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Besides using proper staging, a sharp wood auger, and boring halfway from boths sides of a member, is there a sure fire way to bore perfectly aligned holes (with buckets in place)through wood members?
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Buckets? Young man, just what are you wanting to do?
*Not sure of your question. Have you tried using long auger bits.Rick Tuk
*Uh, Gary,It's maple trres that gice syrup & then in march. I also don't think it's a good idea to bore all the way thru the tree. Or did you have some thing else in mind?
*There's a hole in the bucket,Dear Lila, dear Lila.There's a hole in the bucket,Dear Lila, a hole.Oh, Holei forbucket. Sorry.:-}Rich Beckman
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To those who wrote back( builders East of the Rockies I'm guessing) Thank You. For the uninitiated, even residential light wood frame construction on the West Coast requires the extensive use of steel framing connectors to resist uplift and lateral forces exerted by wind and seismic activity. These connectors are configured to specific framing conditions such as beam to post, post to post, ridge to hips, mudsill to foundation,etc. and are installed as the sticks are put in place. An average home requires hundreds of these connectors. Some of the heavier connectors(aka: 'buckets') consist of 1/4" plate steel pre-bored to receive machine bolts. The connector 'wraps' the usually girthy wood members which are then bored and through bolted. Therein lies the challenge.
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Gary Tom -
Could you maybe bore a smaller-than-needed hole first, and see where that comes out ? Then bore the final sized hole once you see which direction the 1st hole went.
BTW - Doesn't Simpson have some of this type of hardware out now that uses lag bolts instead of through bolts ?
*Gary, 2 questions. You said that the heavier ones are 1/4" steel, are they all steel? And, how is or are the plates and timber held in place while you complete the borring stage?My suggestion comes from bridge work. At times we had to drill perfectly aligned holes for taper ties thru forms that were usually no closer than 1' with nothing but air and rebar in between. We used a Hilty 1/2" drill that was mounted on a magnetic base. The base turned the drill into a portable drill press. The magnet was an electro magnet that when switched on couldn't be moved.Give a rental shop or even a hity rep a call and see if they can help.
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Thanks. I do see another glitch though. Even if you see where the pilot hole exits, how can you positively determine the angle of attack for the real bit?
You're right a number of the newer Simpson connectors utilize 1/4"x3 SDS lags(Yes you have to use their proprietary lags to obtain full load values.) I've used these in the field and would only do so again if it is a retrofit and access is limited. The major complaint I have is the sheer number of the little devils you have to use when one or two bolts would have normally sufficed. The number ranges from 10-24 lags per connector. Self drilling is advertised, but only in the greenest of woods do the lags not split the member.
*Hey, no fair you guys had all the neat toys! Actually the situation you spoke of is essentially identical to my problem with one [sometimes] exception. The pre-bored holes in the steel connector don't always line up orthogonally. As you can see, I've beat this one to death.Maybe a laser guided wood auger? Isn't that how they aligned the bores of the Chunnel?
*You're reply is much appreciated. I explicated my question more in depth if you're interested. I like amber maple syrup from Vermont, how about you?
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I saw that isue on the Discovery channel.
They came in 27 miles or so from France and 30 something from England and were off 3". That's 12 millionths of an inch every foot, just incase you wanted to know.
*........we have the same problem drilling flitch plates..we use a bell ringers bit....12" long x 3/16 or 1/4then follow with the right sized bit....
*Bore with a regular steel drill bit , make your own hole if you don't hit the company hole.
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To: Gary Tom
Form : Randy 37
Re : Bucket hole problem .
I had the same problem with 4x4 fence posts on top of retaining wall attached with beam saddles inbedded in concrete. I used a porta-line drill stand. It attaches to your drill and turns it into a mini drill press. I just line it up on the plate and drilled thought . Make sure you get the real porta-line model not a knock off. Check out Lee Valley Tools www. site to see one. good luck and post if it works.
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Besides using proper staging, a sharp wood auger, and boring halfway from boths sides of a member, is there a sure fire way to bore perfectly aligned holes (with buckets in place)through wood members?