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You mean finger jointed studs in general, or that particular brand?
A: When you take it off, you wonder where the breasts went.
In General, I've seen FJ casing and base but never studs.ML
We manufacture FJ studs from our truss cutoffs. (Beats hauling them to a landfill)They tend to be straighter. If one piece has a slight bend in it, the next piece may bend the other way. So in general they're straighter. To me, they sorta look like hell. As I'm sure you know, not all 2X4s are the same width. So if one piece that's 3 9/16" wide is joined to a piece that's 3 7/16" the joint looks bad. They're pretty strong if you push on them from the narrow (1 1/2") face. But they break easily if you push on the wide (3 1/2") face. I don't see any reason not to use them in vertical applications. (Like GP specifies)
Nonconformists are all alike.
I see the length they offer is a East coast length. Must be why I've never seen them on the west coast. Building department have any issues with them
I dno't know why a building department would have a problem with it offhand. But I don't really deal with building departments much, so I'll leave that question to others.
Q: Why aren't blondes allowed to be pharmacist?
A: Because they keep breaking the prescription bottles in the typewriter.
as long as there's a stamp on the stud saying it meets the struct requirements set but the code and there's no local addendums prohibiting them, there's not much an inspector can do about it.
Hey Boss.What sort of jig do you use to make those studs? Is it portable enough to take to a job site? Does it work for 2x4 and 2x6?Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
It's not a jog - It's an automated machine that's about 10' wide and 40' long. (As best as I can remember)It's at our main plant about 60 miles away, and I've only seen it a couple of times. So I can't really tell you a lot about it.
As long as a person doesn't admit he is defeated, he is not defeated . . . he's just a little behind and isn't through fighting. [Darrell Royal]
It's an automated machine that's about 10' wide and 40' long. (As best as I can remember)
And probably has a glue tank/circulator and and RF curing unit, too--not exactly handy items for a job site. Much better in a factory setting.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
about 7 or 8 years ago we framed a house with fj studs. before we put the trusses on , many of the fj studs had bowed so much that they had to be replaced. luckily the supplier covered the material & replacement. I would not use them again.
Dave
I have done jobs before when even though stamped and approved the inspector has made us do something entirely different. Just finished a job at Cedar Sinai Hospital, in LA. Inspector wanted unnotched 16 ga studs where the plans said nothing about them being unnotched. This was after everything was installed.ML
They showed up at HD and then disappeared. Seeing how well, (not) FJ casings and other moldings hold up, there's no way I would use them for anything but blocking. I don't care what the engineers and stamp say.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I had a HO request finger jointed studs. I had to hunt down a unit of 10' precuts. When they came, it looked like they had spent the summer outside with the tarp torn, so I had to send about half the unit back--they don't like to get wet. I wasn't real impressed. Looked like a bunch of old dunnage and #3 #### finger jointed together. They did run straighter, but some of them did bow after they were put up. All in all, I will pass next time.
They use them here in Austin. I never saw them in MI.
We tried them. Never again.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Sounds like firewood to me. I'll stick with the tried and true.ML
They use them here in Austin
Temple-Eastex made a big push marketing their purple FJ's back in the 80s. The problem with those was that it always seemed like the joint was where you needed something. Like solid blocking. Or a hole for electrical or plumbing. And those joints are a bear to drill through and worse to nail into.
Dunno about the non-purple ones, never saw any that didn't look like reject material from a pallet plant.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Have to agree with others that the finger jointed stuff is junk. These are a great product but a bit pricey.
http://www.ilevel.com/literature/TJ-8006.pdf
They showed up in a housing development (completed 9 years ago) in central NJ where I put in a residential elevator in a pre-existing house. I had never seen FJ studs before. They also measured 3 1/4" deep (!)
Jeff
In common use here in BC. I don't really have a problem with them in verticle use, which is what they are meant for.
You wanna cut more trees down?
I'm suprised that people have had such poor experiences with finger jointed studs. The ones that come from the Ainesworth mill are dry, and straight. They are the best studs I've ever used.
As Boss and others say, they are a good idea in principle, and can be a great product if made with attention to detail. And clearly there are environmental and efficiency rationale. But if there's an idiot in charge of QC you've got a problem. I've used lots of them... and sent some back.
Scott.
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
I'll bet they are denser then hell to nail into with all the glues and stuff. I'm all about conservation when it comes to building materials but if your sending half of them back that sounds like twice the waste. Building smarter with old fashioned materials trumps some new fangled technology every time.