Category: Steelworks

 The 6 steel brackets were hung up in our painting tent this morning and painted this afternoon.

Shaun-painting-brackets

Plus also the preparations for making the Steel Legs, all 7 of them, started today. First of all, we measured the height of the concrete floor inside the house at where the legs will be standing. The results of the laser level check-up were that 6 of them were within plus or minus 3mm and the 7th position was 15mm higher. This means that we will shorten that particular leg by 10mm and leave the other  6 legs alone as they are all within working tolerance.

Then the foot and top plates were orientated and marked out so they can be welded flat onto the ends of each of the 7 legs the right way around and that the bolt holes will line up with the I Beams.

It will probably take another week to weld the final pieces of steel onto the 7 legs and have them painted too. Then we will be ready to assemble them all together into the massive rectangular box framework situated in the middle of our roof and house.

 Today, the first major welding task was done, putting together the 9 pieces of steel framework that will fix the two long side of the box shaped superstructure (the steel I beam pieces) to prevent lateral twisting, as well as providing a fixing for the ridge beam right at the top of the roof that holds the glazing units, plus a fixing point for the ceiling in the upper floor rooms.

Beam-restraint-diagram

In the morning the plates and flanges were welded to the upright parts using a jig so measurements only need to be done once. Then after lunch the parts were assembled and welded into the complete restraint on another jig.

Beam-Restraint-welded-on-jig

Beam-restraint-x-9

On Monday, these 9 cross pieces will be cleaned and primed so that they will survive a relatively short time being exposed to the weather and prevent rust etc.

 This afternoon, more holes were drilled into the I beams, this time, the webbing received dozens of 5mm holes for wood screws to hold more timber in place.

The I beams need turning over and these long chunky steel objects, especially the bigger ones, are very heavy indeed and we couldn’t do it without a handy tool that effectively acts as an extended lever!

Tomorrow, we will work in the workshop as the weather forecast is for heavy rain all day!!

 The task continues to prepare all the steel pieces ready for assembly. Today, the big I beams sitting outside, got dozens and dozens of small 5mm holes put into the top flat flange. This will provide the ability to use ordinary wood screws to hold in place the timber planks that will act as an anchorage for nailing the rafters up.

Small-holes-in-top-flange-of-beams-1

Small-holes-in-top-flange-of-beams-2

 This afternoon, the task of drilling all the bigger holes (13mm in diameter) continued and was finished today, using the hired “mag drill” machine with its core drill bit.

Drilling-both-the-top-plate-of-the-leg-and-the-beam

The core drill bit is actually a circular line of teeth, set in two rows, one slightly lower than the other. Also there is a central spring loaded spike up the middle of the core which is used to exactly position the drill!

Plus also, it is where the oil/water mixture comes down and lubricates and cools the cutting action – very clever design!

But this is not the end of the drilling operations as we still have plenty more holes to do, with lots of 5mm ones to fix the wood parts into place, ready for the nailing the rafters etc. when the roof is constructed.