The Dale C. Maley Family Web Site

My sister Karen has a large flower garden.  For years, she has a large doll that watches over the flower garden from its perch on top of a miniature lifeguard tower.

The years of weather have taken their toll on the lifeguard tower:

 After studying the old tower, I decided it was time to build a new one..........versus repairing the old one.  The old one was built almost entirely from 2 x 1/2" wood, except for 2 pieces that were 2.5 x 1/2" wood.

I entered the design into Google Sketchup:

I decided to build the new one using pressure treated wood, to see if it would hold up longer outside.......versus common pine.  I made the 4 legs our of one piece 1x2 versus 2pieces attached together of 0.5x2 wood.  I ripped some scrap 2x4's and deck tread to make the new tower.

 To get the 4th vertical leg, I had to glue up 2 pieces.....

This tower uses a 4 degree angle in both directions. To build the first side, I clamped the 2 vertical pieces at the correct angle on plywood:

After I finished the first side, I flipped it over and built the 2nd side on top of the first:

 And here is the assembled tower ready for painting:

 And here is the finished new life guard tower in my workshop:

 And here is the new lifeguard tower in Karen's garden........