We made our first tool today! It is a joint compressor for squeezing the webbing (the plywood layers) hard onto the flanges (89mm or 63mm CLS timber planks) and making sure the glue is spread as thinly as possible to gain the maximum strength in the joint.
It is made using steel angle iron pieces with side arms and little upright piece and then a long “handle” with a couple of holes to provide the pivot point. A wooden footplate and sturdy short pillar to hold the bolt that is holding the metal part of this tool at the correct height to squeeze the rafters, first with just one plywood layer and then again when the second layer goes on later.
Joint clamp - The machine
Joint clamp - First Apply glue
Joint Clamp - close and apply pressure
Joint clamp - Open and move to next position
This tool will slide under the edge of the template that will hold the component parts of the rafter and squash the joint and hold it tight while the nail gun comes along and puts in four or five nails to lock things together while the glue dries and make it good and permanent.
Tomorrow, we will work on the next tool and template, probably the Bird Mouth and “end of Eve’s” template!