Best way to cut vertical slots through round posts?

A friend wants to build a fence using round, 6" diam cedar posts and 1" x 6" pine or spruce boards.

He wants to cut slots through the center of the posts (3 slots) that are just large enough to slide the boards through. There are going to be lots of posts - maybe 100 or more.

How would you go about forming these slots? What sort of tool?

Reply to
Wood Guy
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Oh My! That is a LOT of fence.

Need a little more detail on how the fence is going to be built. It almost sounds like the 1x6's are being put into the slotted holes. Is this a solid panel privacy fence or a post and rail fence?

RonB

Ron

Reply to
RonB

Yes.

The posts are going to be 8, or maybe 10 feet long, set 3 or 4 feet into the ground (where the frost line is in this area). This would put the top of the posts about 5 or 6 feet above ground. Posts would be set 8 or 10 feet apart.

The three 6" boards would be spaced out, probably starting 2 feet above ground, with 1 or 1.5 feet between boards.

The purpose of the fence is to contain a few horses within a certain area. Presumably horses rarely attempt to jump over fences that are 5 to 6 feet in height.

Reply to
Wood Guy

chain mortiser?

Reply to
DJ Delorie

Well, you could get all tooled up with a hollow chisel mortiser, or all burly with a mallet and a mortising chisel, but if you are more into getting the job done fisrly fast and not buying fancy tools, a good sized router with a carbide bit and a jig should get the job done, albeit with rounded ends on the holes. Have to go in from both sides.

Pay attention to drainage or you'll have rotted boards in short order.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

This router approach is kinda what I had in mind when I asked my question. I suspected it was a rail-type of fence. You probably wouldn't have to go all the way through...just a couple of inches to allow the boards to be inserted and fastened. At 10' lengths, you should have some flexibility in the rails. You might try a couple of lengths, even in the shop, before you commit to the entire job.

With hand-mortising 100 posts, the horses would be dead before I finished the fence.

BTW: On 10' centers, are 1x 6 boards rigid enough to hold horses? Might be with the ends fastened.

RonB

Reply to
RonB

I should have thought of that. No need to go all the way through the posts, except that it means the slots are automatically aligned properly.

I have a floor-standing drill press with a cross-slide vice, I also have a relatively large router - but no router table. It would be more of a hassle to set the router up to do these posts vs the drill press.

I suppose I could use a router bit on the drill press.

There are also drills that cut side-ways (don't know what they're called exactly). If these are cedar posts, I suppose it's soft enough to try one of those drills instead of a 1" diam x 2" deep router bit.

I've had some good experience with using PL-Premium adhesive on exposed, outdoor wood. Seems to hold up well under intermittent water exposure, and winter/summer temperature swings. I'm thinking that using liberal amounts of that glue to hold the boards in the slots (and sealing up the slots in the process) might be the way to go. Yes?

Reply to
Wood Guy

These guys are staring to sound like the offspring of Narm Abrams and Rube Goldberg. This is a fence we're talking about, not shaker furniture. :-)

All you need is a guy proficient with a chainsaw. I don't mean a neighbor with a rusty saw who uses it once a year. I mean a guy who earns a living with it (or used to). You're up north, so you might be able to hire a logger or tree trimming guy who's an artist with the saw.

That kind of guy could cut those after the posts are sunk in the ground. He could do three slots in a post in about 30 seconds and they'd be as straight as if they were cut at a factory.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Use a drill of the right size drill as many holes as you need [OOOO] then square of the hole with a chisel.

Reply to
Rusty

But, if you use a router, make a jig from plywood or similar material that can be set on the post and direct the shape of the slot. Not freehand.

Reply to
RonB

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

Being raised on a horse farm and having used many types of fences, he may want to rethink the round posts and the rail dimensions, unless he wants to put up electric wire on the inside.

Those proposed 1 x 6 rails will not hold up to the inevitable horse shenanigans ... ideally they need to be 1 1/2" thick and that will obviously impact your plans to cut "slots" in your posts.

I like square posts for a wooden horse fence ... it is easier to replace the inevitable broken rails if you nail (galvanized) them on. It is difficult to replace rails that run through a post. I've had to deal with this very thing using concrete posts and through rails, so DAMHIKT.

That said, you usually have to make the mistake to realize the wisdom of experience ...

Reply to
Swingman

I'm kind of wondering about the validity of putting boards in slots for a fence. Unless you're fencing land that has a perfectly straight fenceline and no variations in elevation (highly unlikely), then you'll have to allow for this in your slots. I thinking making the slots in the shop will lead to a frustrating, if not impossible, fitting experience in the field.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

...

This is a bad idea on several fronts--see swingman's posting.

Iterating some of his points--

First, 1x cedar isn't _nearly_ enough beef in the fence unless the posts are going to be on 3-ft centers or less; they'll get pushed thru and broken within months if not weeks or days.

Second, the idea of the inserted slats is a poor one also--first, it is as noted labor-intensive in the making by hand; second, it'll be a pita to build because if the pockets don't go through you have to insert one end, then hold the post in place while setting it on the other end to insert them, repeat..._BIG_PITA_!!! :(

Then even if it's done, any movement of posts can (and will) end up w/ boards falling out when a post gets moved (and they _will_ move unless are set to such a depth and w/ such backfilling as to again make the building and expense absurd over time).

And, besides that, as swingman notes, repair of the aforementioned broken rails is going to be another royal pita if the posts _haven't_ moved (so your damned if they do and damned if they don't :) ).

And, as if all that weren't enough, the pocket is simply a water-collection point to promote early failure of the post and rail ends--they rest of the rail will be fine for years; the end inside the pocket will rot and weaken in a much shorter time--perhaps as short as a few years in really damp locales.

All in all, look at how typical fences in the Bluegrass horse country are built for functionality as well as appearance and learn... :)

--

Reply to
dpb

"Swingman" wrote... : : Being raised on a horse farm and having used many types of fences, he : may want to rethink the round posts and the rail dimensions, unless he : wants to put up electric wire on the inside. : : Those proposed 1 x 6 rails will not hold up to the inevitable horse : shenanigans ... ideally they need to be 1 1/2" thick and that will : obviously impact your plans to cut "slots" in your posts. : : I like square posts for a wooden horse fence ... it is easier to replace : the inevitable broken rails if you nail (galvanized) them on. It is : difficult to replace rails that run through a post. I've had to deal : with this very thing using concrete posts and through rails, so DAMHIKT. : : That said, you usually have to make the mistake to realize the wisdom of : experience ...

I too was raised with horses and agree with every point Swingman makes. Horses get bored, even in a pasture full of grass and other horses, and will eat any wooden rails provided for their entertainment. They also love to scratch their asses on the fence and I've seen plenty of rough sawn 2x8s broken by them. Fence maintenance was a weekly task until we added a hot wire along each and every rail. No way would I ever consider mortising the rails into the posts on a horse fence. Use really sturdy posts (we used old telephone poles) and spike the rails solidly to them. Art

Reply to
Artemus

Chainsaw

Reply to
Larry W

There is no way a 1x ANYTHING is going to contain a horse. You'll end up with broken rails and injured horses.

This is a VERY BAD IDEA. I shudder to think about the kind of injuries those animals are going to suffer.

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

That's interesting. I know nothing about horses, but there are a number of houses around here that have a horse or two and most of them just have barbed wire strung on light angle iron or something similarly light weight. There's one very recent one that put up an electrified wire around most of it, but there is a section where there is just a stone wall that can't be more than 2 feet high, with brush around it but still. I've always found it a bit odd, seems like any of them could get out without breaking a sweat, but they apparently don't.

-Kevin

Reply to
Kevin

They know where the food is.

Reply to
-MIKE-
O

I suspect they are strung on "T-Posts". T-Posts are an extruded metal shape with a large, flat plate welded along the length and near the bottom. They are driven into the ground so the plate is buried and used for wire fences, usually barbed wire. They might look a little spindly but they are a pretty effective and economic fence system.

RonB

Reply to
RonB

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