Moon Gate.

I was thinking about a Moon Gate to put somewhere in the garden and I came across this site.
Moon Gates.

I'd thought about making a simple one out of plywood and Lo & Behold! someone has made one already, exactly like I was thinking of.

Anyone built one and any tips? As for example, the cheapest way to build one. I couldn't afford a stone one, which I know would be best. And if the bottom of a plywood one was inserted in the ground, surely it would rot?

 

Fab. I'd love one. Is it all a bit pagan like the Men an Tol?

 

I'd go for a Stargate



Be easy enough to build one yourself surely Kindred? Man of your talents

 

I am guessing you would have to coat or clad a plywood moongate in something.

 

Love the stone one!

Val

 

Isn't it a beautiful concept? Hope you can fulfil your dream Kindred,
Jenny

 

Yep I need a matt plastic coating that would complete envelope the plywood and be totally waterproof. Is there such a product available? I wouldn't want it to be shiny.

 

What about Isoflex.

Val

 

Marine ply, Miss Jiff favours papier mashee (spelling ?) coated with something waterproof

 

What's your budget @kindredspirit?

 

Damn. I just love that stone one and everything around it. It looks just brill
So far as a plywood one is concerned ... if you bury it in concrete and not earth it should not rot ( a few coats of paint first??) or at least it would last a good few years.
My friend made one .. read about it here:
http://koi-z-are-us.20m.com/

 

That looks the ticket. Thanks Val.

As low as possible JJ. The plywood would possibly come to a hundred. The Isoflex paint, probably the same.

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I've now thought about getting a local machining shop to quote for making one out of aluminium, galvanising it and then putting two pack black paint on it. It would save me a lot of time. It would also be very light and if I didn't like its position, I could lift it up, walk away with it and put it somewhere else. Just a thought. It might be hard to weld aluminium, though. (I'm not a welder.)

 

I like the bit where the setts fell on top of him. (Only joking, whis4ey.)

 

Machine shops will charge you an awful lot of money. Mr Jane buys metal all the time and its three times more expensive than wood. Then add the labour of the machine shop actually making it too and you won't get it under £100.

I have to go again the trend here. Don't go with plywood, its dull, flat and will rot much quicker than solid wood. If you wanted to do it really cheaply then I personally would build a frame work from solid with uprights sunk into the ground using metal shoes and then clad it in pallet. When it's cladded in individual lengths of pallet then you could cut each one to the shape of the curve of the door much easiely. Pallet wood takes stain etc much better than plywood does, marine ply is really expensive too, we bought two large sheets recently and it came to £90 alone.

Also plywood is solid so come the next gale it will start to blow over as the wind can't blow through it. With pallet or the stripped wood equivilent the wind could blow through small gaps you allow in the structure.

Juts my two pence on the whole thing.

EDIT, just seen the examples you've posted up (couldn't see these when I first posted in the thread) and they are nothing like the ones on pinterest to ignore most of what I put about framework and pallets, but it might be useful to someone else.

If you want just a circle you could buy lots of very thin strips of wood and create a jig to laminate them together with glue and create a semi circle quite easily.

Or make it from logs

 

More Moon Gates than you could shake a stick at.

http://www.pinterest.com/ewgreiff/moon-gates/