# Garden pyramid trellis



## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Im trying to build a tall pyramid/obelisk/trellis for the veg garden, for cucumbers to climb up this year.. 
but for the life of me I just cant figure out the geometry necessary to cut the tops of the sides so they come out to a nice point. 

im going for this: 
http://www.dailyweeder.com/wp-content/uploads/z-obelisk.jpg 

except my trellis will be 7' tall and 3' square at the bottom. 
Four 2x2's make up the four sides. 

The plan im following, from a library book on arbors/trellises, takes the easy way out and says to just make a metal copper point for the top out of sheetmetal..they dont mess around with making the point out of the "legs". 

I have seen other trellisi that make a new point out a block of wood, like this: 
http://www.arboria.com/manuByID/703/images/81_Pyramid_-_Brick_Red.jpg 

but thats not what I want..I would like to cut the 4 "legs" so they meet at a nice point at the top...any ideas? 
thanks! 
Scot


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## carpenter matt (Jan 3, 2008)

Scot, I would take your 7' sections and temporally attach the bottom piece to properly space them out and then over lap them at the top and mark what will be the short point of the miter. The long point of the miter will be at the 7' on the two outside edges. Once one side is marked you can square the short point around to the approprite side. Each "leg" will have two miters at the top. I would either free hand them on a table saw or use a power saw. 

Hope that helps.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By carpenter matt on 06/01/2008 2:42 PM
Scot, I would take your 7' sections and temporally attach the bottom piece to properly space them out and then over lap them at the top and mark what will be the short point of the miter. The long point of the miter will be at the 7' on the two outside edges. Once one side is marked you can square the short point around to the approprite side. Each "leg" will have two miters at the top. I would either free hand them on a table saw or use a power saw. 
Hope that helps.




Matt, 
I think that is _beginning_ to help.. 

I know its hard to describe a visual concept in words, 
and I get the beginning of your idea, 
but I dont understand exactly what "short point of the miter" and "long point of the miter will be at the 7' on the two outside edges." means exactly.. 

thanks, 
Scot


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Scot, 

I can layout your trellis with my cad system and see what some of the angles will be. They WILL be compound angles that for sure!


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## carpenter matt (Jan 3, 2008)

Scot, picture a 45 degree angle, the sharp tip (what will be making the very top of your point on the trellis) is the long point the other end is the short point 

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP Long point 
p 
your wood p 
P 
PPPPPPPPPPP Short point


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By gary Armitstead on 06/01/2008 4:28 PM
Scot, 
I can layout your trellis with my cad system and see what some of the angles will be. They WILL be compound angles that for sure!




Thanks Gary, 
I would really appreciate that! 
the compound angles dont scare me..I just need to figure out they are!  




Posted By carpenter matt on 06/01/2008 9:25 PM
Scot, picture a 45 degree angle, the sharp tip (what will be making the very top of your point on the trellis) is the long point the other end is the short point 
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP Long point 
p 
your wood p 
P 
PPPPPPPPPPP Short point 




Thanks Matt.. 
I see what you mean by the short and long points now.. 

Scot


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

I'll finish drawing tomorrow with dimensions and angles. Send me an e-mail with your home addie and I will send the drawings off to you.


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## barnmichael (Jan 2, 2008)

Trot down to your local Lowe's/Home Depot/etc. and buy yourself a Swanson Speed Square. They come in various sizes. They also come with a book about a half inch thick on how to use it and calculate all kinds of angles. You will find the square very handy and the book a good read. Be sure to check that you get one with the thick book. Some packages don't. Also be sure it is a Swanson, not a Stanley or other knock off.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Mine is yellow plastic, but I can't imagine working without it.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By barnmichael on 06/05/2008 9:23 PM 
Trot down to your local Lowe's/Home Depot/etc. and buy yourself a Swanson Speed Square. They come in various sizes. They also come with a book about a half inch thick on how to use it and calculate all kinds of angles. You will find the square very handy and the book a good read. Be sure to check that you get one with the thick book. Some packages don't. Also be sure it is a Swanson, not a Stanley or other knock off. 



Good idea! 
thanks! 

Gary whipped up some cool CAD drawings for me..thanks Gary!  
I think I understand the angles involved now.. 

im going to test it on scrap smaller pieces first.. 
I hope to have the trellis built this weekend..I will post updates! 

thanks, 
Scot


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Done!  

Thanks again to Gary and his CAD drawings.. 
that was the key to get this started! 

Gary's drawing showed two cuts of 12.36 degrees were needed at top of the legs.. 
I went out to Home Depot and got that square (although they didnt have the one with the cool booklet..but it worked fine to draw the angles..) 
I used 12 degrees even, for simplicity, rather than 12.36, which made the base 33" square rather than 36", but that wasnt a big deal.. 

First pic, showing the 12 degree cut lines.. 
the legs are 2x2's, with rounded edges, which made it somewhat sloppy to measure and draw, 
but it worked out fine: 









The "front" of one leg, after the cuts made, 
this is the visable side, facing out: 









The "back" of the leg..this will mesh with the other 3 legs: 









All four legs cut, and 2 sides laid out on the floor: 









Beginning to add cross pieces: 









Line up the two sides, temporarily bind the top with string, lay out the legs square, 
and add the other side pieces while the structure is standing: 









And done!  









Four little cucumber plants are visible at the bottom..they will climb the trellis. 





































I will post some more pics in a month or two, when the vines are all over it! 

thanks, 
Scot


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Scot, 

I'm very happy to hear that the drawing worked for you. Looks very nice!


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

VERY nice!


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## tbug (Feb 16, 2008)

Nicely done! Now if my wife sees that...


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

update!  









July 26, 2008 

thanks, 
Scot


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## Rod Hayward (Jan 2, 2008)

Thats a long way from San Francisco Scotty.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Rod Hayward on 07/27/2008 1:54 AM
Thats a long way from San Francisco Scotty.




our veggies arent shy!  
"let it all hang out" is their motto. 

Scot


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## jnic (Jan 2, 2008)

That's a gorgeous piece of work. Cutting compound angles such as those are anything but trivial.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice Scot! Thanks for the pics and how to


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