Roof Trusses

A roof truss is a triangular shaped piece of wood framing that is designed to bear the weight of the roof, stabilize walls, and provide overall reinforcement for the structure. There are a variety of ways to frame a roof, but using roof trusses will shorten the framing time, save on materials (i.e. lumbar) used in framing a roof, and generally provides superior support to the roof structure. While roof trusses can be pre-fabricated and ordered to the specifications needed for you structure or addition, building your own roof trusses will save money on the job, and are not difficult or time consuming to build. You will need a few specific tools, and good measuring equipments such as angles and squares.

Step 1 - Measure for Trusses

Start by measuring the pitch, needed, width and height needed for the trusses. This will determine both the style as well as the size of the truss that is needed. Cut all lumber to the needed lengths. Trusses are basically a triangle, and there are generally four pieces of lumbar to each truss: the two sides that are joined together at angles, a brace beam that creates the bottom of the triangle, and a support piece that bisects the triangle from the peak to the support beam. If the truss is large, or if it will be bearing a significant amount of weight, two additional support beams are generally added at forty-five degree angles to the support beam and the bisecting support.

Step 2 - Cut Lumber

Cut all of your lumber to the appropriate lengths and angles. Remember the golden rule of carpentry: measure twice and cut once. You will assemble each truss laying down on the ground, generally outside, then lift it into place. Mark all of your cuts before you take the saw to them. This will help you to visualize the truss as it comes together, and help you to identify any pieces that have been inaccurately measured.

Step 3 - Attach Gussets

Attach gussets at the top angle, and on each side of the support beam at the bottom of the triangle. Attach gussets also to each joint for the support beam or beams. Secure each gusset with the nails. Gussets should be placed on either side of the truss, so you will have to, once all the gussets are done on one side, flip the truss over and attach them in the same places on the other side.

Step 4 - Place Frame

You will place each truss on the wall framing at intervals of every two feet. Any time you are working on a roof, you need to be extra careful. Have a couple of extra people to lift and hold the truss in place and hold it while it is secured. You will want to secure each of the trusses, but check for plumb before you secure them.

Work Experience

30/03/09

Today i assembled 3 kitchen cupboards using a nail gun and a cordless drill then i fitted the scribes asswell using a drop saw to cut the scribe at the correct lengths then in the after noon i hammered cams and tz's into chipboard and also in the afternoon i cleaned up the glue and stickers of the wood using a plane blade to scrape any left overs off theni cleaned them with mineral turps

31/03/09

This morning i assembled 16 bedside tables and then drilled 96 brackets into 48 pieces of wood after a drilled 16 drawer runners into the the chipboard then after smoko i cleaned doors that had just arrived on apallet then after lunch i started assembling the draw handles also to give the drawers extra support i used a nail gun to shoot nails into the base of the drawers then i used a staple gun to staple the MDF wood back onto the drawers.

1/04/09

Today i was going to the work site but something came up soi stayed at the factory and helped efron and matt build some more side cupboards

2/04/09

today was the day when i was of to the work site i took us 20 mins to get there and 20 mins back we got there and opened the factory styled site iswept up and then we began

Saw Stool

Sawstool


Today Keith drew a design of a saw stool up on the white board my first task was to draw a full sized (to scale) drawing of the saw stool my drawing included the head which was 900mm long and 90mm wide it also includes 4 legs of the size of 645mm high this made the saw stool to high for my size to reach with my leg so i shortened my leg sizes to 575mm which made my stool stand at 600mm high which was a perfect size for me.





This stool also includes to cleats which where 140 x 19 mm these kept the legs in position we also had to blocks under neath the stool for extra strength after my drawing was done it was time to start my saw stool i started with the head i measured 150mm in from each end and marked where the legs should be after i sawed 15mm down and chiseled the waste out.





After all of the slots were done on the head i cut the legs i marked them at 620 end cut the legs on the drop saw then i marked out my leg joints with the sliding bevel at a one in four angle i then fitted my legs to the head then it was time to make the base to fit the stool into to give the right angle David and i worked hard building the base then we fitted my stool to the base then all i need to do is add the cleat and the block i added the cleat first by screwing them into the perfect angles of the legs after they were in i then fitted the block into the bottom of the stool after that i used the orbit sander and sanded my job.

Basic Joints

Housing Joints

Today i got my first task of building 3 housing joints called the Tounged housing joint, the Through housing joint and the Stopped housing joint i first recieved my plans which i studied then i marked out the wood, next i sawed the 3 joints depth which was 10 mm deep for the tounged housing joint i only needed to take 10mm wide out of the base wood for the through housing joint i had to take out 30 mm's wide out of the base plate and only half of the base woods 30mm's depth and width out for the stopped housing joint.

Halving Joints

Today i made a Halving Joint set up with 4 halving joints on it these are called the Dovetail halving, the Tee halving, the Stopped halving and the Corner halving joint this was a difficult task but i managed to work it out i made the stopped, tee and corner halving joints very easy by sawing down 10mm downwards then chisseling the waste out of the wood but the Dovetail joint was difficult by the angles that need to be cut from the joint and the base but i worked it out and ended up with a nice flush joint.

Mortise And Tenon Joints

Today i got the difficult task of building 3 Mortise and Tenon joints called the Haunched Joint, the Stub joint and the Throught Joint i firstly marked out my wood by using a marking gauge going in 10mm from each side leaving a centre of the wood i then got a 8mm drill bit which i drilled downwards making a hole through the wood then i cut my Mortise and Tenons and noticed that the joints were to small for the hole so i made 2 wedges to wedge into the hole this tightened the joint leaving it in a tight stable joint.