Cutting fence panels to fit posts

d0nkeyk0ng

Last year, one of the fence panels collapsed due to stormy weather and general age. The neighbour kindly offered one they had in storage. I fitted it but it was a tight fit and bowed out at the bottom.

I suspect the fence posts had either moved over time, or the panels were just too large.

I now plan to replace all of the fence panels on one side. I plan to do one at a time and get the measurements right. I know I may need to take off the batons on one side and trim down the "excess" slats.

I was going to use a handsaw but I wonder whether it'd be quicker with either a jigsaw or circular saw. Any advice or suggestions would be welcome.

Norman_Castle

Fence panel slats are normally quite thin so should cut easily with a decent panel saw. If you've got a jigsaw or circular saw try them and use whatever suits.

Aylesbury_Duck

I think manual or powered sawing will work, but good preparation is important. You should sandwich the slats at a point just inside where you're cutting and along the whole length, perhaps with two lengths of wood and some G-clamps. That will help you align the cut where you need a gradient and will also stop the slats fluttering about as you saw. Without that, they will bounce around and will probably split, leaving you with a messy edge, or worse, an unusable panel.

d0nkeyk0ng

I was going to reattach the side baton before trimming. I don't have a jigsaw but was planning on buying on as I need it for other purposes.

MisterP123

Pah! I built a retaining wall from full sized sleepers and cut them with a hand saw (new sleepers I might add, no tar or crap)

Got my angles wrong on the first row and cut two mitres wrong, that wasn't funny.

You will have no problem cutting a fence panel by hand.

getmore4less

ideal job for a mini circular saw but a big one will be OK if you have the kit to support the panel.

no1catman

It'll be like the 'painting Forth Road Bridge' as by the time you finish the next storm that comes along will damage either a panel, or a post and two panels.
Would be more cost effective in the long run to go to the feather edge system - where the stress is more distributed over the whole length.