Building 2 raised garden boxes

[M3 2 NV]

Hey ladies and gents, i'm new here and don't have any Festool or any tools 

I'm in the process of drilling and pouring concrete piers for 2 raised garden boxes 3'x40' and 24" tall out of big box store cedar. Post spacing along the 40' is 8' apart. I plan on using 4"x4" for the posts and 2"x8" for the walls. I also have a couple vanities to make as well as a built in wardrobe in the master bedroom and laundry. After all that i plan to build a kitchen and some furniture. Hope this gives an idea as to what my plans are in the future.

What i was thinking for my garden (since i want the domino for interior cabinets) is to use the domino to join the 3 2"x8" together to achieve my 24" height. Does it seem realistic to get the XL and join these 2x8s if i pick through and choose straight ones or am i (i'm a machinist by trade) a dreamer thinking this will all fit together nicely?

Thank you for your input

Rob

 

[semenza]

    I would say getting straight enough and more importantly flat enough 2 x lumber to really make that work well will be difficult. The domino is going to register off the face and any deviation from flat will cause the mortise to be slightly angled. Making it very hard to get two boards together.

    As much a I like the domino I think a better bet would be to pocket hole screw the edges together or use battens or both.

    But get a Domino anyway  [smile]

Seth

 

[Kev]

[welcome]

Lot's more posts ... that's all. Then go and buy your domino.

If you really want a tool, buy it - don't try to justify it by doing a bunch of unnecessary work.

 

[ear3]

Do the planks have to be tightly seamed, without spaces/gaps?  You could conceivably joint the edges of the boards with a tracksaw, but that seems like an awful lot of work for this kind of project.  I made a small, raised, garden bed, where I simply used a type of mesh over slightly spaced planks to allow for drainage:
http://festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/veg-trug-type-planter-for-my-wife/msg396306/#msg396306

 

[peter halle]

As Edward just wrote use filter fabric to line the beds.  Joints don't have to be perfect.  Eight feet is not a good span.

Peter

 

[polarsea1]

I have a number of raised beds made 2 planks high - I've never had any soil leakage to speak of between the planks. I drive rebar along the sides of the beds to prevent them from bulging out. Out back yard isn't much of a showplace but we do grow a lot of vegetables. [big grin]

 

[Holmz]

... I also have a couple vanities to make as well as a built in wardrobe in the master bedroom and laundry. After all that i plan to build a kitchen and some furniture. Hope this gives an idea as to what my plans are in the future.

What i was thinking for my garden (since i want the domino for interior cabinets) ...
...

I cannot say enough good things about the Zeta P2 for the cabinets. Either clampX or Tenso.

Back to the raised beds...
I would have thought the domino would work, so somewhat surprised.
The idea of the pocket screws is good. One could some large dowel and a forstner but to use to control the alignment, and keep the parts from shearing apart.

 

[peter halle]

My brother built some raised beds for his girlfriend last spring using 1 x 6 cedar.  I had thought about loaning him my domino but opted instead to let him borrow my Festool drills and a Kreg pocket hole jig.  He was happy with the results.  And he enjoyed the drills.

Peter

 

[M3 2 NV]

Thank you for all the replies. I ended up drilling the holes, poured some concrete and set the post holders over the weekend. So far so good. Now its time to figure out the rest taking everybody's input into account.

I've been snooping on this forum for a few months looking at what others are building. I'm set on getting the domino but trying to decide 500 or 700. I figure i'll need a router and router table and vac system. Table and mitre saw i'll borrow from dad. Need to build an outfeed table first when it comes to the inside projects...probably Ron Paulk style.

I'm going to let the posts cure a bit and move on to doing rough in plumbing for the new bathroom right now. My to do list is long

 

[semenza]

Looks like you are doing some really serious raised beds! Keep the updates coming  [thumbs up]

Seth

 

[luke duke]

I built two like this last spring. They are 4x8. Between the two it was 10-2x10, 2-4x4, 1-2x4 and some screws. The 4x4s are buried, but the 2x4s aren't. I used them to minimize warping/bulging along the 8ft span.