Am I wasting my time trying to make two panels out of one? lap board fence?

[Klang180]

Ok so I currently have three 6ft x 6ft fence panels which I bought at a great price. I needed 6ft x 3ft however and was trying to be clever by buying the 6x6 on deal and making them into 6x3ft i.e. one 6x6 into two 6x3. Now that I have the panels delivered I am not so sure it'll be possible as the halfway point i.e. 3ft is in the middle of a panel and I don't know if it will take any kind of sawing?

Am I on a hiding to nothing here or will this actually work? I am thinking I may be better to just get them taken back and swapping for the 6x3 or even just get 6x6 lap board which seem more amenable to shortening.

Happy to hear your thoughts before I try anything?

 

[yorksbuilder]

Take them back and swap them. Cost your time and the longevity of the fence into the job and it's better to use the correct thing.

 

[Deluks]

It's doable, but you'll need to buy some more battens, as well as the sloping capping rail, and you'll need a few of those to make it look the same.
You can get splits with the lap, so using a straight edge and scoring with a sharp blade can be a better option.
You will also have to make a note where the upright battens end up at the top, as the outer ones are longer than the middle ones, as you will see. Don't rush it, lay it out loose, then screw it all back together, or use shanked nails with pilot holes.

Lap board (assume you mean feather edge?) is a stronger fence generally.

 

[Klang180]

It's doable, but you'll need to buy some more battens, as well as the sloping capping rail, and you'll need a few of those to make it look the same.
You can get splits with the lap, so using a straight edge and scoring with a sharp blade can be a better option.
You will also have to make a note where the upright battens end up at the top, as the outer ones are longer than the middle ones, as you will see. Don't rush it, lay it out loose, then screw it all back together, or use shanked nails with pilot holes.

Lap board (assume you mean feather edge?) is a stronger fence generally.

Thanks for this detailed response.

I will go through what you suggest in my head before deciding on what to do. A great deal will be left to whether the shop can take them back at the same time as delivering what I want, which as you rightly point out is feather edge and not lap board.

Thanks.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

A few videos on youtube for this if you search.

 

[big-all]

the amount off waste will be quite high unless you can source and transport 3.9m 19x38mm tile batton off which you need 2 [which will probably be an odd colour]plus another fence cap
you will need an oscilating saw and a good handsaw /circ saw /jigsaw

 

[foxhole]

I have done this by ripping down a gravel board to double the width of the centre timber, easing out nails from the centre timber and remove them, replacing this with double-sized centre gravel board, and ripping this through the middle.

 

[Klang180]

A few videos on youtube for this if you search.

Yeah I did look but they were mostly about making them slimmer, which I have done successfully. Still haven't found one to make the cut horizontally and thus make one panel into two.

 

[Klang180]

I have done this by ripping down a gravel board to double the width of the centre timber, easing out nails from the centre timber and remove them, replacing this with double-sized centre gravel board, and ripping this through the middle.

This sounds like a promising idea. Just so I understand when you say the centre timber do you mean the slat in the middle or are you talking about something else? Are you effectively replacing the middle fence slat with a gravel board and when you say 'ripping down a gravel board' do you mean cut it in half? Sorry I think I get it but trying to make sure I understand.

 

[Klang180]

the amount off waste will be quite high unless you can source and transport 3.9m 19x38mm tile batton off which you need 2 [which will probably be an odd colour]plus another fence cap
you will need an oscilating saw and a good handsaw /circ saw /jigsaw

Thanks, I did have the foresight to order some 4.8 19x3.8, two of them in fact. I did neglect the fence cap mind, so that's another thing I will need.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yeah I did look but they were mostly about making them slimmer, which I have done successfully. Still haven't found one to make the cut horizontally and thus make one panel into two.

Oh, I'm not sure anyone realised you wanted 3ft high panels, I think we all assumed you meant 3ft wide (or maybe it was just me?). That sounds like a faff, doable but definitely more of a faff. Foxholes method would still work OK but you would need to trim the ends of the vertical battens first with a mutltool or handsaw or similar to make way for the new horizontal batten.

 

[foxhole]

Oh, I'm not sure anyone realised you wanted 3ft high panels, I think we all assumed you meant 3ft wide (or maybe it was just me?). That sounds like a faff, doable but definitely more of a faff. Foxholes method would still work OK but you would need to trim the ends of the vertical battens first with a mutltool or handsaw or similar to make way for the new horizontal batten.

I understood 3ft wide not high but that’s easier as you mention .
If OP has a power plane easy enough to shape top cap from timber , just needs a chamfer .

 

[big-all]

just remember
you must exactly replicate how the top above is and the bottom off the top half is on that side as the cross bits on one side meet the vertical bits on the other side so get it wrong and only the laplarch will hold the top to the sides

 

[big-all]

I understood 3ft wide not high but that’s easier as you mention .
If OP has a power plane easy enough to shape top cap from timber , just needs a chamfer .

i make my own caps from 2x1 tile baton around 10% angle on a table saw 2 passes and you have a cap that is 3 to 4 times stronger and can make a panel last twice to 3 times longer as its panels bowing in the middle and the larch pulling out the sides that cause the collapse off the panel with a strong cap the panel cant bow