Thinking about making a full 4X4 foot bed 9-section tomato trellis system out of pallet wood. Last year I used some wire tomato cages, but they were too short and not strong enough once my tomato plants got over 4 foot tall.
At first, I was thinking of just slapping together a bunch of pallet wood 2X4 stretchers to make the frame. Easy. But then I considered how heavy it would be. If I made everything out of 2X4's, then I would have to build it in place and just decided to never move it.
Second thought was to rip the 2X4's into 2X2's and use that for the tomato trellis. Half the weight, but obviously more work if I have to rip each 2X4. Not too much of a problem after I learned how to easily rip those 2X4's during a previous pallet wood project. I got the ripping the 2X4 in half down with no problem. That still requires a lot of lumber. Considering that most of those pallet wood 2X4's have notches on one side, I really only get 1 full 2X2 each time I rip a 2X4's pallet wood stretcher in half.
Thinking some more. I have moved on in my thinking to using the 2X2's for the main upright frame, but using 1/4-inch lath boards for the cross sections. In theory, I could get a lot of 1/4-inch lath boards if I ripped the 2X4's. I thought that would be a great answer in terms of using less lumber, getting the total weight down, and still providing a strong tomato trellis.
Turns out, ripping 4-foot-long 1/4-inch lath boards/strips from 2X4 lumber is not as easy as I thought it would be. On the table saw, you run into a problem with getting your fingers too close to the blade when ripping the boards. I don't know about you, but my fingers are very valuable to me. So, I would have to make a jig(s) to make it safer. Over the past few evenings, I have watched all kinds of YouTube videos on ripping thin strips using either a table saw or a circular saw. Unfortunately, almost all of them are ripping short 2-foot-long boards whereas I need to rip a 4-foot-long 2X4 pallet wood stretcher.
My idea is to make one complete 4X4 foot trellis system that would have 9 sections - 16 inches square per tomato plant. The closest picture I can find is something like this...
View attachment 3771030
But, in my mind, I just use 1/4-inch lath boards as the cross pieces because my 4X4 foot trellis would be much smaller.
My backup idea is to make individual cages along this design...
View attachment 3771032
Or use that concept to tie everything together to make 9 squares in that 4X4 foot bed.
Anyways, I am kind of stuck on the overall design idea. I am dealing with what I think I want if I had unlimited skills compared to what I think I can actually do. Well, I want to do the project safely and ripping 1/4-inch lath boards is trickier than I thought. If anyone has a good idea on ripping 4-foot-long 1/4-inch lath strips from a 2X4, please let me know. In the meantime, I'm still considering my options and tossing ideas around in my head. Later...
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One of the main reasons I now use the F-Style clamps is that I can tighten them down much better than the trigger clamps. Maybe my hands are not as strong as they used to be. In any case, I almost always reach for the F-Style clamps for general use, and always when I need more holding power.
Having said that, if you intend to do large glue ups and need a strong bar that will not bend, then the Harbor Freight F-Style bar clamps are not the answer. Many woodworkers state that the HF F-Style bar clamps are good up to that 12-inch bar, but after that, they will start to bend under pressure.
Finally, although I was not happy to see my new glove rip already, I got to thinking better to have that ripped glove than a ripped finger. So, maybe it did its job, and I just did not notice. Certainly, better to sacrifice a glove then to mess up my fingers.
). Also used some old outdoor shade mesh from the top from a project a few years back, and feed bags to add a little bit of waterproofing shade. 
Yes, I'm a redneck, and I just wanted to get this project done. Lol. The actual coop and pen I'm building will be way more sophisticated and planned out.
I had to buy some hardware cloth a week or so ago to finish off a project. I had used all my old wire and hardware cloth from my supply behind the shed. A few days ago, while digging through a different shed for something else, I came upon a roll of hardware cloth that is brand new. I don't know what I was thinking when it got stored there, but at least now I know I still have more hardware cloth to use.
It was a beautiful day today here, so I went out for a walk. I came upon a small length of PVC pipe laying on the shoulder of the road. Probably blew out of the back end of a pickup. Anyway, it looks like it came from a sink or something like that. Both ends were broken, but I can get about 12 inches of useable pipe to use as two 6-inch side drainpipes in my sub-irrigated planters. So, I picked it up and took it home with me. Not every day you get to clean up the roadside and come home with something of value for your use! I'll just toss the broken ends in my fire ring next time I start a fire.
