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After finding some longer clamps I decided to have a practice lifting the second doubled beam into place. The shorter, inner beam was easy enough but lifting the 4.2 meter [14'] uncut beam was much harder work. The beam will not go over the timber bracket until it is almost horizontal. Then it slides easily enough despite its great weight.
The trick was to lodge the lower corner of the beam safely onto the bracket while I dashed over to the stepladder at the other post. Twice the beam slipped off the far end and see-sawed inexorably down to the ground. I had placed the other end of the beam over the stepladder, hoping to start the final lift as high as I could. Third time lucky and then it seemed to like it up there. I hastily added whatever clamps I could still muster. Then I threw a ratchet strap over both pairs of beams and lashed them together. It has reached 71F today and by now I was bathed in sweat! Am I having fun yet? 😎
The shops are back open today and I need to get some construction adhesive, some 12mm galvanized threaded rod [studding or all thread] and a few more clamps. My small collection of G-cramps [C-clamps] can't cope with paired, 4" posts. I don't have enough bar clamps to be in more than 2 places at the same time.
I even had to resort to the orange strapping to keep the heavy beams safely in place. But these pull the octagon out of shape. Just pushing on any of the support posts makes the octagon flex in and out on either side.
Working alone has its limitations as far as safety is concerned. A suitable clamp can be a lifesaver. But should not be relied on without careful consideration of the consequences of movement or even failure. Just climbing a ladder set up against the structure could distort it enough for a clamp to slip. I have been using the stepladders as much as possible but they aren't very tall and rely on flat ground for stability.
The quality of many, cheaper bar clamps leaves an awful lot to be desired. They are obviously thrown together from the cheapest possible materials without a care for reliability. Even the bars themselves are often bent like bananas from new. Or the vital toothed edges hardly visible at all. Who knows what the strength is of obviously mass-produced materials? Any thought of testing their products to destruction at the factory should be a considered a bad joke. Even the most cursory inspection must have been done in the pitch dark.
My second builder's merchant of the day had Bessey F-clamps "Made in Germany." Expensive, but most obviously better made than the cheaper stock. I can't manage the hand strength required for the pistol grip and trigger style clamps. They leave my hands feeling sprained after lifting all that timber repeatedly over the last week or more. I also bought a cartridge of NoMoreNails and a couple of meters of galvanized 1/2" threaded rod.
I plan to lower the doubled beams off the timber brackets for gluing and bolting the brackets but not take the beams all the way down to the ground again. The weight can easily be held with Prussic loop cords around the upper posts. Or even temporarily tied off to the octagon, rim joists.
I chose to use the 2x6 octagon rim joists to support the beams on rather slack cords. It was important to be able to move the beams freely around so that I could remove the timber brackets without damage. I used a small crowbar to push each beam off its bracket. This went well and without any drama. I then went around removing clamps and brackets. The image shows the pairs of beams hanging from doubled cords with a separate cord for extra insurance. The timber bracket is still in place and held by a G-cramp.
The sheathed cord is nice stuff to work with provided the correct knots are used. For the main suspension cords I used figure-of-eight knots which can always be undone by hand even following heavy loading. It is also a very safe knot against slipping and cannot form a slip knot/noose around a climber's waist, for example.
The brackets will now be drilled 12mm/ 1/2" with the holes arranged on a diagonal to avoid causing splitting. Then the construction adhesive will be used to reinforce the joints with the posts. Followed by threaded rod with heavy, load spreading washers to compress the brackets tightly into the post notches. I shall finish by plating over the brackets/post joints with nail plates. While I may not have much of a shoulder to support the brackets, the glue, bolts and plates should be safe enough working in unison.
The latest image shows the brackets bolted into place. I was even allowed to trim back some of my wife's collection of different oaks. Later, in unpleasantly warm, 75F and full sun, I applied the NoMoreNails to the brackets and re-tightened the studs. NMN needs 24 hours to gain strength so I shan't hurry to replace the beams.
Sunday morning and showers have arrived with a delightful drop in temperature. They probably won't last long but they will stop progress for the moment. Keen as I am to refit the beams I ought to hold off until the glue has set. Lots more than anticipated squished out of the joints as I cranked on the nuts. It was runnier than expected and literally fell off the wood as it squeezed out. I made a bit of a mess scraping the excess around the various cracks in the timber. Just using odd off-cuts of wood which were lying about. The dried glue is off-white and has a slightly rubbery consistency. I haven't tried scraping it yet.
The shops are back open today and I need to get some construction adhesive, some 12mm galvanized threaded rod [studding or all thread] and a few more clamps. My small collection of G-cramps [C-clamps] can't cope with paired, 4" posts. I don't have enough bar clamps to be in more than 2 places at the same time.
I even had to resort to the orange strapping to keep the heavy beams safely in place. But these pull the octagon out of shape. Just pushing on any of the support posts makes the octagon flex in and out on either side.Working alone has its limitations as far as safety is concerned. A suitable clamp can be a lifesaver. But should not be relied on without careful consideration of the consequences of movement or even failure. Just climbing a ladder set up against the structure could distort it enough for a clamp to slip. I have been using the stepladders as much as possible but they aren't very tall and rely on flat ground for stability.
The quality of many, cheaper bar clamps leaves an awful lot to be desired. They are obviously thrown together from the cheapest possible materials without a care for reliability. Even the bars themselves are often bent like bananas from new. Or the vital toothed edges hardly visible at all. Who knows what the strength is of obviously mass-produced materials? Any thought of testing their products to destruction at the factory should be a considered a bad joke. Even the most cursory inspection must have been done in the pitch dark.
My second builder's merchant of the day had Bessey F-clamps "Made in Germany." Expensive, but most obviously better made than the cheaper stock. I can't manage the hand strength required for the pistol grip and trigger style clamps. They leave my hands feeling sprained after lifting all that timber repeatedly over the last week or more. I also bought a cartridge of NoMoreNails and a couple of meters of galvanized 1/2" threaded rod.
I plan to lower the doubled beams off the timber brackets for gluing and bolting the brackets but not take the beams all the way down to the ground again. The weight can easily be held with Prussic loop cords around the upper posts. Or even temporarily tied off to the octagon, rim joists.I chose to use the 2x6 octagon rim joists to support the beams on rather slack cords. It was important to be able to move the beams freely around so that I could remove the timber brackets without damage. I used a small crowbar to push each beam off its bracket. This went well and without any drama. I then went around removing clamps and brackets. The image shows the pairs of beams hanging from doubled cords with a separate cord for extra insurance. The timber bracket is still in place and held by a G-cramp.
The sheathed cord is nice stuff to work with provided the correct knots are used. For the main suspension cords I used figure-of-eight knots which can always be undone by hand even following heavy loading. It is also a very safe knot against slipping and cannot form a slip knot/noose around a climber's waist, for example. The brackets will now be drilled 12mm/ 1/2" with the holes arranged on a diagonal to avoid causing splitting. Then the construction adhesive will be used to reinforce the joints with the posts. Followed by threaded rod with heavy, load spreading washers to compress the brackets tightly into the post notches. I shall finish by plating over the brackets/post joints with nail plates. While I may not have much of a shoulder to support the brackets, the glue, bolts and plates should be safe enough working in unison.
The latest image shows the brackets bolted into place. I was even allowed to trim back some of my wife's collection of different oaks. Later, in unpleasantly warm, 75F and full sun, I applied the NoMoreNails to the brackets and re-tightened the studs. NMN needs 24 hours to gain strength so I shan't hurry to replace the beams.
Sunday morning and showers have arrived with a delightful drop in temperature. They probably won't last long but they will stop progress for the moment. Keen as I am to refit the beams I ought to hold off until the glue has set. Lots more than anticipated squished out of the joints as I cranked on the nuts. It was runnier than expected and literally fell off the wood as it squeezed out. I made a bit of a mess scraping the excess around the various cracks in the timber. Just using odd off-cuts of wood which were lying about. The dried glue is off-white and has a slightly rubbery consistency. I haven't tried scraping it yet.
Once the rain cleared I started work on the main beams again. Using my laser rangefinder I double checked the distance between the posts at both floor levels. The hanging cords made it incredibly easy to manage the beams independently without danger or repeated heavy lifting.
I fixed the inner beams to the posts with 4" screws. The improvement in stiffness of the octagon structure was very obvious in line with the beams. Though it made no real difference perpendicular to them. I think I shall have to run cross beams between the doubled beams. The floor joists going on top would probably stiffen things up in that direction [N-S] but working on a flexible structure makes all measurements pointless. It is also uncomfortable working on a swaying structure. I shall bolt through both beams and the posts as an extra precaution.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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