Tuteur

Ok, I realize this has nothing to do with sewing, but my sister asked if I still remembered how I made my tuteur. I DO still have the drawings and my chicken-scratched notes, but they are smeared and nearly unreadable. So I'm rewriting them for her, and decided, what the heck, I'll share with anyone who wants to make a tuteur for their garden!

I'm not teaching woodworking, though...if you can't figure it out from this, you are on your own!


Tuteur

SUPPLIES (All wood is pressure-treated)

• Purchased Finial
• Square TOP piece, cut 5½” by 5½” by 5/4” thick, edges routed
• 8- 2”x2”x8’
• 2- 1”x2”x8’
• 2½” deck screws
• Hide glue

For vertical supports--
Cut each 8’ 1x2 in half, so that you have 4- 4' pieces, then knock off each corner to make ends arrow-shaped…like this: ’^’.


For legs--
4, each 7’ long
Set saw for:
7 degree bevel, 7 degree miter
Cut end---slide, cut other end…DO NOT ROLL.

For cross members--
4, each 10”
4, each 15”
4, each 20”
4, each 25”

Set saw for:
7 degree bevel, 45 degree miter
Cut right end…roll piece 180 degrees…slide to right…cut left end.
Length of these pieces is measured along the top side…the shorter side. Due to the bevel, the bottom side will be slightly longer.

Assemble the cross-pieces into 4 frames, using Hide glue and a nail gun. Drill and screw to hold.

Mark outside edges of each leg as follows:

1. From bottom- 16”
2. 16” from 1.
3. 17½” from 2.
4. 17½ from 3.

These marks indicate the vertical placement of the cross-piece frames…the top of the frames will be placed at these marks.

On the 3 largest cross-piece frames, mark the center of each side, then mark ¾” on each side of that center mark. This will provide two marks, 1½” apart, between which you will (later) center the vertical supports (1x2’s).

Mark halfway down the length (front and back) of each 1x2 vertical support.

To locate the placement for the top ends of the legs--
On the bottom surface of the 5½” square TOP piece, divide the square into 4 quadrants by drawing two perpendicular lines, creating a + cross. Draw 2 additional lines, 1.5” on either side of each vertical line and each horizontal line, so that you end up with 3 lines going each way.

Drill a pilot hole toward the OUTER corner of each of the center 4 squares. Attach the upper end of each leg with a screw and glue. In this image, the little circles represent the pilot holes.

Oh! Drill a pilot hole in the very center, too, for the finial, which will be put on last!

Then stand and assemble-

• Slide the largest cross piece over the legs. Align the top of the frame with the correct marks, drill and screw.
• Repeat with subsequent cross-piece frames, leaving the smallest until last.
• Align the vertical supports between their marks, centering vertically on the 20” cross-piece frame. Screw into place.
  

You MIGHT be able to get by with only 7 2x2s instead of 8 if you are really careful about which lengths you cut from which stick, but it is easiest to have that 8th one handy, just in case!