[TheForge] building a fence

[terry l. ridder]

hello;

sorry for the intrusion of blacksmithing content.

lord willing, in july i may have some money from the
settlement of legal nightmare number 2, the head-on-collision.

i am looking into building a fence to keep my dog, harley,
and harley's buddy, davidson, in the yard. i have received
estimates for chain link and red cedar fence. the chainlink
fence comes in at around $8500.00 usd and the red cedar fence
comes in at around $14,500.00 usd. the fence is nothing fancy.
i have seen some very nice ironwork fences out in the country
around dekalb county illinois. some have brickwork posts, some
have stone/masonary posts, and others have iron/steel posts.
most have the posts spaced at 8 feet between posts. each fence
panel is approximately 8 feet by 4 feet. there are several
different styles that i have found in the rural areas of dekalb
county illinois. there are those which i call concave. the
individual pickets of the iron fence gradually decrease in length
till the half way point in the panel. there are those which i call
convex. the individual pickets of the iron fence gradually increase
in length till the half way point in the panel. the individual
pickets are square tubing, round tubing, solid square bars, solid
round bars, textured square/round solid bars.

using solid bars for the individual pickets does make the fence
panels heavy. the panels would last for a long time.

using tubing for the individual pickets does make the fence
panels lighter. depending on how well the tubing is sealed at
the ends would determine the lifespan of the fence panel.

textured solid bars would be a nice touch even if they were only
used in the fence which faces the country road. perhaps even some
scrollwork in the fence panels.

the east end of the fence would have an 10 feet wide double gate.
the west end of the fence would have an 10 feet wide double gate.

the end post and corner post need to be stouter posts than
the line posts.

i am currently attempting to model various styles of fence
so i have a rough visual idea of what they would look like
in the yard.

the finish of the fence is totally unknown at this time.

the dimensions on the fence are as follows.

the longest east-west straight run is 248 feet.
the west end turns north for 50 feet than back
east for 67 feet to one of the double gates.
then east another 53 feet after the gate.
the east end turns north for 63 feet than back
west for 7 feet to one of the double gates. then
west another 6 feet after the gate.

not counting the gates there is 494 feet of fence.

would others here have additional suggestions, comments, share
the gotchas that they have experienced?

-- 
terry l. ridder ><>