the posts(with a hand saw for safety) and remount the cap.
Regards
john

 

[whereistheceilidh]

Got any clamps? If so ...as others have suggested ... 2 straight bits of wood..one each side as guides & to stop wood splitting as it will then handsaw with a hard point. You will feel better for it...& save you the cost of an electric saw you may never use again....unless you have more fences?

 

[TomGW]

A hardpoint hand saw will cut this with no effort at all. Honestly it should take roughly 20 mins to cut 6m (20ft) of feather board.

 

[Geoff_S]

I bought a multi tool for a one off job. My wife enquired as to what else I would use it for. I told lies to pass interrogation but as time went on it transpired I hadn’t lied at all. Brilliant tool that may well do your job with potentially many other uses.

 

[Just4Fun]

I would use a handsaw but have a question for the circular saw advocates. Why not set the depth of cut to not quite go through the featherboard? Then completing the cut with a handsaw would be easy and would minimise tear out.

 

[Inspector]

Train a woodpecker or if you have a pond nearby recruit a beaver. The edge will have a natural, been there a long time look.

If hand sawing a hard point pull saw is fast and easy, especially cutting horizontally.

You do have tool rental stores where you could get a circular saw for a day don't you?

Pete

 

[DrPhill]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and observations. The idea of attaching wood as a guide had occurred to me but it is reassuring that this seems to be a recurrent part of the responses. The hand-saw versus power-saw debate is interesting. I can see both points.

I actually actually did some experimenting today. I have a reciprocating saw and a 10tpi blade gives a reasonably clean cut on a bench. It cuts on the pull and reasonably fast too. If I go for powered saw then that is probably the most cost-effective solution.

The distance is 12m not six. How I made that (typing) mistake goddess only knows.

The fence obscures sunshine and a nice view. It is also not particularly well footed. (the picture was from the web as it is hard to get a photo of my fence construction as the faces are all inwards. Plus a 2m high fence around a 12x12m lawn feels like a prison camp. The side that the fence is being lowered is about six foot above the neighbour's garden, so no privacy issue. The fence was put in in a hurry, and the posts or their settings are not up to dealing with the full force of the prevailing wind. At least one, and probably more of the posts are leaning inward (away from the prevailing wind). When the wind blows the fence moves (it has more than nine inch play at the top at the worst point), so my guess is that trying to keep it upright long-term will be pointless.

Eventually I would like to replace the fence with something that catches the wind less - a palisade or a hit-and-miss fence - so long term the aesthetics are slightly less important, though I like the idea of reducing tear-out.

It will be a pain trundling the waste timber to the dump in the car, but that is life. I could offer the timber on the local FB page - though it will probably wind up being burnt for heat. I am not sure that I like that idea as it is probably treated.

 

[Richard_C]

Neighbour did similar a few years back, but instead of straight top he did a curved one, gentle ups and downs maybe 1m twixt each high and low point and 0.3m pitch from highest to lowest. Looks good and hides a multitude of mistakes.