Took the first step towards building my shop

[Frank S]

I'm no soil engineer, or geologist; or decent gardener, lol.
Looks same as 'our' red dirt, comparing stockpile angle of repose. Identical to that around my building, elevation 849' [about 75' higher than Missouri River] and completely different than house at 997' [our famous black dirt]. Dense, dry, fine and packs like roadway. You can mold it cleanly enough to use as concrete forms. Astounding somehow, considereing our locales are 650 miles apart.
And to offshore forum members, that's a 9-1/2 hour flatland drive.

Yes it is a red Corse sandy clay with the correct moisture content while packing it will pack down so hard that it takes a pick to break it up by hand and once fully compacted it remains stable

[Frank S]

Fighting 25 to 35 MPH winds from about 7:30 this morning having to straighten the last 2 bar joists and hang them then finish welding the rest of the structure. Plus melting a circuit breaker in the process Don't know but figured it was going bad for a while and the 106° temperature this afternoon probably didn't help.
But maybe this week end the winds will die down some and I'll get the roof on

[metric_taper]

Plus melting a circuit breaker in the process Don't know but figured it was going bad for a while and the 106° temperature this afternoon probably didn't help.

Did the bus bars do a melt down that the breaker 'clips' into? I did a repair last year for a neighbor where a 25amp electric heat breaker did this. General Electric brand panel. I think it was some sort of plated spring brass on the breaker that probably was bent during original electrician install, sometime in the 60s. The basement was damp as well, so not the best of environments.

[Frank S]

Did the bus bars do a melt down that the breaker 'clips' into? I did a repair last year for a neighbor where a 25amp electric heat breaker did this. General Electric brand panel. I think it was some sort of plated spring brass on the breaker that probably was bent during original electrician install, sometime in the 60s. The basement was damp as well, so not the best of environments.

Na what happened is 3's and 5s' look alike when I had wired up a temporary 6ga cord for a welder the 30 amp looked like a 50 amp it had been working fine for quite some time but once it tripped the first time it tripped more and more frequently until I got tired of it pulled it off and looked real close so new breaker with a 5 not a 3 problem solved

[Frank S]

Yesterday Jane and I managed to get the last of the poles in the ground even with all of the safety inspectors and the building inspectors all having to put their 2 cents worth in
First off it was the job site superintendent sending the building inspector into one of the holes as it was being backfilled

then the civil engineer showed up to make sure the fill was properly compacted

Then the safety officer had a conference with everyone before we were allowed to go back to work How can anyone be expected to ever get anything done with all that supervision?

I figured that today I might get 2 of the end trusses up but was going to have to move the bus scaffold and lower its height some how.
But then this morning I had barely finished breakfast and my 4th cup of coffee dreading the prospect of what was ahead for the day, About this time some guy who is not chopped liver.

By the end of the day in near 100° heat this is what we had done. When there is a second pair of hands around to help hold things and move things quite a bit can get done even with taking more breaks than working. Crawling out to the middle of a bar joist that is only chained off on one end and resting on top of the pole on the other to release the lifting strap several times is so much fun I recommend it to everyone Just don't tell Jane what I did.


Sometimes all you need to do is just hang around much better than trying to back walk crawl across now 2 loose structural members one if them held in place by a single pair of vice grip pliers on one end

[Frank S]

Well I have the floor joists welded in place for the buss entryway landing will weld in some girts between them to support the eventual floor surface.
Now probably it may seem a bit extreme to use 4x4 sq tubing for the joists but that was the materials on hand.

[metric_taper]

Well I have the floor joists welded in place for the buss entryway landing will weld in some girts between them to support the eventual floor surface.
Now probably it may seem a bit extreme to use 4x4 sq tubing for the joists but that was the materials on hand.

I'm surprised to see that 'dog leg' in the left side support beam. I assume it's because you had 3 longer pieces of square tubing, and why waste a few feet cutting them the same. Good thing you don't have inspectors around, as I believe they never let a beam have a welded joint. Not that I don't believe you have excess structural integrity, both in the strength of materials, and quality welds.
I have I-beams I've spliced, but only when no one is looking. But I know I have full depth weld penetration, and a limited 2nd floor load.
Nice progress.

[Frank S]

I'm surprised to see that 'dog leg' in the left side support beam. I assume it's because you had 3 longer pieces of square tubing, and why waste a few feet cutting them the same. Good thing you don't have inspectors around, as I believe they never let a beam have a welded joint. Not that I don't believe you have excess structural integrity, both in the strength of materials, and quality welds.
I have I-beams I've spliced, but only when no one is looking. But I know I have full depth weld penetration, and a limited 2nd floor load.
Nice progress.

The reason for the dog leg will become apparent once you see the stair way The dog is not in exactly the spot where I need it so may have to add to it but it was already made and close to what I wanted for the stairway there will also be a wall under the beam so a dog leg will have no effect on structural

[Frank S]

Good thing you don't have inspectors around, as I believe they never let a beam have a welded joint. Not that I don't believe you have excess structural integrity, both in the strength of materials, and quality welds.
I have I-beams I've spliced, but only when no one is looking. But I know I have full depth weld penetration, and a limited 2nd floor load.
Nice progress.

We used to build lots of beams for pre engineered buildings, the longest we made was 3 Hero beams of 180feet in length it was a boxed beam with a 8 feet tall web 2 inch flange thickness 2 1/2 feet wide with 12" of crown supporting 90 ft long bar joists the building was about 372 feet by 186 feet outside dimensions clear floor with a 6 inch thick foam impregnated lightweight concrete floor on the 2nd floor with a wood surface flor on that,but yeah no dog legs though lots of spliced together steel. What the building was to be used for was an airconditioned indoor footfall practice field with a gymnasium in the 2nd floor yeah people in the middle east have strange ideas

[Frank S]

Well I now have the lower step landings in place next comes something that I hope resembles stairs.
The problem is I have used up my supply of 4" sq tubing So I will have to come up with something different from here on out