The Dale C. Maley Family Web Site

My sister has a huge and beautiful garden with many yard ornaments.  Her K-Mart wishing well finally has worn out, and she requested I build a new one.

She took the old one into her garage for the winter months.  If I built the new one from pressure-treated wood, it would be too heavy to move.  I decided to build it from Cedar, which is light weight, and in theory should last as long as pressure-treated, considering both are painted white.

The main boards will be made from 2x4 cedar. The lower panels and roof pieces will be standard cedar dog eared pickets, that I plane from 5/8" thickness rough sawn to smooth 1/2" thick wood.

The handle shaft will be 3/4" diameter oak, with a 1/2" oak short handle.

I used 2.5" long deck screws, pre-drilled, to connect the 6 lower panel segments to the vertical uprights.  I used brass screws to attach the shingles to the roof. I didn't want steel screws to rust over the many years this should be in service.

I had to go 35 miles to Menards to get the cedar. I got 10 of the 2x4 by 8 footers and 10 of the 5.5x5/8 by 6 foot dog eared cedar pickets.  I had the 3/4 and 1/2" oak dowels in my inventory, as well as the 2.5 inch deck screws and brass screws.

When I got the project done, I had 2 cedar dog eared pickets and 5 of the 2x4's by 8 footer.............so this project took 8 dog eared pickets and 5 of the 2x4 by 8 foot cedar boards.

I used 2 of the 3/8" diameter by 3.5 inches long carriage bolts from Ace Hardware to connect the roof to the lower base.

This was a fun project to design and build.  Hopefully it will last many years.   Since I built it out of cedar, it is light enough that my sister can store it inside each winter, which will make it last even longer.

I uploaded my design to the Sketchup Warehouse. You can download it using this link.