Kinda woodworking - hey its made from wood!
A few years back we bought on of the prefab wooden swing sets for our
SWMBO'ette (at the time there was only 1 - now there are 3 - all girls!)
I never liked the way it was put together but never had the time to make it
the way I wanted it.
Always had the honey do list to knock out and the swing set kept going down
further and further on the list.
A few days ago the wife and I are out playing w/ the kids and they are on
the swing set and all 3 are swinging - and the thing is just not looking
that good - the cross beam ( a single 2x6) is just too bent and is flexing
too much for my comfort.
A trip to the old orange borg was in order!
3 2x6x16
4 4x4x12
2 2x4x12
some hardware and cement and we are good to go.
Made 2 support posts by sanwitching some cut off 2x4s between the 4x4s
Made a long swing beam by taking the 3 2x6s and secure them between the
4x4s.
Dug a few 3' deep holes.
Add cement and we are done.
Like I said - I tend to overbuild things. Im sure I could have gotten away
w/ using some smaller materials - but I like the security of knowing that
there is no way this things is coming down unless I take it down.
This thing is truly built like a tank. Myself and 3 of my buds had to test
it out to be sure it was kid safe! There was barly any deflection at all.
Also the old one was only 7' high - the new one is 9' so they get a much
better swing arch.
So far it got all thumbs up from the kids in the neighborhood.
Pics in A.B.P.W. You can see the remnets of what I took down. The "tower"
is what is left of the old one. The SWMBO loves the new one and wants a new
tower w/ a climbing wall on it. Gotta say - one of the more fun projects to
do!
Kind of kewl thing is Ive had a few other parents see it and a few want one
in there yard. Got 1 order for just a basic swing and one other w/ a tower!
Sorry, but your swingset is adequate at best.
MY swingset has:
4 ea 4 x 6 x 16 for the support posts
1 ea 6 x 6 x 20 for the main beam
2 ea 4 x 6 x 6 for the cross beams
4 ea 2 x 4 x 8 for the X bracing between the posts.
It holds a 6 foot cypress swing PLUS 3 kids swings.
The main beam is 13 feet off the ground. I now know that's really too
high for good swinging action, but the BORG was out of 14' 4 x 6 when I
needed them, and there was no way I was gonna buy a 16 footer and cut 2
feet off. So the whole thing just went 2 feet higher than I had
planned. I can out-overbuild you any day!
DonkeyHody
Rob V wrote:
> Kinda woodworking - hey its made from wood!
>
> A few years back we bought on of the prefab wooden swing sets for our
> SWMBO'ette (at the time there was only 1 - now there are 3 - all girls!)
> I never liked the way it was put together but never had the time to make it
> the way I wanted it.
> Always had the honey do list to knock out and the swing set kept going down
> further and further on the list.
> A few days ago the wife and I are out playing w/ the kids and they are on
> the swing set and all 3 are swinging - and the thing is just not looking
> that good - the cross beam ( a single 2x6) is just too bent and is flexing
> too much for my comfort.
> A trip to the old orange borg was in order!
> 3 2x6x16
> 4 4x4x12
> 2 2x4x12
> some hardware and cement and we are good to go.
>
> Made 2 support posts by sanwitching some cut off 2x4s between the 4x4s
> Made a long swing beam by taking the 3 2x6s and secure them between the
> 4x4s.
> Dug a few 3' deep holes.
> Add cement and we are done.
>
> Like I said - I tend to overbuild things. Im sure I could have gotten away
> w/ using some smaller materials - but I like the security of knowing that
> there is no way this things is coming down unless I take it down.
> This thing is truly built like a tank. Myself and 3 of my buds had to test
> it out to be sure it was kid safe! There was barly any deflection at all.
> Also the old one was only 7' high - the new one is 9' so they get a much
> better swing arch.
> So far it got all thumbs up from the kids in the neighborhood.
>
> Pics in A.B.P.W. You can see the remnets of what I took down. The "tower"
> is what is left of the old one. The SWMBO loves the new one and wants a new
> tower w/ a climbing wall on it. Gotta say - one of the more fun projects to
> do!
>
> Kind of kewl thing is Ive had a few other parents see it and a few want one
> in there yard. Got 1 order for just a basic swing and one other w/ a tower!
"Rob V" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Kinda woodworking - hey its made from wood!
>
> A few years back we bought on of the prefab wooden swing sets for our
> SWMBO'ette (at the time there was only 1 - now there are 3 - all girls!)
> I never liked the way it was put together but never had the time to make
it
> the way I wanted it.
> Always had the honey do list to knock out and the swing set kept going
down
> further and further on the list.
> A few days ago the wife and I are out playing w/ the kids and they are on
> the swing set and all 3 are swinging - and the thing is just not looking
> that good - the cross beam ( a single 2x6) is just too bent and is flexing
> too much for my comfort.
> A trip to the old orange borg was in order!
> 3 2x6x16
> 4 4x4x12
> 2 2x4x12
> some hardware and cement and we are good to go.
>
> Made 2 support posts by sanwitching some cut off 2x4s between the 4x4s
> Made a long swing beam by taking the 3 2x6s and secure them between the
> 4x4s.
> Dug a few 3' deep holes.
> Add cement and we are done.
>
> Like I said - I tend to overbuild things. Im sure I could have gotten
away
> w/ using some smaller materials - but I like the security of knowing that
> there is no way this things is coming down unless I take it down.
> This thing is truly built like a tank. Myself and 3 of my buds had to
test
> it out to be sure it was kid safe! There was barly any deflection at all.
> Also the old one was only 7' high - the new one is 9' so they get a much
> better swing arch.
> So far it got all thumbs up from the kids in the neighborhood.
>
> Pics in A.B.P.W. You can see the remnets of what I took down. The
"tower"
> is what is left of the old one. The SWMBO loves the new one and wants a
new
> tower w/ a climbing wall on it. Gotta say - one of the more fun projects
to
> do!
>
> Kind of kewl thing is Ive had a few other parents see it and a few want
one
> in there yard. Got 1 order for just a basic swing and one other w/ a
tower!
There's no such thing as "overbuilt," the correct term is "enduring." :)
I've been helping a bloke build a house; he's a bricky and looks after the
mineral bits, I've been lumbered with everything else apart from electrics &
plumbing. We were laying his floors, 4" Tasmanian Oak (a misnomer... it's
another eucalypt) and I carelessly commented that it would look great if we
built his kitchen & laundry cabinetry out of it. [sigh] Ever tried
building doors & panels out of floorboards?
2 months later, it took a tri-axle trailer, 4 BIG blokes and several trips
to transport it all back to his house.
It really does look lovely, just as I imagined it, although I'm having
trouble finding a few more willing labourers... it seems we're gonna have
to move 'em out again while I jack up a couple of the floor joists and throw
in some extra stumps. Three of the previous slaves^H^H^H labourers called
me some nasty names when I mentioned it and don't wanna play with me
anymore. It's not my fault if local regulations stipulate stump/bearer
spacings that are barely adequate!
- Andy
>> built his kitchen & laundry cabinetry out of it. [sigh] Ever tried
> > building doors & panels out of floorboards?
>
> No, but I'd love to have a look at it.
>
> > It really does look lovely, just as I imagined it,
>
> Any chance you could post some pics?
I don't have any pics of the finished job, but just by chance I have a
couple the owner took while the kitchen island was being fitted out. I'll
post 'em in alt.bin.pic.w/wing..
The pics are fuzzy, the lighting not much chop but it should give you an
idea of the "overall" look.
The frame-work in the RH corner behind the frig is for a "slide-out"
dishwasher; as he hadn't decided on the model at that time the framework was
a temporary for cupboards over the top of the frig. Not really necessary
but I prefer to be safe than sorry.
- Andy
"Andy McArdle" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
<snip>
>
> There's no such thing as "overbuilt," the correct term is "enduring."
> :)
>
> I've been helping a bloke build a house; he's a bricky and looks after
> the mineral bits, I've been lumbered with everything else apart from
> electrics & plumbing. We were laying his floors, 4" Tasmanian Oak (a
> misnomer... it's another eucalypt) and I carelessly commented that it
> would look great if we built his kitchen & laundry cabinetry out of
> it. [sigh] Ever tried building doors & panels out of floorboards?
>
> 2 months later, it took a tri-axle trailer, 4 BIG blokes and several
> trips to transport it all back to his house.
>
> It really does look lovely, just as I imagined it, although I'm
> having trouble finding a few more willing labourers... it seems we're
> gonna have to move 'em out again while I jack up a couple of the floor
> joists and throw in some extra stumps. Three of the previous
> slaves^H^H^H labourers called me some nasty names when I mentioned it
> and don't wanna play with me anymore. It's not my fault if local
> regulations stipulate stump/bearer spacings that are barely adequate!
>
Family lore hinted that we had cousins in Oz. I just never knew how I was
going to find them! And now, here you are!
Wait 'til I tell Dad!
Patriarch
nogginhead wrote:
> <de-lurk>
>
> Why do you say that 13' is too high for good swinging? I'm going to
> build a swing set/playhouse or /fort later this summer and would have
> thought higher is better. Though I doubt I would have considered
> anything as tall as 13 feet!
>
> Nog
>
I agree, nothing wrong with 13 feet or higher. We
had little money for playthings when I was a kid
so my father just put up a horizontal piece (a
pole about 6-7" diameter) between two trees. I
think it was just held by bailing wire. Don't know
how he got it so high, but it was more than 13
feet maybe 15 feet above the ground. The two
swings were wood seats with 1 inch-diameter ropes.
Boy could we go high, but hold on like hell when
it snapped when you neared horizontal. After many
years, the horizontal piece fell down when one
person was swinging and luckily no one was hurt,
but it was never put back up.