Friday, July 15, 2005

BUILDING MODELS
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I like building models of ideas which are more or less to scale. My favorite scale for shelters is 1/4 scale (right?) where 1" in full dimension is only 1/4" for the model. I got a weird start with my pallet gothic arch model and it ended up 36-1/2" wide (representing 16') but it should have been 48" wide and now I kinda' wish it was. My rigid arch facets (representing 3') are only 6" long but would have been 8" long using the 1/4 scale.
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These are sizeable models but I'm able to use 1/8" wood paneling scraps for the glue plates where 1/2" plywood is used in real life and I can actually attach the miniature plates with glue and a 1/4" crown air-powered stapler = four staples per plate. I attach my girts and purlins with an 18 gauge air-powered brad nailer (5/8" leg length) and a spot of exterior grade wood glue. If I'm making 1x4s for the model, I rip 1/4" thick strips from a standard 3/4" thick board (2x4s are 1/2" thick). A truer scale would have a 2x4 being 3/8" thick by 7/8" but 1/2" gives a little more "meat" to work with and the standard 3/4" dimension is easier to come by. This scale allows a standard 2x2 (actually 1-1/2" x 1-1/2") to represent a 6x6 post (common for pole barns) and a 3/4" x 3/4" (aka "1x1") to represent a 4x4 post.
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Building models allows one to really see what they're getting themselves into and as you're actually cutting and assembling the individual pieces (much as you'll do building the full-sized one), it's great practice and you'll find a few things will be "worked out" in the model MUCH easier than they would be on the actual building. It's also a great way to show the rest of the world what this thing is that YOU can see so clearly in your head BUT may have a hard time communicating to others -- now you can just show 'em. One of my coworkers was clearly impressed that all my rigid arches lined up so well. He said, "You put all those together on a jig, didn't you?" Well, of course! Only a jig allows things to be consistently "off" and still look good 'cause all the frames are "off" the same -- as long as you never switch 'em end for end, right? Very few things are perfectly symmetrical -- or perfectly plumb and square for that matter -- in the REAL world. It's important to label your frames so you'll always know which side had the glue plates installed first and then just make sure all those "first" sides face the same way. To minimize the variables, I always face my "first" sides towards the front end of the building.
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Actually, with the pallet gothic arch I'm recommending the rigid arches be assembled as "ribs" only = NOT joined together at the peak until just prior to standing the rigid arches up into their final position. The ribs can be easily hauled in a pickup with the tailgate down and are much easier to handle this way. As the angle at the peak is different from all the others, the ribs end up lining up whether one labels the "first" side or not -- the right half of the rigid arches will all face the same way and the left half will all face the OTHER way = no worries -- it all works out with no labels necessary.
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sail4free
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