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A UK-based hobbyist has published a detailed account of two self-taught woodworking projects: a custom dog gate for an awkward stairway and a raised patio bed built from railway sleepers. The report documents tools used, mistakes made and confidence gained after abandoning woodworking at fifteen.
A UK-based hobbyist woodworker has published a first-person account of two completed home projects — a custom dog gate for an awkward stairway and a raised patio bed built from railway sleepers — documenting the tools, techniques and mistakes involved in each build. The report, published on the personal site notoriousbfg.com, marks the author’s return to woodworking decades after a discouraging school experience ended his first attempt at the craft.
The first project, a gate to keep the author’s dog Fern from going upstairs, took most of a weekend to build and was based on a YouTube tutorial the author describes as straightforward. Because the stairs had an awkward vertical space between the trim and the railing that standard baby gates could not fit, a purpose-built gate was required. The author assembled it using a Black & Decker Workmate workbench, handsaws, a square, a drill, screws and wood glue, with timber sourced from the builder’s merchant Sydenhams.
The finished gate is mounted to the wall with a wooden fixing plate, rawlplugs and hinges, and secured by an improvised bolt made of two perpendicular pieces of wood. The author reports that after the dog repeatedly rested her paws on the gate, it dropped a few millimetres at the bolt end, prompting him to add two extra screws to the original three. The gate was painted with white Dulux satinwood — applied without primer, which the author says he later learned was probably a mistake, though the paint adhered well.
The second project, a raised bed in a space deliberately left during a June patio renovation, was built from 200mm by 100mm by 2400mm railway sleepers purchased from Bradford’s, a builder’s merchant near the author’s Somerset home. Following guidance from the YouTube channel “Proper DIY” run by Stuart, the design originally called for three stacked sleepers but was reduced to two during the build. The author bought a Bosch cordless circular saw for the project, later adding a larger 4Ah 18V battery after the original batteries overheated during long days working in the sun. Some of the sleepers arrived twisted, which the author says made parts of the build tricky.
Why These Builds Resonate With DIY Beginners
The account is a useful data point for the growing number of people taking up woodworking through free online tutorials rather than formal training. The author explicitly credits YouTube creators with making the projects feel achievable — the gate video “helped me visualise the gate and therefore believe that I could make it” — illustrating how instructional content is lowering the barrier to entry for home DIY.
The report also offers honest documentation of common beginner pitfalls: inconsistent cuts despite careful measuring, skipping primer, rushing the finishing stage, under-specifying fixings, and buying DIY-grade tools that later prove limiting. The author notes that Bosch’s DIY and professional battery systems are incompatible, and that in hindsight he would have invested in the more powerful Pro range — a practical warning for anyone building a first cordless tool kit.
For readers with similar household problems — an odd-shaped stairway a standard baby gate cannot fit, or a bare patch of patio — the pieces demonstrate that functional, low-cost solutions are achievable with a modest tool set and no formal joinery training.
A School Setback Followed by Decades Away
According to the report, the author’s only prior formal woodworking experience came at fifteen, during a Design & Technology GCSE in “Resistant Materials”. His ambitious coursework project — a desk built with mortise-and-tenon joints — foundered when the joints proved too weak. The author says a friend told him afterwards that his teacher laughed about the project’s quality with other teachers rather than helping him. Mortified, he scrapped the build and focused on the exam, in which he says he scraped a passing grade.
The author states that he had not considered attempting woodworking again until the practical need for a dog gate arose. Both completed projects were approached, in his words, with “very low expectations” — a framing he presents as central to eventually enjoying and persisting at the hobby.
“What I loved about the way this video is presented was that it helped me visualise the gate and therefore believe that I could make it; the creator made it seem so easy.”
— The author, notoriousbfg.com
Loose Ends in the Raised Bed Account
The published account of the raised bed project appears to be incomplete: the text breaks off mid-sentence while describing a planned design using 100mm by 100mm fence posts at the sleeper corners, so the final construction details and the finished state of the bed are not fully documented. It is also unclear whether any additional projects have been completed since publication, or whether the wall scraped during hinge installation has been repainted — the author notes the previous owner’s hallway paint colour is no longer available.
The account of the school incident rests on a secondhand report from a friend, as the author himself acknowledges; the teacher’s version of events is not included.
More Projects and Better Finishing Habits
The author indicates that his DIY-grade tool set will continue to serve future projects, and that the raised bed account — with the fence-post corner design it hints at — concludes the current write-up. Readers following the site can reasonably expect further project reports; the pattern established so far suggests builds driven by household needs rather than planned ambitions. A stated personal goal going forward is resisting the urge to rush the decorating stage, which the author identifies as the recurring weakness across both completed builds.
Key Questions
What tools did the author need to start woodworking?
For the first project: a Black & Decker Workmate workbench, handsaws, a square, a drill, screws and wood glue. For the raised bed, he added a Bosch cordless circular saw and a larger 4Ah 18V battery.
How long did the dog gate take to build?
According to the report, the gate took most of a weekend to build, plus minor later adjustments — including adding two extra mounting screws after the gate dropped a few millimetres under the dog’s weight.
Did the author use primer before painting the gate?
No. He painted it directly with white Dulux satinwood and later concluded he probably should have used a primer, though the paint adhered well in practice.
What went wrong with the railway sleepers?
Some of the sleepers purchased from Bradford’s arrived twisted, which the author says made parts of the raised bed build tricky.
Is the DIY Bosch tool range compatible with the professional range?
No. The author notes the two Bosch battery systems are incompatible, and says that in hindsight he would have bought into the more powerful professional range from the start.
Source: hn
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