Every time I go to buy a bundle of stakes for something I groan at the price. Yeah, compare the price of a bundle of stakes to say a 2×4, or a 2×6 and you many wonder why you never just thought of making your own before. I finally decided to give it a try, it’s not that hard with a table and miter saw.
I had some 2×4’s laying around that used to be part of a shelving unit in the storage room. All of the shelves were sagging, so that came out and the usable wood has been sitting in the garage waiting to be used.
The first thing I did was cut the 2×4’s into 18″ pieces. I started with 2, then ended up doing 4 more in total to get enough stakes for our little garden.
Next I set the rip fence on the table saw to about 3/4″. I didn’t measure….just guessed and got to work! Be sure to use a Push Stick to get them through.
Once you have your little pile of sticks, It’s time to put a point on them so they can be pounded into the ground.
What I did was clamp a piece of scrap wood to the fence of my miter saw. Then set your angle at 15 degrees. Don’t worry about getting it exactly where you want it, just clamp it down, cut off the excess, then start on the stakes.
The clamped piece of wood gives you something to hold the stake against while you cut the point. I suppose you could mark the middle…..I just cut off one side, flipped it over and cut the other. The point is going in the ground…it just needs to be good enough to be pounded in.
I just held the wood out at 90 degrees while I cut. This is one of the reasons I made my stakes 18″ long, that gave me plenty to hold onto while cutting the points.
Before you know it, you’ll have a pile of stakes ready to go!!
Next time you’re getting ready to plant your garden…remember how easy it is to make your own stakes!! My kids help pound these in and label them and plant our little rows of corn, peas and beans.
Don’t forget to hit the follow button, or like my page on Facebook “Girl with a Hand Plane” for more projects and tips!
Girl with a Hand Plane 