joining 3/4" to 1 1/2" wood

[Jim Osteen]

My 7-year old granddaughter is in a dancing class. They are having a recital and need a dog house as a prop. The girls will dress like dogs and come out of a doghouse to the tune of "Who let the dogs out". Grandpa was asked to build the doghouse.

 

1) it had to be tall enough for 7-year olds to walk through without bending too much.

2) it could not be too heavy, it must be moved on and off stage fairly quickly.

3) it had to be strong enough to withstand some abuse since it will be used several times.

 

1st thought, cardboard - voted out,

 

I decided to build it with 2x3" for the studs and 1x3" connecting. The problem was how to attach 1x3 to 2x3, I decided to use kreg pocket holes. I remember much discussion about joing wood of different thickness. So I decided to put 2 pocket holes on one side of a 2x3" and 1 pocket hole on the other to attach to a 1x3". I drilled the holes using 3/4 setup on the jig and used 1 1/4" screws. It was quite solid and by not making it very long it was fairly light. I covered it with 1/8' masonite. I felt so good I made a sloping roof with pocket holes attaching two boards mitered 22 1/2 degrees. I put one pocket hole in each board and came from opposite direction. Again, the connection was solid.

I'm not in to putting pictures in the forum, yet. I thought I'd share my experience of connecting differenc thickness woods together. I also enjoy reading about what others are doing.

 

If you think your wood working hobby is expensive, you should try to finance a 7-year old girl with multiple costumes and trips to practice and trips to recitals and competition. Something is going on nearly every weekend. Of course the whole family has to go, sometimes 2 or 3 days (hundreds of miles and motels). I'll stick to woodworking as a hobby.