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Rounding over the tops of poles

Charles in Aus.

Charles in Aus.

Well-known Member
Any clever ideas out there ? I want to renew the front fence of my farm's house paddock with treated pine round poles and wire panels . I thought that rounded off tops to the poles would look nice , but how to do this without the obvious giant lathe ?
I did think of making an over sized ' pencil sharpener ' with a spring steel blade , but that's as far as I have got .
No idea/ suggestion, deemed too mad :D
 
As CG just said, I've seen several others who have just used a chainsaw and gotten great results. Just be sure to use a small, maneuverable saw and do the work "before" the poles go into the ground. That way if you mess up, you can fix it or try the other end.

Of course, the big question is, how many poles are we talking here??
 
It wouldn't be possible to round the top to suite you by hand. It would end up being irregular in shape without making a machine to do it which wouldn't be practical unless you were going into business making them. There are places around where you can just buy posts with the rounded top. http://www.hettichfarms.com/miscellaneous.shtml
 
How about the kiss system. Done this already for a couple of staffs.
Two pieces of board and make them into a kind of trough. Lay your post
in the trough. Have a helper turn the post as you grind. Now the tool
I used and worked great is a 4 1/2 grinder with one of these screwed
on to it. This is a carbide cutter from harbor freight. They work
super duper!! Around $10.oo each.I even ground some small tree roots
down to ground level with not much effort. Not as fast as the
chainsaw, but you can cut into the dirt with no damage. To clean it
out when done. A little hot water, dish soap, and a little wire scrub
brush. Slick. Pictures 1200 watt genset, grinder, and working it. Hold
on tight and don't let the grinder chatter!!!!! Make nice solid
cutting passes. Wear a dust mask !!! You can do a standing post but
not as easy as one you can turn. You can get it done.
a156744.jpg

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a156747.jpg

a156747.jpg
 
I think a hand plane would work well, as long as you don't have too many to do. You could rough them out with a saw of some sort, then smooth them out with your plane.
 
Thanks all , I have about thirty poles to do at about eight inches in diameter . I might have to rethink this idea , though the carbide cutter and angle grinder might just be possible Jeff.
 

Thanks Elmo , I did toy with that idea but decided it would look as if the pole had been put in upside down .
I suppose a single curved top , as in arched might be possible using a large band saw .
 
This may sound far-fetched, but I think it would be doable as pine is relatively soft and easy to cut.

Make a jig (fixture) which would guide a router in the shape you desire. ...The upper end of this jig would pivot on a spike driven into the center of the end of the pole.

The lower end of the jig would ride on the circumference of the 8" diameter below the desired dome. ....A threaded adjuster at the lower end would allow the depth of cut to be regulated.

Since the jig with the router would pivot around the end of the pole the desired cut will be uniform.

Clear as mud, right? ....I can envision it in my mind, but I'm having difficulty describing it.

The jig (fixture) could be made of wood or steel. ...It just needs to guide the router in making repetitive, consistent shapes.

I would use a router as opposed to a belt sander or grinder. ...Instead of creating dust, the router will cut faster and create larger shavings.

I'm sure you're aware of the hazard of inhaling dust from pressure-treated wood.
 
Just pulled this back up tonight. Guess what!!! Went out this
afternoon and did some more cutting with this rig. Had to cut a couple
of little saplings and remove a little 2 inch stump from my little
nature trail. Same rig as the other picture. This disk works fantastic
on dry wood. Wet wood will gunk it up a little from the sap. Still
cuts just slows it down. Here is a picture as I was washing it with
hot water, dish soap, and a stainless brush. All clean it took about
three minutes. You can see the gunky area before and after. This thing
is still "sharp" after several stump and tiny tree Expaditions. Best
ten dollar tool you can buy. You will need to use the backer plate and
one worn out .045 disk as a spacer to make it work correctly. Love
it.
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Doesn't sound far fetched at all ! Thanks CW :)
Plenty of info for further thought and frankly a fairly simple solution .
 
Two arches ninety degrees apart would virtually be a rounded top---except it would have corners. That might look as good or better than a completely rounded top. Four arches forty-five degrees apart would be all but indistinguishable from a round top. Maybe you could incorporate cw's idea of a jig somehow to guide the band saw. Sixty or a hundred and twenty cuts freehand couldn't all turn out all right.

Stan
 
You are in for some fun ! You will be empowered with super human strength. Just dont let the grinder chatter. You really can't cut sideways so take an angled cut from top to bottom. Works amazingly well. Have fun.
 
Why not just cut tops off at an angle? Would give rounded look from at least one side. Do a good
job of shedding rain.
 
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