COLLAPSABLE FENCE AND ENTRANCE

The basis for this project is the basic 1x2/PVC fence that you can find on several websites. I layed out the fence so that each section shares a pole with the section next to it. Only one of these sections is fastenned to the pole with screws. This allows me to fold up the fence for easier storage or transportation and also allows me to easily lay the fence out in the pattern I want.

The picture above shows two sections of fence. Only one sections is fastenned to the common pole, allowing the other to pivot anyway I want. I finished off the top of every other pole with small plastic skulls I picked up at Party City for $0.09 each. They seem to be made to hold small amounts of candy. I pulled off the bottom jaw (it's made to come off) and stuck the skull over the post. I was going to paint them black, but my wife thought they looked better left as is...

No cemetery fence would be complete without a "gate", so I decided to build one out of PVC pipe. I used 2 inch PVC pipe to fashion the top of the entrance, by glueing a 4ft piece of PVC to two 2 inch tees. On the top of each tee I used a 2 inch to 1/2 inch bushing so that I could make the rest of the top out of 1/2 inch PVC. I used short pieces of pipe to glue a series of 1/2 inch tees and 45 degree bends from the top of each 2 inch tee. I then cut a length of 1/2 pipe and inserted it into one of the 45s. I then bent the pipe so that it would fit into the 45 on the otherside. It's important to glue everthing together, as the pressure from the bent pieces of PVC will push the top apart if it's not.

The picture above shows the entrance top before painting. I decided to try to glue letters onto the bent pieces of pipe. Unfortunately I couldn't find letters as big as I had hoped, so I ended up reducing the distance between the two bent pieces of PVC. I painted the top, glued on some 3 inch letters and placed the top on top of two 7 foot pieces of 2 inch pipe. THe picture below shows the full effect. Click on the picture for a more close up view.

The two poles are slid over 5 foot garden "v" stakes to keep them in place. I attached the fence sections to it using black cable ties. The whole thing ended up being very sturdy. The project worked very well. Not only did it look good, but I didn't get any over enthusiastic TOTers running into the graveyard this year.