Saturday, March 22, 2008

Lift Gate / Tail Gate Assembly

The tail gate and lift gate are pretty basic in their construction. The upper and lower rail of the tailgate are set into the pillars on either side with through tenons. The middle stile is set into the upper and lower rail with tenons set approximately 3/4" deep. The quarter inch mahogany panels are fastened around their perimeter every 6 inches or so to the ash framework of the tail gate to keep everything stiff and square.
The lift gate was a bit more difficult because I didn't have either of the side pillars. The joinery is essentially the same as the tailgate, so using the curved back side of the rear quarter panel pillars, I was able to transfer the profile to the side pillars of the lift gate. The only other important aspect to figure out is the size of the rebate for the glass and that could be taken from the upper and lower rail as it is the same. While it is a basic type of joinery, care must be taken to avoid making mistakes. The cheeks of the tenons on the front and back side are off set to account for the rebates on the back side .
The only other reccomendation I might have would be to leave alittle material on the side pillars so they can be sanded down after being installed, to match the profile of the rear pillars.

1 comment:

Jese said...

This is amazing, I really appreciate your skill.