Civil War Fort: carpentry instructions

This fort’s overall size is 11x16.  The tallest point is over 11’0” tall.  This instructional document is to help the novice or semi-experienced carpenter to create their own fort for their children or even pets.

The rampart area is four feet from the ground and the tower is six feet from the ground.  It has a double door entrance, two ladders, two tower areas (one open and the other closed) and a lookout hideaway.  There is an optional sandbox below the tallest tower.

I would like to point out that the instructional drawings are not to scale.  They are renditions to help visually explain certain details, not to be taken as scale models.  They are approximate shapes and patterns but very easy to follow.

I would recommend thoroughly reading the entire instructions before proceeding with construction.  There are options, choices and special notes that may be of interest to you.

Cost:  The price for the materials to build this project would be dependent upon what material that you purchase.  Some lumber is more expensive than others.  However, the original structure was designed with standard pine so the general cost would be around $1000, that would include hardware

http://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Fort-Guidebook-Book-ebook/dp/B00YL5FEUG/

Basic Rules about Building a Frame

Building frames is the basic element in most construction.  Your house, apartment, deck and other projects are built with many frames put together to make boxes or floors or whatever.

The first basic rule: your short end of the frame will cap your longer ends.
            What do you mean?

If you are building a frame that is 4 feet by 8 feet(4x8), your 4 foot boards will cap your 8 foot boards, or in this case, 7'9".















         The reason the board is 7'9" and not 8'0" is to compensate for the 1 1/2" from each 4' board on each end.  In combination, they add up to 3" and therefore subtract that 3" from the 8'0" boards.  Therefore: 7'9".

You want to make a perfect 4x8 frame.

Rightly so, if you are building a frame from 1x4s, you need to subtract 1 1/2" from your shorter boards.  Such as, the 4x8 frame would have 2 boards at 4'0" and 2 boards at 7'10 1/2".


However, it is not always the case to have your short ends cap the longer boards.  In some cases, it is wiser to have your longer boards cap the shorter ones.  When your longer side is expected to hold weight, the longer boards should cap the shorter boards.
        The reason for this: You want the weight to push against the boards and not burden or stress the screws that are connecting your boards.

Good luck with your projects!