Floor Truss Technology, Part IX: Floor Finale Joe Kannapell To complete this floor series, it’s worth examining how we’re doing against I-joists. [For all graphs and images, See PDF or View in Full Issue.] Mixed Signals: Many CMs think trusses are slowly making gains, and this is backed up by the brisk sales of floor machines. However,... Read More February 2024 Issue #16295 Page 10
Reaping the Benefits of the Spida Wall Line System Wendy Boyd Over 7 years ago, we introduced the first of our new generation Spida Wall Extruders to the market. Today, we have taken a massive step further and it just keeps getting better. Recently demonstrated at BCMC 2023, the Spida Raked Wall Extruder can do it all – and it is only one part of an... Read More February 2024 Issue #16295 Page 17
The Last Word: Floor Machine Fiascos Joe Kannapell Before leaving the subject of floor trusses, two machines deserve special attention, the Tiger Cat and the Structur-Span. Both included features that were way ahead of their 1970s provenance and both were markedly faster than even present-day machines. Both plated the truss with a single pass,... Read More February 2024 Issue #16295 Page 136
Floor Truss Technology, Part VIII: Inside Floor Truss Details Joe Kannapell Builders have been testing the viability of floor trusses, and they are now considering the results. Many of them switched from I-joists only because they were forced to do so. Either they couldn’t get them, or they didn’t want to pay double the price. Yet today, as they are seeing... Read More January 2024 Issue #16294 Page 10
Floor Truss Technology, Part VII: The Devil is in Those Details Joe Kannapell Building intricate floor truss details may bedevil a robot, but they provide the inherent advantage of floor trusses over I-joists. There are also things that floor trusses can do that I-joists cannot. And they facilitate the most efficient use of materials. Visiting an I-joist cut-off yard... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 10
WTS and HoD Team Up to Bring Innovation to the Industry Joe Halteman Wood Tech Systems (WTS) has traveled thousands of miles and spent several years researching robotics while trying to find the best fit for the North American wood component industry. There have been many challenges in our industry when it comes to integrating robotics, but the biggest one in my... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 50
Innovation Redefined: The Future of Structural Testing with Our Million Pound Rig Simpson Strong-Tie Staff The future of full-scale structures testing and product development is here – and it is BIG. Our Tyrell Gilb Research Laboratory built a brand-new Million Pound Rig to help in the testing of our new Yield-Link® brace connection (YLBC), along with our many other products. Hear from Mike... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 102
The Last Word: The Concrete Truss Machine Joe Kannapell New inventions may fade away, but most provide valuable lessons, like the concrete truss machine. Not many of these were built, but they seemed to Cal Jureit to be the logical match for his new truss plate, and they set the course for all his future machines. Jureit had to have been... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 134
Floor Truss Technology, Part VI: The Last Round of Floor Machines Joe Kannapell Our contemporary floor machines were ready for the resurgence of demand that has followed the pandemic. These new models had many fascinating features, accumulated from the multiple iterations before them. They were more durable, they lessened labor, and they built a quality truss, embedding all... Read More November 2023 Issue #15292 Page 10
The Game Changer for Wall Panels—Triad’s Ai Sub-Component Nailer TRIAD / Merrick Machine Company Team If you were able to attend this fall’s Building Component Manufacturers Conference (BCMC) in Indianapolis, then you may have gotten your first look at the latest game changer in wall panel manufacturing—Triad’s Ai Sub-Component Nailer. [For photos, See PDF or View in Full... Read More November 2023 Issue #15292 Page 54