Saturday, July 21, 2012

Rebuilding the Second Beam

The 2 by 3 timber that I used to build the second beam were curved and I was not aware of the "proper" way to uncurve the wood.Instead of opposing the curves of the wood I followed the curvature of the timber. The problem comes when I had to place the next two pieces of 2 by 3 timber on top. It was an almost impossible task so I had to consult my good friend Ah Ying who is a master carpenter.


His solution was simple..Tear off the 9 mm  ply on both sides. After tearing off the 9 mm ply I prepared the surface by grinding off the epoxy and planning the 2 by 3 timber again...no not to plane it straight but to plane it so that there is no more epoxy.

Meanwhile I was cutting the stainless 3/8 inch bolts to the correct size. It came in a long rod 7 ft long and I only require 7 inches per bolt.


Ah Ying came today and he helped me to rebuild the beam. I should  have done it this way from the start. Build one "box" first and then join together the second box.Here the first "box" is completed and we were in the process of joining the second box


The trick is to use 1 inch stainless steel nails to "force" straighten the old piece of structure

. .
After that it was drilling holes about 30 inches apart to put in the stainless steel bolts and nuts. This combined with the epoxy will make a super strong beam.


Now both the beams are ready...well almost as some trimming will be required later

1 comment:

  1. You are almost finishing and looking forward to taking a ride!

    ReplyDelete