Thread: Shed build

Originally Posted by node105

None of these posts seem to list in 'new posts' btw, for those that may be interested.

They do, just not for you as they are not New Posts to you are they? You have already read them because you posted them!

tanks BigShed, I had considered that and tested not logged in I thought...

The weekend was spent extracting the cold saw from the garage where it has been for the last 2 years, and moving the bits to the pad at the back. No easy task as it is HEAVY bit of kit ( guess 250kg +). I had constructed a makeshift 'crane' of sorts, with a bit of welding to construct the upper beam, some Bessey clamps, and my ever useful engine stand ( Alfa Romeos...). The trolley was one of 2 bits of welded frames that were destined for the scrap bin, some releasing and re-welding of seriously offensive scruffy welds, sourced castors and paint and multi-purpose load bearers they are.

Once on the table, one started wondering what the zero pointer was set against. Seemed there was a bit in absentia. A spirit level across the jaws suggested something on the order of 10 mm or so proportionate to the apparent gap. Then there was the obviously missing blade guards. It had been dissembled when I got it a couple of years ago ( bought from an uncle's factory close down), so maybe I had them, maybe I didn't. A couple of hours searching (not easy as the garage has been getting progressively stuffed to the point of inaccessible... ) and first the guards and finally the degree plate was dug out. Relief.

The 3 phase plug did not fit the new socket, so off to the closest electrical supplies today, and a chinese plug obtained ( all they had, should have gone to L&H), duly wired, contact, rotation! Well one speed anyway, faster is not at all happy.
Test bit of 25mm cut square, sparing liberally with Rocol; will see what some 75mm SHS cuts like tomorrow.


Went off to get some new coolant/lubricant; failed trip across town. As I had cleaned the catch tank, and the tape and surrounds, thought it was time to get some full synthetic. Called interstate and they gave me the only source in Adelaide; only 20L drums, none of the listed higher grade Tool Mate Ultra Synthet 971 (5L, 10L, 20L), only Tool Mate Green (20L). Anyone use it?

The old pump as the photo shows, is cleverly disguised as a silicone muffin; don't know if it works. As an alternative, I have a laboratory water bath, bath heater and pump I have had tucked away for a few years ( part of the drive across town today to retrieve it (unused) from a mates shed. Tested and it has lots of flow, I will have to throttle that back with a clamp.

Also time on re-locating the irrigation manifold which will have a branch to supply the shed; finally found a good source of bits not far away, after being told by the local hardware who convinced me to replace the copper with the blue stripe, then subsequently that blue stripe wouldn't join to the irrigation fittings. Irrigation bloke chuckled and handed me the appropriate compression fitting to make it so.

Did a mock up of rafter height for the mezzanines, comfortable enough storage height. Drawn up is one thing, some spatial modelling is much better.

Cut the few remaining 8m lengths of RHS out the front with the drop saw, should have done that to all the 75x75, much easier to lug 3m than 8m down the side, up the slope...
Getting enough level a bit of an issue, so rough all the other 8m lengths for the columns.
Knocked up a simple 3m length of flat bar and welded a bit of angle iron as an end stop, to act as a 'story stick' for the cuts.
Cut some shims and levelled up the MEP cold saw, and support, and started cutting. Very nicely square. Then cold saw dad. Motor not particularly warm, can put hand on it comfortably. Hmmm.

Waited a couple of hours, and got the last few column cuts done. 8m +/- 1mm good enough for the back yard.
With a lot more cutting to do, I would rather get it checked. Found a firm who wanted it without the motor, so partially dissembled but can't get the gearbox off. Will start a new thread on this in the metalwork forum, hoping someone may have a manual or parts diagram, or whatever advice.

With the columns at least cut, I can get to drilling these for some of the girt flanges, while the colds issues are addressed. Will take it to a mates on the way to the electrical machinery mob, and try a rattle gun on the main motor shaft nut.

MUCH nicer cutting with a cold saw than an abrasive saw.

Got some help to separate the motor body of the cold saw from the gearbox, easier on a solid bench, and took the 3 phase motor to Royce Cross Friday, will have a diagnosis and quote Tuesday. The door stop caught my eye, an all metal adjustable foot, stainless to boot. The current stock was stainless M16 and plastic of some sort 80mm foot with non slip pad, c. 1700 Kg rating (converting from the catalogue 17000 Newtons , $18 each.

Didn't have any M16 nuts, so a trip Saturday morning to the other side of town, out to a mates to borrow a MT2 17mm drill bit, and then pick up some 65x8 flat bar for the new foot mounts; 95km round trip. The cold saw table was a bit high at 955mm, so took the opportunity to drop it down to a standard (to me) 900mm.

Cut and drilled the plates, cut the legs of the stand down, welded on some captive nuts and tacked on the plates yesterday, planning to finish welding the plates today. Rained most of today.

When it did let up, decided to cut the girts to rough length with the abrasive drop saw in order to get them off the lawn, and finish re-instating the sprinklers.
The vertical rack was never intended to take that much material btw, hence the temporary matchstick bracing. It is balanced quite well though. Have to move it onto the trestles in the morning.

Schedule substantially off due the cold saw failure. Chasing around... Took girts to a mates to cut on a small Thomas. Too small, light and not bolted down, it moved around constantly. Uneven legs meant repacking the shims a number of times. Then the rotary table came loose; the lock spindle needs re-shimming, and that requires a disassembly as the lock lever in held by a horizontal pinch pin, up inside the casting; not as easy as undoing a couple of nuts on the bottom of the table spindle. Plus an existing broken tooth and only being 250mm blade; not a happy day.

Got them done, reloaded, back across town and unloaded and lugged back on site.

Went to an auction to look at a another cold saw, a large Thomas - too big; motor probably twice the weight and length of the MEP. Bought a nice 3 phase Harvey pedestal drill plus other stuff. Had to dissemble in order to move it, so have done a quick clean up while apart. Will start a new thread once I have a few photos.

Cut the end plates for the girts today, until the small Thomas blade finally shattered. Drilling tomorrow, then welding, maybe start on the wall sections Friday.

Got the last of the columns drilled today, and all the cleats for the girts.
The new Harvey worked well; temporary table in situ. Replaced the chuck with a keyless Jacobs for now, until I find where I hid a new Albrecht. The Harvey was $120.
The little height adjustable stainless table was one of 4 stands and a welding cart bought for $20 at last Friday's auction.

Got most of the end plates welded to the girts, and started moving material off the slab, to make way for welding the wall frames.
A simple jig kept things together. The table was a freebie it is my 'anvil' table, was on steel castors, well 3 anyway as one sheared so removed them, a bugger to get up the steps by myself; shimmed the table for the one level side, as the top ( i/2" on top of 1/4") is a bit bowed;. Want to keep things as square as possible, and flush to one side, having the RHS horizontal definitely helps.

Picked up the cold saw rotating table base which I had ground ( it was a mm or so out) and final cleaned, greased and re-assembled the table, spindle and vice. Feels nice now, finger pressure only to lock the table.

I bought a Zippy Scaff yesterday and it was delivered today. If only everything was as light as these things. We used one a couple of years ago to insulate and line a mates shed, ceiling and walls, and it made life much easier; less up and down ladder time.

Keep putting stuff on the slab and you'll be out of room before you know it

Cut the rag bolts down for the 8 column footplates. Screwed down nuts on each thread before cutting, in order to use the nut to rough back the thread. The residual cement spatter from the concrete pour made getting the nuts screwed down difficult on some threads. Wire brush was generally ineffectual, nylon brush on a die grinder similarly useless, had to resort to a wire cup brush on an angle grinder. Then disc cutter on an angle grinder to make the chops. Should have put some tubing (e.g. 19mm irrigation tube) over the studs prior to the pour.

Got the first two wall panels welded up; 3.0m (H) x 2.525m (W), diagonals within 1mm, a square enough result!
Plan A had always been to lay up on the floor, as this would be flat enough to act as a true surface. I got talked into laying up on trestles as this would avoid having to kneeling to weld etc. Keeling is generally something to be avoided wherever possible these days, so this idea was adopted. The downside was the 2 pairs of trestles were different heights, nothing that a couple of bits of bearers couldn't correct. The trestles were not true side to side, digital sprit level shows 0.7 degree example, so these had to be shimmed; had some squares of 16 gauge galv for this - far better to shim the base of the trestle than mess about with shims between the trestle and the RHS workpieces. Spent some time getting the quartet of trestles horizontal in both directions to 0.1 degree ( which has to be interpreted in terms of the level's accuracy of 0.2 degree of course, but numbers are so much easier to work to than more qualitative perspectives on the bubble. The reason to get the support flat is to square up the fit up as much as possible - 1 degree over 3 metre is 54mm. Anyway, we do these things


Fundamental to plan A had even more always been to clamp up using my Bessey WS-9 corner clamps which I have had of a few years, and that even though only get occasional use, have made getting things square SOOOOO much quicker on the projects they have been used for. 90mm capacity yes, but only as a corner fit, the pass through is limited to about 50mm! How had I never noticed this before??

The pic (3_bessey_corner_butt) shows two 75x75 SHS sections in a butt joint, and still some adjustment to accommodate up to 90mm. BUT, the pass through is limited to 60mm due the web in the casting.
Grrrrr. I award myself The Royal Order of the Butthead - First Class.

PlanB, good old traditional measure square and individual clamps. Had to join to Bessey KR clamps to get across the 2.5m width; could only find one joiner, and didn't get any pics of the lay up on the trestles.
The end result though is show, on the ground, and can then act as a jig for the remaining 3 wall panels. Got the second one done in an hour.

more pics

I know Bessey clamps a quality, but you'd think that the designers would take into account that if they can fit 90 mm into them, that people may want to join material at a T joint. Pity that the base couldn't be cut away to make it fit.
Kryn

Cleaned up the mounting pads, scraped off the concrete residuals, and applied a quick coat of cold Galv. Similarly the column footplates.

I had spent a couple of hours playing with settings on the mig (CIG Transpak 225), which has quite crusty voltage taps. Tried the time the wire speed method; measure the wire output for 6 seconds, then adjust the wire rate to a reference value for the material thickness and wire diameter. Then find the voltage that works. Backward to what I have always done, but it works quite well. What I think is a reasonable weld may well not be, so I am very receptive to any feedback on the example.

The steel for the mezzanines arrived today, 530Kg; 125 x 75 x 4 beams, 75x50x3 joists, plus the offcuts. Had to get it cut as the cold saw is still offline.

The wall panels are all complete, and laid out oriented, and are going up tomorrow (at last).
A mate who has been instrumental in the build details from inception, currentlty has a severe bout of influenza A, so in case he turns up, I built him an isolation chamber that he can sit in and watch proceedings.

Wall frame went up this morning.
First bay right panel stand, first bay left panel stand, bolt in middle end girt, bolt in top end girt, temporarily clamp in the remaining (end bottom) girt in the open middle end.
We have a box.
Repeat for end bay; second box.
Quick bit of checking, column verticals 0.0 to 0.2 degree, girts 0.0 to 0.1. That'll do for a first stand. Well pleased.
Bolt in the girts in the middle bay.
All done. Just on an hour.

Fitting up the long girts was easy enough; clamp a bit of angle at just below the approximate height to rest the girt on, then podge bar in the lower cleat hole, lever and jiggle and fit the upper 10x100mm bolt... Being of an optimistic bent the column holes and cleat holes were drilled 11mm. None required fettling on the fly; everything just fitted. My marking out must be getting better.

Next is to line up the side walls, check the square ( diagonals across the top of the columns; where the zippy scaff and extension will come in handy), then weld the columns down to the footplates.

The front girts are currently full width, as this makes for easier boxing up. Door columns will be fitted up and the middle and lower front girts unbolted and cut, and refitted.

squared up the diagonals on the first box, and tacked the columns to the footplates this morning.

Cut some angle (75x75x5) for (temporary) brackets under the mezzanine beams, and positioned the first four, at the required height, and horizontal. Had bought a Leica Disto D2 laser distance meter yesterday, and used this to set the bracket heights; piece of baclava; except the thing does not like to get warm throws an error code. Very quick to measure, and makes a lot of measurements a one man operation ( don't need someone to hold the other end of the tape. No problem at all with accuracy. It is a bit small - 116x44x26, and the button requires a firm press, the base is relatively narrow so prone to rocking depending on how held, I haven't been able to get the timer working yet. A Fluke 419D ; 127x56x33mm ( or maybe 424D) was the alternative.

Lifted up the 125x75x4 mm beam, onto the brackets, a mm clearance maybe. 0 degree horizontal according to the digital Stabila. Tacked in place.

A hot day particularly in full sun, so gave it up at one beam up. The rest will have to wait till after xmas.