Making a cheap gate from an oak sleeper

[@afontirs]

I decided the other gate I made earlier in the year wasn't right for this, and I had an oak sleeper left from another project so made it into a gate, with a more classic design. And actually fitted it this time! The finishing touch for the new and improved entrance to the ruins. I will do a winter walkaround update video on the project in the next few weeks.

[@airenesmiler6624]

This gate was worth the extra work you did, it's a beauty.

[@HenryMorgenthau-vw6tt]

Realy nice work 👍 Thank you for letting us take part! Greetings from Brandenburg.

[@pm1104]

Bargain! ❤

[@happychappy2b252]

Excellent result. Great work and an inspiration

[@afontirs]

@@airenesmiler6624 Thanks, yes I'm pleased with it.

[@maryanng8241]

I am obsessed with the upsweep on the lower rail.😊

[@gearoidp]

It is a thing of beauty. I love the bottom rail.

[@afontirs]

Thanks! :)

[@jeremy1350]

In the immortal words of Ron Weasley "That was Bloody Brilliant !!"

[@StevenInCornwall]

If there was ever a video to show its the craftsman, not the tools, then this is it. Absolutely brilliant, brilliant. Am in awe.

[@GregKrynen]

Cheap is relative, oak is expensive where I live, and your craftsmanship is top notch.

[@stephmo371]

Same. I saw "cheap oak" and wanted to cry

[@afontirs]

Thank you. How much would a piece of oak like that cost for you? Building grade oak beams would not be cheap here either, it's only because it's a landscaping sleeper, so poorer quality.

[@harlanbarnhart4656]

​@@afontirsHere in New York kiln dried knot free, thick white oak like that would cost 15 to 20$/board foot. A board like that should cost between $400 and $500. Red oak is about 1/4 that, but it is pourous and cannot withstand exterior exposure.

[@jtaylor8606]

@@harlanbarnhart4656 Can't be talking about the same thing - a landscaping sleeper like this (not kiln dried) is about £40 from a DIY store in the UK - Can't imagine you pay more in the US than we do here - our oak is generally imported anyway.

[@harlanbarnhart4656]

@@jtaylor8606 I wish I could buy that quantity of white oak and call it a landscaping timber.

[@Softsqueakyduck]

I often use"cheap wood and recycled wood for when build for our vegetable garden. I love the gate!

[@richardfiennes3616]

To think that some people would make such an attractive gate in rubbish softwood beggars belief. Great work using decent materials and a handsome design, which will weather down as the years go by.

[@andrewroland]

Impressive sleeper to gate action.

[@LeannaRuthJensen]

This is great! Most carpentry projects on line would require $$$ to buy fancy equipment but you made an attractive, functional and durable gate with the same basic equipment I have in my garage. I am impressed and inspired.

[@avalanchecarter]

Nice work. Gate is a good fit.

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

That lovely. It’s has really nice lines and just feels good!🤗❤️🐝

[@valeriegmz]

Woweee! You’ve got impressive skills

[@johannbredendieck7568]

Real craftsmanship!

[@mammabearjo5483]

Oak is not cheap, nice Craftmanship

[@ruthkirkparick3535]

Everything I can think to say is already in the comments. As always though, your post makes me want to create something too. I'm in my studio and making a list of what I'll need. Thanks a whole bunch for the motivation.

[@afontirs]

Thanks. you should go for it!

[@middleriverdrive]

Beautiful gate!

[@kennysr.1054]

You the man ! Loved it !

[@gaelenecole4053]

What a absolutely gorgeous gate ❤❤❤❤😊

[@johnroper-paris1369]

Clearly a craftsman, to build such a gate with very basic tools is unusual to see. Thanks for posting, an inspiration for me to do the same for a rotten gate here,

[@p46967]

Good choice,well made and much more in keeping with the location 👍

[@spig3547]

I'm not often impressive with woodworking projects, this was very impressive.

[@honeyhillartsdonnafoster3592]

Fantastic job

[@Vistasabia]

That is a beautiful piece. Very Arts and Crafts movement looking, which is my favorite. Well done sir! 😍😍😍

[@cherylparish1375]

Nice to see what you've been up to. The entrance looks great! How is your pizza business going? So much potential for everything you are doing. Looking forward to your next walk through. 😊

[@brianhilsden2880]

So nice to see a new instalment. 👍

[@Sestorema]

Great job👍

[@tomswindler64]

Very nice,impressive build for the gate.nice looking piece of wood.just keep doing your thing.be safe.just keep doing what you do best 👍👍👍😎😎😎

[@BillLowenburg]

Boy that battery saw sure got a workout! This is inspirational, because I sometimes make things I need - work tables and such - from left over lumber and even small trees if I really need a particular piece and don’t have lumber. My skills aren’t on this level but I sure have fun. Thanks for the demo👍

[@kenkelly5848]

serious skillset going on here

[@MyPoppy09]

Great job!! My husband is a joiner and his tip when you saw wood is collect the sawdust and store it in a container as this is great mixed with wood glue to fill in holes or sunken screw holes to disguise them. Sawdust is called joiners gold for this reason 😊

[@afontirs]

Thank you, I had not thought of that. I was trying to use just the wood from the sleeper so that would have worked. Instead I bought a pack of pre made oak dowel caps. That was the only wood that didn't come from the sleeper. but next time I'll know!

[@MyPoppy09]

@afontirs even though you bought plugs you still created a fantastic looking gate. I've followed you from day one of your buried dwelling discovery and look forward to seeing what you find hidden next. Good luck!

[@idontthinkso666]

That can work, but only for the smallest holes, and interior applications only. It would never last in an outside setting like this. Plugging them with wood was the right choice.

[@MyPoppy09]

@@idontthinkso666 Thanks for your comment but I was only advising him to collect the sawdust for future projects since my husband has over 40 years joinery experience, have a good day!

[@mattbarber1987]

what a beautiful little gate. Love the non symetry

[@SteveStevieboy]

Excellent carpentry/joinery skills with not many tools! You cut extremely straight lines with that skill saw freehand I might add! 👍👍👍

[@angelcoops511]

Wow that looks amazing. Great job.

[@Yutani_Crayven]

Hiding the screws like that is just the cherry (or in this case, oak) on top. Brilliant.

[@timeflysintheshop]

Your skills with a handheld cicular are second to none! Great job on a fantastic build! 😊😊😊

[@andyc972]

Excellent , what a great result, you appear to rely on your instincts in your woodworking design and they certainly didn't let you down, you sure gave that circular saw a work-out, Oak can be hard going especially older pieces !

[@afontirs]

yes battery tools not great for this. on the rip cuts, so around 3ft cut at maximum depth of the saw, it would drain the full battery after 5-10 cuts. but I've got 4 batteries so made it work. :)

[@Hillbilly007-yd9gu]

Nice gate. Great video.

[@neutonrenda2303]

As much as I loved the other gate I can see why you chose this design. It looks like it should be there and I really enjoyed watching you make it. Stunning.👌👏❤️

[@Dingo-x]

It's a nice traditional cottage gate. You've done a nice job and i'm so glad you didn't stain or paint the lovely piece of oak.

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

👍👌👏 2) Definitely a lot of effort but the result is well worth it. Congratulations 🎉 Thanks a lot for making teaching explaining recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards luck and health in particular.

[@tonymckelvey-pc3ob]

That wasn’t easy,but you made it look easy. Great bit of craftsmanship. Well done 👏

[@LaurieLeeAnnie]

It’s always lovely to see a video from you pop up and to see what new creative thing you have done. Beautiful gate!

[@afontirs]

Thanks!

[@graemesuddaby2202]

Brilliant job on the gate that will last for years

[@janinademetriou-warburton6427]

What a charming gate! It go so well with the rustic stone walls!

[@janebarnes4449]

It looks lovely and your work is amazing, so detailed. I hope you found somewhere else fitting to hang your Italian door/gate. That was stunning.

[@afontirs]

It's currently in the shed, but I would like to find it a home.

[@janebarnes4449]

@@afontirs I'm sure you'll find the perfect place when the time is right.

[@Daytona2]

That is rather lovely 😊

[@thisisaname5752]

dude thats awesome! even if it looks "simple" at the end, the process of putting it all together with relatively simple tools was amazing!

[@geoffdundee]

beautiful and love the colour finish but assume it will change with weathering.

[@afontirs]

yes it will go grey. I will re-finish it every now and again, but it's inevitable really.

[@geoffdundee]

@@afontirs .........nice - will be good to see it change and look like it has always been there..........its beautiful.

[@tanyacurtis2884]

Fascinating watching all that work and attention to detail just for a gate but it looks lovely and of course unique. Thanks for showing us your latest project and I'm looking forward to your next video.

[@afontirs]

It was a lot of work, I started to regret it half way though, but persevered!

[@Fearnstein]

That little circular saw did well on the oak.

[@afontirs]

it did much better than I expected!

[@fintan3563]

Great to see an update! Beautiful gate! 👍👍👍

[@countesscable]

What that needs now is some cottage flowers planted on the verge either side of the gate. 👍🏻

[@kennethwilliams7522]

Really nice.

[@karengossett1475]

Been with you from the beginning of your videos , but don’t know what you do for a living? You must be a master builder of some sort! The new gate is amazing! 👍❤️

[@afontirs]

I work in an office behind a desk! haha,. someone also guessed tree surgeon, but no these things are just hobbies for me.

[@ColonelH]

Looks very nice Afon😁

[@lmdyment]

Beautiful. Lovely gate.

[@Sewswithdolls]

It may have been made from a cheap cut of oak, but you made something beautiful and functional that will also last a few decades.

[@afontirs]

Thanks, yes I hope it will last a long time!

[@larry78cj7]

Very impressive just using a circular saw!

[@stigrunetefke2157]

Nice gate. :)

[@besteven]

Wow--really well done!

[@jessiep2931]

Wow! That was amazing to watch. You are so talented!

[@breabeyrouti7834]

wow what a feat! thank you for sharing!

[@BenRelle]

Fully expected this to be "I made a cheap gate in my workshop full of tools that cost fifty grand". Really good video. Shows what's possible with a few power tools and no little skill.

[@afontirs]

That does happen a lot on YT doesn't it! but I don't have a workshop and that little site doesn't have any mains power nearby either, so it's battery tools or nothing.

[@notbad88]

I’ve used these sleepers to make loads of things including getting them planked up by a sawmill and building my workshop out of them (which only worked out slightly more expensive than using construction softwood) and once dried make excellent character full oak even though there’s some big knots, will say just watch out for the cheaper US red oak as this can get mixed up with the French white oak sleepers and is not as robust and doesn’t look as good but would always recommend using stainless fixings as otherwise you get a lot of black staining from the tannins, a finish with some pigment such as Osmo oak outdoor oil stops it from greying quickly anything clear just will not last even 6 months unfortunately, nice little gate though!

[@s.m.g.m2015]

It's nice to see people turning wood into art. it's not just a gate. Well, do you, sir

[@SailaSobriquet]

Beautiful job!

[@joshuamatheron1]

I see a lot things made on here with a workshop full of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of machinery. Anyone could make something decent. You’ve made something fantastic with very few tools. Great work.

[@ncc74656m]

Yet again, I love the choices you made. I liked the old gate a lot too, but I get why you went this direction.

[@ottolin37]

Mate your craftmanship is on point. I wonder if you had more wood, would you have made a taller gate? I like the fact that only the bottom rail had the curved design.

[@afontirs]

It was mostly because there were already hinge points fixed in the wall and that height was the best fit. but it would work as a taller version of the same design.

[@juliodiaz4404]

Great job!

[@Miss_Toots]

Agh....is there anything you CAN'T do!? 😂 I already know you'll have done a Great job btw 😄

[@joshuahasson9687]

Your execution on your plan with sub par tools (for this project) is quite impressive, Afon. I admire your work & dedication to the task at hand.

[@hammilan8643]

Lovely workmanship and i appreciate the minimalism!!! i have 2 pointers. I think the halving joint may cause you issues if the oak moves which it likely will especially as it's outdoors, a mortice and tennon drawn in with a hardwood peg will stand strong for much longer, secondly any ferrous fixings in oak react to and are corroded by the wood tannins, they also stain the oak black, only use stainless screws in oak...

[@OurFrenchHouseRenovation]

nice job... thanks for sharing

[@martinsamcreaone]

Nice job !

[@joyceclark8476]

Looks great❤

[@geolyn]

I really enjoyed that. Thank you!

[@padkins1986]

Looks awesome, solid

[@Yutani_Crayven]

04:31 Stuff like this is where you once again realize how nice it is to have the proper tool for the job. Not that these pieces are particularly hard to do... You got it done, and pretty quickly, too. But Having a lathe for that would be so much less finnicky and more chill. I know - lathes are big and chunky - and you can't always have every tool for every job. But that would be the dream!

[@afontirs]

I'd love to have a full workshop one day. but yeah I make do. should really sharpen my chisels though!

[@tiapina7048]

What a lovely gate! I hope the weather has been ok around your area. Greetings from the Boot

[@triskerslake3763]

I thought the first gate was rather lovely, but this one is too, in a more traditional way. Mind you, made of solid oak and properly maintained, it's only going to last you, what, two-three-hundred years, so you may have use for the first gate in time. 😁

[@nleefry]

Nice to see a workmate still doing a good job!!!

[@doudou53d44]

Brilliant 👌

[@dogpaw775]

had i of made that gate i'd be making numerous excuses to walk through it every day; impressed.

[@debbietrebilcoe9441]

Beautiful

[@fritz4345]

Beautiful!

[@MZ-gz8vz]

Great episode! Thank you !

[@trevorrandall6989]

Very, very nice. The gate looks at home there. The beauty of it is, it will look even better as it weathers. Good skills.

[@henryworkswoodandmetal]

Beautiful work, great design and detail!

[@johnhankinson1929]

A craftsman at his best , well done mate

[@CatherineH.-gf7mm]

Your gate is beautiful! Regards from Texas

[@sus8e462]

Great work with simple tools!! Love the design, too!

[@berone1642]

really nice👍🏼

[@annquirke4008]

Beautifully crafted. So lovely.

[@Thurmatron]

Brilliant, just brilliant work. I use dewalt too , inexpensive relative to other brands . I cut jarah sleepers with my circular, all about the blade isn’t it. Thanks for posting. Deffo inspired me to do a new front gate for my house

[@andrewclarkehomeimprovement]

That is beautiful. It just shows that you don't need a 1000ft² workshop and all the toys to do really good work.

[@afontirs]

It's definitely easier with the workshop though! :)

[@pennyneal2456]

You are brilliant! ❤ the gate.

[@Nookerz]

This is a really nice gate… good job

[@johnstup4479]

Gate looks really great! Well done!

[@soyokaze-r2s]

Gate debut 😸