A friend had some left over plywood - for such a basic wood you can do some pretty amazing effects with it. Well, maybe...
So I glued 2 pieces of wood together with Epoxy resin - clamped them over night. I started with the main cat hole and worked a geometric pattern from there. Then decided to add hips to the gate... all the way round.
I cut it all out with a jigsaw and just drill bits for the smaller holes. Used a burr to bring the edges round and finished with various grades of sandpaper. Screws were added to strengthen the wood, which I was having some serious doubts about. Finally a couple of coats of polyurethane wood varnish and attached the gate fittings.
Footnotes:
1, Probably should have applied more polyurethane as the wood appears to have got wet - gives a nice rustic look (cough).
2, Will probably go back and further emphasise the curves.
3, Never assume the strength of your walls...
4, After having cut the hip in the bottom of the gate it occured to me that the cats would use this instead.
5, Do not assume the cat can even be bothered to go out :)
