Garden Obelisk - Lumber Order - Spring 2020 Projects

Yesterday, I posted (for my own thinking) a lumber order for the building of a Versailles Orangerie Planter box and mentioned that it was one of a couple of projects I'm thinking about as part of our social distancing program.  I recently received the catalog from Gardeners Supply Company - which is a joy to read right now - and saw this large cedar obelisk.  They're asking $199.00 for what seems to be a pretty "good quality item".  But, I know that I can beat that price if I built them myself.

Here's the Gardener's Supply Company Obelisk.  This is NOT my photo - it is via their catalog here:

Source via Gardener's Supply.

As for the 'why' add an obelisk, well...I'm not totally sure just now, but thinking about growing something like hops.  We had Golden Hops planted in our yard back in Elmhurst and I liked having them grow up a trellis.  It took a couple of seasons to get them to grow vertically, but by the time we moved, they were putting on a nice show.

The Gardener's obelisk is 7'6" tall, so that means that I'd have to use 8' long 2x2's.  That's a nice size, isn't it?  I did some factoring and have come up with these dimensions for the rungs on each side.  The front/back are full dimensions, but the sides are 3" shorter to account for the width of the legs.  Here's my cut list:

2 27"
2 24"
2 23"
2 20"
2 19"
2 16"
2 15"
2 12"
2 11"
2 8"

Using the cutlist tool from Jonathan Overholt, I see that I would need 4 96" boards to make those rungs. BTW...that cutlist tool is pretty great.

Just like the Orangerie Box, here's what my order looks like:

1.  4 2x2x8 treated boards (for the legs)
2.  8 1x2x8 treated boards (for the rungs + interior decoration board)
3.  1 4.5" x 4.5" treated fence post cap (for the top of where the legs come together)
4.  1 4.5" acorn-shaped treated finial
5.  A pack of 'trim head' outdoor/deck screws (the ones that eliminate pre-drilling)
6.  Some 1" brads (to tack the rungs into place before I screw them together)
7.  Some portion of a gallon of "Go Way Green" to paint the obelisk.