Tip Needed

[spacebluesonoma]

My wife an I are getting new siding and windows, and with that one of the things we are doing is buying new light fixtures. front and back. In addition we are getting a Pole Light. Problem is the finish/color we have pickd does not have a pole the same color. we looked around a bit and found a cedar light pole at a supplier. wasn't much to it, and despite that it was over 300.00.

we have a cedar fence and going with a wood grain vynal siding so the cedar post will look good. needless to say a am planning onmaking one myself.

i have most of it figured out. but not sure how to ensure a good assembly.

i plan to start off witha cedar $x$ and ripping it in half on my table saw (obviously cutting one side and then flipping it to complete the cut. then running the sawed faces over the jointer.

i plan then to cut a channel down the middle for the wire and then trimming it down on either side as 4X4 will be just a bit too big. so once all is said and done it will likely be closer to a 3X3. i want to mortise out one side for an exterior outlet . i would like a 1/4" reveal on the corners which is easily done with the router. now lets put it together. my thought was bisquits with titebond exterior glue and countersunk galvanized deck screws countersunk with plugs to hide them.

is their a better way to reassamble these pieces or am i on the right track?

ed

[imported_wbrooks]

I would skip the screws all together. Bisquits and glue (clamp til it dries)will do the job. If you are worried about glue failure you could 'toenail' 2 screws on the top and bottom of the pole so they will not be seen. you could also glue on some decorative trim (top, bottom, middle) and use galvanized or stainless finish nails to hold until the glue dries.

[manhusbandfather]

Agree with wBrooks idea. I would definately use SS nails with cedar.

I build decks and with cedar you will have black spots where the nails are and no matter how nice you made the post it will look bad if these nails are not hidden or stainless steel.


http://www.swansecure.com/fasteners106/shoppingcart/deckingpage5.asp

[imported_ByteButcher]

With an outlet in the post, I'd be concerned about your final dimension. A small handibox is 2 1/8" wide and about 2" deep. Then you're triming even more away for architectural style. There won't be much post left. Cedar is not very strong. It might break or at least be prone to warp at that point. I'd leave as much of the nominal 3 1/2" as you can. Maybe just a pass or two on the jointer after gluing to level it out.

[papadan]

Ed, I have done this very thing before. I Tapered the post down to the size to fit the light instead of planing the whole thing down. Then I used my Dado set to groove the post 1/2" wide x 1" deep up one side. Then Dadoed 3/4" wide x 3/8" deep. Mortised out for the outlet box 18" from the bottow. installed the box and wired the post then fitted a 3/8" x 3/4" strip to close the Dado groove and hide the wires. I used Poly outdoor glue for the strip and siliconed the outlet box. Make sure you use a ground fault outlet. Hope this helps.