Fabrication help

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 02-02-2006 03:00

These are what I depend on.

John P. Stewart for down to earth metalworking technique, tool use, fabrication and distortion control. here are the names of his books.

Stewart, J.P. Welder/Fitter's Guide

Stewart, J.P. Distortion Control

Stewart, J.P. Flame Straightening Technology

John P. Stewart
233 Dupras Ave, Room 202 LaSalle, Quebec, Canada, H8R 3S4.
Tel. (514) 366-8410
Fax. (513) 366-6358

Distortion Control Isbn # 0-969-2845-3-5
Flame Straightening Technlogy Isbn# 0-969-2845-1-9
Welder/Fitters Training Guide Isbn# 0-969-2845-4-3

By aevald

Date 02-02-2006 03:44

Hello Lawrence, great author, great publications, I own a few of these myself. Beracah, there is a lot of great information in these. You'll also find a lot of good stuff in the pipefitter's handbook, a nice thing about this is that it is small enough to keep in your toolbox. If you are into pattern lay-outs Kaberlein has a book that is called; Triangulation Short-Cut Layouts, I have the fourth edition I'm sure there are others, it's also a pretty good book. I'm sure there will be a host of others that will be suggested. Good luck and regards, aevald

By swnorris (****)

Date 02-02-2006 13:49

Beracah,

You mention that you always overlook things. My advice to you is before you jump in and get started on something, take a few minutes to look over the drawings and get familiar with what's on them. Then you can plan how you're going to attack the job.

Here's a link to a Fabricators and Erectors Guide to Welded Steel Construction that might be helpful to you:

http://www.jflf.org/pdfs/papers/fabguide.pdf

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 02-02-2006 14:55

Thanks Scott

This does not appear to have any copyright restrictions as far as handouts go.

Very nice

By tmcmeekin Date 06-08-2007 14:33

Lawrence,
Would you know where I can get a book on the design and installation of handrails? I'm looking to make some at my house and would like to do things only once.

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 06-08-2007 21:07

TMC

No I don't have anything specifically on handrails... But I bet there is something out there.... I would try searching Curv-O-Mark, they make lots of pipe layout tooling and cyphering stuff.

Others here on the forum know more I bet.

By aevald

Date 06-08-2007 22:23

Hello tmcmeekin, I am not aware of any books specifically that discuss the fabrication of handrailing. There are however some codes that may apply to handrailing in your area. Where I am located the WAC(Washington Administrative Codes) list a number of requirements that cover handrailing designs as they apply to particular instances. The requirements for rails on federal, state, and public buildings open to the public have different requirements from those for residential or industrial type applications. These requirements cover such things such as the heigth of the rail, how many rails are required, the spacings between rails and so forth. It is possible that your locality has similar requirements for railings that may apply in your case. If you can, try to do some research to determine if these codes apply for your use. Another thing you could do is start looking around at some of the railings that you see on buildings, houses, and other things to see how they were made. Take note of the designs you like and try to understand how they are built so that you could possibly duplicate what you have seen. Just a few thoughts for consideration. Regards, aevald

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 06-11-2007 06:48

If you wish to make handrails of the typical square tubing type.....simply go find some and look at the most variety you can. Pay attention to the bases and the distance between them as well as how they are attached. Figure out your what spacing for your pickets works out for the distance you are covering and draw it up.

A good trick for layout of each section especially with railings on a pitch (steps and ramps) Is to lay your design full size out on shop floor in chalk. Check your measurements twice....then cut and fit your pieces in place over this drawing on the floor and tack it all up. Double check for square and fit then weld it up.

By yorkiepap (***)

Date 06-10-2007 03:06

Hey Beracah,
Your best bet for any kind of fabrication books would be on Amazon.com. Type "Fabrication" in the search window & see if there are any books available. Also, you may want to type in "Tool & Die", "Production Design", "Jigs & Templates" and you may find something that would pique your interest. I have been in production design for 30+ years and had the good fortune to work with some awesome tool & die gents who allowed me to probe their minds. Most fabrication jobs that are multiple items will require jigging or fixturing that will produce what I call "repetitive consistency". These types of apparatus are designed from a finished product. You simply build a jig or fixture around the finished product to be able to then place part material in a fixed location and weld together. It takes years to learn and some applications will cause you to look for the Excedrin. The secret is to keep it simple....simple always works the easiest and best.

Hey tmc,
If you type "kingsmetals.com" in a Google search window, it will take you to King's Architectural Metals. They specialize in handrails and fittings of every shape and size to construct some beautiful handrails. I believe they have a catalog and info you may find useful...

Good Luck to both you gents.....Denny

By XPERTFAB (**)

Date 06-15-2007 05:50

King metals Design Concepts book volume II is a great look at book for ideas and execution thoughts. If your railing project involves newel posts and balusters (pickets) that have some geometric shape other than square, round or rectangular, then I would strongly suggest that you build the rails in an upright position rather than flat on the table or floor. The forged pieces of diffing shapes as found in both King metals and Indital catalogues are very liberal in variance from piece to piece. Building railing such as this in an upright poisition as you would be viewing them as complete alloows you to overcome these variances of the components b adjusting for best llok along with the correct spacing between balusters. FYI most states whom have adopted the International Building Code require that baluster spacing not aloow a sphere four inches in diameter to pas through them. This also applies to the spacing between floor surface and the lower horizontal element. The notible exception to this is stairs where a shphere six inches in diameter mah not passs through the opening created by the horizontal element as it passes above the stair's nosings and the adjacent tread and riser. They are speaking to the right triangle created here.
Layout for balusters to have even spacing between is the thing that throws quite a few people. It requires very accurate measurement and some work on calculator. If you are fortunate enough to own one the Consstruction Master line of calculators makes this easy work as they are able to perform math functions in fractions. Even those dimensions with fractions of varying denominators.
Quik math method for baluster spacing: Assume you are building a railing with vertical balusters of the forged variety that are 9/16". The Spacing between balusters in order to comply with code would be less than four inches so assume for now this dimension to be 3 and 15/16 inches. Add the 9/16" to the 3 15/16" to get a number as 4 1/2". Divide the overall length of your railing (between newel posts if that is the design) by the combined dimension of baluster and desired spacing. This will give you a number that approximates the number of acutal balusters you will install into this run of railing. This number is usually a combined whole number consisiting of a whole number to the left of the decimal point and a decimal portion of this whole number to the right of decimal point. Round off this number to a whole according to the size of the decimal portion as shown in typical fashion. This is now the number of balusters you will install in this section. Multiply the total number of balusters to be used in this railing section by the width dimension of the baluster to get a total amount of length in inches that the balusters are going to occupy in this railing section. Subtract this amount from the overall length. The remainder is the amount left required to be divided into equal spaces between balusters for a balanced look. Divide this remaining length number by the total number of balusters you are going to install plus one. The result is the spacing between each baluster. Layout your spacing to the top and bottom elements. Remember to mark the component so as to remember which side of the drawn line you are working to so as to maintain spacing. You will need to convert fractions of an inch to decimal equivalent if your calculator does not add in fractions. Work very precise and measure accuratly. Double check all dimensions before welding.
Regards,
XPERTFAB