Friday, July 6, 2012

Time to make the Swiss Cheese

Things went well with the assembly and clamping of the first truss.

Came up with a good idea for holding the backer block in place when drill the trunnel holes to miminize the damage to the wood surface as the drill bit exits. On the South Wayne bridge I used my hydraulic floor jack to hold the backer piece up tight to the truss. The jack was heavy, bulky and slow, requiring several pumps to raise the jack each time. After some thought and digging through my shed I found an old air cylinder with a 3 inch stroke. Made a base and plumbed in a supply and exhaust valve. Works like a charm. Will be a nice addition to the ol' bridge building tool kit!

Do to the heat again today (over 100 degrees for the past 5 days) had to take a break and put off drilling until things cool off weather wise. Real heat wave this summer in southern Wisconsin. One for the record books for sure. 

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