Can I Substitute Lumber of Another Grade or Species? Glenn Traylor Can you make substitutions of different lumber grades and species? The short answer is: yes. Even so, you have to take several factors into consideration when making a substitution. To narrow the discussion, let’s focus on southern pine. The substitution must have design values equal to... Read More December 2021 Issue #13269 Page 49
Can Lasers Do It All? Glenn Traylor With the introduction of lasers, setting up a truss while accurately controlling its perimeter and profile has never been quicker or easier. But do lasers do the job by themselves? The answer is no. They cannot. Here is why. Lasers provide excellent and accurate information to truss builders... Read More November 2021 Issue #13268 Page 51
Manufacturing Insights to Power Your Team Douglas Krauss Making performance visible and easily tracked powers your team members with the knowledge of achievements and areas for improvement. I’ve spent my career working in a variety of manufacturing roles. Here’s what I’ve learned: Knowledge is key. I believe it’s crucial... Read More November 2021 Issue #13268 Page 64
Do You Know What You Don’t Know? Glenn Traylor Lewis Carroll had a great line: “If you don’t know where you want to go then it doesn’t matter which path you take.” This advice came from a cat in Alice in Wonderland given to Alice when the cat asked Alice, “Where are you going?” Believe it or not, this... Read More October 2021 Issue #13267 Page 45
Spida Meets Your Requirements Head On Sean Hubbard Recently, in lieu of my 15-year-old son destroying my personal vehicle while working through drivers education, I decided it was safer to purchase a vehicle specifically for him. For several months, I browsed the internet, visited car lots, and test drove cars. Eventually, this became such a... Read More September 2021 Issue #13266 Page 19
Solve The Most Pressing Problems with A Different Mindset Todd Drummond Chronic employee staffing shortages can be a blatant sign that a company’s employment practices need improvement. One should be very hesitant to blame external forces beyond a given reasonable period. Too many companies are simply blind to their overall company’s poor employee... Read More September 2021 Issue #13266 Page 37
Is Your Equipment Up to the Challenge? Glenn Traylor Let’s face some facts. Eventually your truss building equipment needs repair or replacement. Exactly when do you pull the trigger? When do you take the big jump? In a perfect world with endless resources, it’s an easy calculation—replace or repair the equipment when there is a... Read More September 2021 Issue #13266 Page 47
What are Mill Cuts and How Do They Impact Structure? Glenn Traylor Mill cuts are common in our lumber today, especially with machine evaluated lumber, so it is important to know how they should be addressed and used in your product. Mill cuts are random saw cuts or planer cuts not intended to have been made. Sometimes they do not present a problem. Other... Read More August 2021 Issue #13265 Page 43
Is One Cut the Same as Two? Glenn Traylor On a recent plant visit, we came across a situation that is hopefully rare. The truss builders had hand-cut floor truss webs at the table in several places because the webs provided with the cutting were mis-cut. The result: a truss that might “look” okay but would not be safe to... Read More July 2021 Issue #13264 Page 43
Advertiser Forum: What Does “Expert” Mean? Anna Stamm I freely admit that I have watched more than my share of house-hunting shows. My favorites fall into two categories – seeing homes (and prices) in US cities where I would consider moving next and seeing homes in international locations where I know I’ll never go (e.g., Southeast... Read More June 2021 Issue #13263 Page 6