Extravayarnza

Okay,
One of the most difficult obstacles for a dog to learn in agility is the teeter. I finally bit the bullet & built one of these for Robin. Since it took me a couple of tries to build a base that I felt was safe & since I totally love the finished project I'm putting a tutorial up here.
You knitting folks will probably just want to skip this post, but I'm hoping this might help out some of you dog folks. I think my favorite part is that the whole project cost under $60.
I've built mine to AKC regulations & use those measurements in this tutorial.

Materials - Teeter Board
a 12"x2"x12' board (I would recommend regular lumber rather than treated lumber because it weighs less)
a cup or two of play sand
a quart of blue flat paint (I used Glidden - Regatta Bay)
a quart of yellow flat paint (I used Glidden - Slicker Yellow)
paint brush
painters tape
a 1' piece of 1.5" wide pvc pipe
6 - 1.25" wood screws
2 - 8" pieces of perforated steel plumbers tape

Materials - Base
1" PVC Pipe - 2 10' lengths cut into the following pieces;
6 x 10"
2 x 6"
5 x 15.25"
1 x 8.25"
2 x 4 7/8"
8 x 1.5"

6 x 1" elbows
12 x 1" tees
PVC primer & glue

I would recommend having a ratcheting PVC pipe cutter, a tape measure, and a sharpie handy (and lots of paper towels...).

Preparing the Board
I placed the board on a sturdy box to keep it off the ground. I also only painted the top & sides. If you wish to paint the bottom I would recommend giving that a quick coat of paint before you paint the main surface. I would also recommend sanding the board with a palm sander.

Mark out & place a line of painters tape 42" from each end to mark out the contact zones.
Paint a layer of yellow across the top & sides of the marked ends of the board. While the paint is still wet sprinkle a fine layer of play sand on it. You may need to paint a foot or so, then sprinkle sand, then paint more...
Once this layer is dry, paint another layer & add more sand.
Once that layer is dry coat with one last layer of yellow paint.
(so you have paint, sand, paint, sand, paint)
Move the tape so it lines up with the edge of the yellow contact sections.
Paint the center blue in the same method (again 3 coats of paint with sand in between)

At this point leave the board alone to dry for a while & move on to the base.
Base Assembly

Start out by assembling the whole base without glue.
Hopefully these photos will show you where everything goes...


What isn't shown by these photos is the top section that acts as the pivot point. I didn't glue most of that section (so that the board is removable) and it just gets in the way at this point. (so set aside 2 - 6" pieces, a 15.25" piece, and 2 elbows)

a hint for assembly, I assumed that the pipe would fit into the connectors 3/4". Some of the pieces that the length is really important for I marked this out on each end to be sure they didn't go in too far.
Also, the 1 1/2" pieces are used for when connectors butt up against each other. They should fit right up against each other without the pvc pipe showing.

Once the base is dry fitted & everything is lined up correctly I drew a line across each join with the sharpie. This is so once you start glueing everything you will have a guide to help you line the pieces up. (you can see these lines on the photos above)

I glued this by first laying the whole base on it's side. Then I pulled off the side assembly & glued this first. (the vertical piece plus the two side bottom pieces)
Next I put glue on the next set of joins and seated the side on it.

This photo shows the base on it's side with one side off. You can see the purple primer on the next 3 joins that I'm gluing. Assembling it this way will help make sure that the whole thing still lines up.
One those joins are dry then remove the side again, but so you can get to the next join.
Continue gluing the base together in this fashion until you reach the other end. The only pieces I didn't glue was the diagonal braces. These are held in by lots of other glued parts & are held in really well.

Once the base is glued together glue the 6" pieces to the open spot on the tee. Also glue an elbow onto the remaining 15.25" piece.

Okay now lets move back to the board while the glue cures...

Take the piece of 1 1/2" PVC pipe & wrap the pieces of perforated plumbers tape around the center. Theoretically it should be just off center, but because of natural variences in the wood you'll want to play around and find that place where one end stays on the ground & it's easy to pivot the board (I carefully calibrated mine to AKC standards... the board hits the ground is just under 3 second when a 3lb weight is placed 12" from the raised end, this all depends on finding the correct pivot point).

Place the piece of PVC pip along this pivot point. I screwed the pipe directly to the board at each end. This is a little tricky because you need to get the drill inside the pipe, but creates a really sturdy join. I then screwed the plumbers tape down just as a back up system.

In this photo I've already placed the connection to the base into the pivot pipe.
The base is then inserted into the elbows & the whole thing can be turned over.

The teeter should measure 24" tall at the pivot point to the top of the board. If for some reason it's over you can easily fix this by shortening the 6" pieces of pipe.

The duct tape is only on there because I'm an idiot & cut the top pipe half an inch too short. Of course I realized this after I glued it onto one of the elbows, so I need to get a new elbow tomorrow & fix this. It fits, but just barely.

Despite my little error I gave my teeter the big test. I walked across it. Gosh that's scary! But it felt sturdy & I feel totally safe letting Robin start to train on this tomorrow after I fix that last little piece.