Dog Teeters (on the edge of sanity...)
Dog Agility Equipment is expensive. If you don't believe me, go have a look for yourself at this website: http://www.affordableagility.com/seesawsteel.htm
So... being the industrious, cost-effective and cute girl she is, she came up with another project for us to work on.
Ok, I know being cute has nothing to do with coming up with another project, but it is true.
This project would be.....
Dog Teeters!
She brought some books over with pictures, and I began making a drawing and a material list.....
You
may think the picture at the right is little more than hen scratching, however
I paid a lot of money to an institution of higher learning to learn how to scratch
like that hen. Far from being hen scratching, it is really a highly sophisticated
exercise in engineering prowess...
Next, a trip to Home Depot in my trusty 1991 Mazda B2200 pickup truck was in order. (My truck has over 246,000 miles on it... and we are good friends that truck and I).
As you can see, the trip was a success...
We located a nice 2"x12"x16' plank, and got it all the way home without knocking any traffic lights down.
So far, so good.....
The fun begins.... lots of measuring and drilling to be done....
Who is the geek with the double glasses?
Don't laugh... this is another innovation that I have created which allows me to see what I am cutting while protecting my eyes at the same time....
I call this invention "Full Reading SafeTy Duplex ". FRSTD for short.
............................... 
I cut my finger off!!!!!
(Just kidding.... :-) )
Samantha has to make lots of measurements. We need to drill holes and they need to be precise. It takes a long time to make the first one......
................
After measuring and cutting, we lay the pieces out to see if the thing looks like it is going to work.
So far, so good. Things look like they are lining up.... Time to start glueing it togther.
I use Gorilla Glue and #10 3.5" woodscrews.....
The pieces fit so now it is time to rock 'n roll....
This is a picture of Samantha drilling through her Triquetrum Carpal bone....
(Just kidding again....)
Picture at right used with permission from Wikipedia...
(Go read about it and learn about some anatomy... that wrist is a real engineering feat done done by a real master)
It is useful to clamp things together and drill holes just once.
Also, clamps help with making precision holes. This will ensure that one side of the Dog Teeter is exactly like the other side....
Four hands are better than one.....
One of the problems to overcome when trying to be precise is how to get things to stay in place while you are putting them together.
I find that making a "jig" helps.
My Dad and Grandpa taught me to to this many decades ago.
In the picture at right, if you look closely you will see I nailed some temporary wood into the frame to help keep the 2x12 in aligment as I screwed it together.
This is what I call a "jig".
Another trick is to make liberal use of clamps...
Glue and woodscrews make the strongest bonds and they are my favorite thing to use...
For this project, 3.5 inch #10 woodscrews do the trick.
The clamps work nicely.
As you can see, we are making progress and things are lined up pretty well....
You know... it looks so cool that at this poing I am thinking about changing the project into being a swept wing wooden jet fighter plane.
Samantha wouldn't let me. She wanted me to remain focused on dog teeters.... but wouldn't it be cool if...?
Once
the first side is done, I bolted on the second side and used C-Clamps to hold
it together while I did ... guess what?
More glue and woodscrews!!
One thing that is always kind of nice about doing these projects with my daughter is as my neighbors go by, they always smile and say hello.
That's a nice thing.
More wood screws, and those clamps are doing a fine job. I can't imagine trying to build it without them....
..........Voila!!!
Things are looking pretty good. This is the satisfied look of a girl who has a father that knows how to follow instructions!
We have to figure out a way to make a fulcrum that won't come apart while the dog is on it.
We used a carriage bolt that slides through a hole in the top of one side of the teeter....
The round wood slides through the metal hangars on the bottom of the plank.
In case you are wondering, these are conduit hangers found in the electrical section of the hardware store.
Finished!!!
Now for the stress test.....
To heck with the dog! We'll just play with it ourselves.
We have our very own portable seesaw.
(Dog pictures to follow - Sammie wasn't having any of that ideas about us keeping it for ourselves!)
