Quantcast
Channel: Wood Times Blog
Viewing all 564 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Camber: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

June 8, 2016, 5:47 am
$
0
0
The term Camber refers to a small amount of curvature intentionally manufactured in beams. This small, positive curvature is based on the amount of initial deflection expected when the beam is installed. Rather than the beam immediately having a small sag, it will ideally come out straight after other building materials are in place and the building is in use.
Pedestrian bridge glued with camber
This is a common practice in steel and concrete construction as well - steel beams are bent and concrete forms can be raised in spots. For solid wood construction, the installer could look at any natural curvature present in the lumber and install it crown up, but they are stuck with what nature provides. Glulam gives added control as pieces are glued on forms kept at various radii, 1600' and 2000' radius being the most common.

*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧
Search

Look At All Of That Rough-Sawn #Glulam #Timber

June 9, 2016, 8:55 am
$
0
0
A new student center is rising at a camp in the Adirondacks, made using rough-sawn glulam. We blogged in April about the beams in our plant, but now you can see them being installed.
More of our glulam arriving on-site
Column close-up
A wider view of the student life area
When it's all said and done, this project will include 6,742 linear ft of rough-sawn glulam timber. That's over 1¼ miles!
↧
↧

In Case You Missed It- Martin Puryear: "Big Bling" | ART21 "Exclusive"

June 14, 2016, 12:27 pm
$
0
0


We wanted to share this great episode of ART21"Exclusive" that follows Martin Puryear's "Big Bling" from fabrication in our plant through unveiling at Madison Square Park in New York City. This project has been such an amazing journey for us at Unalam, and we are very proud to have been a part of it.
↧

Lewis Bolt: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

June 15, 2016, 6:35 am
$
0
0
A Lewis Bolt (more specifically, the Lewis Evertite System) is a specialized piece of hardware used in bridge construction. Solid glulam panels (basically large beams laid on their side) make an effective road structure, similar to concrete planks. They can span parallel to the roadway as a simple bridge for short spans. For longer bridges, transverse panels are attached across a series of bridge stringers which can be glulam or steel.

Lewis bolts are used to attach glulam bridge panels to steel stringers. They consist of four parts:

  • A bolt with with a large dome head, similar to a carriage bolt
  • A shoe with a step that matches the steel beam flange thickness (top of shoe has teeth which engage the bottom of glulam panel, the lower portion of shoe grips the bottom of steel flange.)
  • A spring (so that bolt will stay tight even as the glulam panel thickness varies with moisture content)
  • A nut


*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧

#Glulam Perspectives: It's Important To Use An AITC Inspected Manufacturer

June 16, 2016, 6:18 am
$
0
0
Note: Glulam Perspectives is a quarterly series on Unalam's Wood Times blog. In each article we will take an in-depth look at a project or issue facing the timber industry from our unique standpoint as a glulam manufacturer. These are our opinions and we invite constructive discussion. Next time, we will focus on a completely different topic, so stay tuned.
If you are embarking on a glulam building project, you might be asking yourself, "Is it really important to buy our glulam from a manufacturer that is certified? What does it even mean to be certified?" 
At Unalam, we are an American Institute of Timber Construction (AITC) qualified licensee, meaning that we are certified by AITC to manufacture glulam. We are proud to have had this license since November 1, 1961, before we even built our Sidney, NY manufacturing plant. 

AITC doesn't simply rubber stamp manufacturers; we are subject to regular, surprise inspections to verify that we are manufacturing to the ANSI standard (A190.1.) The inspector also checks all of our quality control data that we collect and analyze between inspections to confirm that we are meeting the standard, and calibrates our testing equipment. We like to say that we have a high quality standard, and this is one way we can prove it.

Passing this inspection, and maintaining our certification is important to us because it means we can continue to use the AITC quality stamp on jobs. Not all jobs require an AITC stamp, but an AITC stamp tells our customers that the material was manufactured to the ANSI standard and meets building codes as accepted materials (per IBC section 2303.1.3.) To designers, this also means that the material supplied on the job matches the design values they looked up in the code (and used when designing the building.) If you need to meet the code or the design values on your project, then it is important to go with a certified manufacturer, like Unalam.
↧
↧

Proof Loading: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

June 22, 2016, 5:16 am
$
0
0
glulam manufacturer timber
Proof loading refers to inline testing done to the finger joints of critical tension plies. Tension plies (typically the bottom 5% of beams) are the most highly stressed zone in glulam, so the finger joints in these plies are of utmost importance.

glulam timber manufacturer quality controlJust after these finger joints are cut, glued, and rapidly cured (and before the ply is cut to length), the board runs through our proof loader. The proof loader puts constant downward pressure on the board and watches for variation in how much deflection this pressure causes. As long as the deflection is less than calibrated limits, the edge of the board is marked to show that it passed proof loading. If deflection exceeds limits (a "soft spot" is detected), this could indicate a poor finger joint, so that ply is rejected and replaced. 

*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧

This Just In: "Unalam Blings Manhattan"

June 23, 2016, 7:23 am
$
0
0
This week's Southern Tier Business Journal features Big Bling on the cover!
Big Bling Unalam Glulam Manufacturing
We're really happy with all of the news coverage this sculpture has been getting - locally, regionally, and nationally. If you're a Business Journal subscriber, be sure to check out the article today.
↧

Ends, Faces, and Sides: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week

June 29, 2016, 5:59 am
$
0
0
Glulam members can have three distinct types of exposed surfaces and it can be useful to refer to them as Ends, Faces, and Sides. Member ends are typically the smallest surfaces, where a member is cut across the wood grain structure. Growth rings and glue lines both will be clearly visible. Member ends left exposed to view are typically avoided. It is advised to protect ends from weather or other sources of moisture whenever possible, as the end grain is most open to moisture transfer.
Faces refer to member surfaces covered by a single, solid ply. This is the "wide face of laminations." On normally installed beams (with horizontal plies), the top and bottom surfaces of the beam are its faces.

Sides of glulam members refer to surfaces where the edges of laminations and gluelines are both visible. These are literally the sides of normally installed beams. For glulam columns, two of the vertical surfaces will be faces and two will be sides.

*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧
Search

Face Ply: Wednesday's Word(s) of the Week

July 6, 2016, 5:19 am
$
0
0
Last week, we made the distinction between sides and faces of glulam members. When a member face will be exposed to view in the finished structure of an Architectural or Premium appearance grade project, it is important that this piece of lumber be as free from visual defects as possible. These plies, chosen for their appearance characteristics, are referred to as Face Plies.
glulam face ply on curved glulam

Although frequently the same, these Face Plies should not be confused with the Tension Plies discussed in proof loading. Tension Plies refer to their structural use (so they are present on the tension side of bending layups regardless of project appearance grade or whether a specific beam face is exposed to view in the completed structure.) Face Plies refer to their aesthetic use (so they are only used in Architectural and Premium grade projects, but on all exposed member faces in those projects regardless of the bending tension stresses expected.)
*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.



↧
↧

Glulam Boat Port In 1000 Islands

July 7, 2016, 6:25 am
$
0
0
glulam boat port in 1000 islands
Jonathan Taylor of Taylored Architecture sent us some photos of a beautiful new boat port in Chippewa Bay, NY. We manufactured the glulam that they designed for the building. You can read more about the design on the Taylored Architecture website. We think the glulam fits perfectly into this clean design that complements the surrounding natural scenery. Thank you, Jonathan, for sharing!
wide view of glulam boat port


↧

Springback: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

July 13, 2016, 6:27 am
$
0
0
One of the many great possibilities glulam offers, and something we frequently do here at Unalam, is to produce curved shapes. One of the technical hurdles involved in producing curved shapes of any material is springback. 
glulam curve after gluing shows some springback
Creating stable, curved shapes with glulam does not involve the application of heat, moisture, or steam. It is relatively easy to bend twenty 1"x 6" boards (each one could be bent by hand) to a form, but very difficult to bend a solid 5" x 13" beam. There is an exponential increase in stiffness as the number of plies increase. 

The force required to bend the individual plies is still present within each board, and as the cured shape is released from the forms they will try to straighten. The amount that the individual boards can force the assembly to straighten is referred to as springback. The more plies, the less it will springback.

It is possible to calculate the expected springback, but it is not an exact science, and wood is naturally variable.
*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧

Leaves Of Grass Sculpture by Markus Holtby - With Glulam

July 14, 2016, 6:27 am
$
0
0
We've had another chance to make glulam for a sculpture! This time, it was for Leaves of Grass by sculptor Markus Holtby. The sculpture is in Riverside Park South in NYC and will be on display there until May 2017. We really enjoyed working with Markus on this creative project. You can enjoy more photos on his website here.
↧

Plugs: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

July 20, 2016, 7:39 am
$
0
0
shop installed glulam plugPlugs are pieces of wood used to aesthetically repair the wood surface. There are two general categories of plugs used in glulam construction.

The first are shop installed plugs. These are used to repair surface defects of glulam members. Defects might be naturally occurring or a result of manufacturing. The affected area is routed out, solid wood plugs are glued into place (Unalam only repairs with solid wood plugs, not with wood filler compounds), and then they are planed by hand to match the surrounding surface. We will learn about some of the specific defects requiring plugging in coming weeks.

Field installed glulam plugs
Field installed plugs (outlined)
The second type are field installed plugs. These are typically round plugs installed over bolts. The bolt heads are countersunk below the surrounding wood surface then covered with specially cut plugs. This is usually done for aesthetic purposes, but can also be necessary for fire resistance. The wood plug protects steel components from weakening during a fire.
*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧
↧

Dealing With Loose Knots: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

July 27, 2016, 6:58 am
$
0
0
The lumber used in glulam and other wood products is cut from the trunks of trees. Being a natural product, there are many unique characteristics which can affect its strength and appearance, both positively and negatively. One of these characteristics is knots, which are the locations of former tree branches. Knots interrupt the primary wood grain, and therefore reduce the strength capacity of wood. This is accounted for in grading, where #2 material is allowed to have more or larger knots than #1 material.

Where knots are small or well fixed in the wood, they add an interesting visual characteristic. But "loose knots", which are typically larger and are not well bound, can fall out of the lumber itself, during glulam fabrication, or later. Most would consider this a negative characteristic, so this is one of the defect types that is removed and plugged on the glulam surface. Large, loose knots are much more common in Douglas Fir than in Southern Yellow Pine.
*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧

Wane: Wednesday's Word Of The Week

August 3, 2016, 5:34 am
$
0
0
You may not be able to fit a square peg in a round hole… but in the lumber industry, mills are constantly cutting rectangular lumber out of round trees. Sometimes pieces of lumber are cut from too close to the edge of the tree and the corners end up rounded off. This is referred to as Wane. Any lumber we receive with wane is sorted out during our grading process. Depending on how wide and long the areas of wane are, we might:

  • Cut the board into shorter lengths to isolate the areas of wane
  • Rip the board lengthwise to remove the wane and use the remaining board as a smaller size
  • For very small areas of wane, the board can be used as usual. The wane will be removed during normal planing and beam sizing.

There actually is one Combination Symbol that allows material with Wane to be used: 24F-V4 SP. This would only be appropriate for Industrial Grade, because there would be unfinished voids on the beam sides. This grade also has significantly reduced allowable shear stresses because of the missing glue bond area. This is not a grade that Unalam produces.
*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧
Search

Glulam Beam With "Teeth"

August 4, 2016, 5:09 am
$
0
0
This beam caught our attention at the plant. It's unusual to see a beam with so many notches cut out at the top. 
glulam roof beam in our manufacturing plant
This is a roof beam at the end of a large building and there are purlins that will sit in each notch. You can see this in the blueprint, below. No two notches are the same, because the roof has a slightly warped shape. 
Close-up of glulam blueprint
The whole building has an interesting curved shape. There is another beam like this at the opposite end of the building, as well.
glulam blueprint
↧

Low Ply: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week

August 10, 2016, 5:26 am
$
0
0
Planing glulam at our plant
Surfacing glulam
A Low Ply is a spot on the side of a glulam member that does not get surfaced when the rest of the member is planed to size. For example, when we are making a 5" wide finished beam, we will start with 2x6 material which is 5½" wide. After the material is finger joined and glued to the full size beam blank it will go through our large planer and ideally remove ¼" from each side to end up with a 5" wide beam perfectly planed.

Of course, nothing is perfect when working with wood, so sometimes a ply will be more than ¼" out of alignment with the rest of the beam, in which case that spot will not be planed. That spot is below the planed surface of the rest of the beam, hence a "Low Ply." The two main causes of this are lumber with crook (curve in the wide direction) and alignment of finger joint teeth. Often the two of these go hand in hand and result in a short section of Low Ply. 

Some unfinished Low Plies are allowed in Industrial Grade glulam members. For Architectural Grade, the area is routed out and visually repaired with a plug.

*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧
↧

Glulam Right Next Door: Sidney Veterans Memorial

August 11, 2016, 12:20 pm
$
0
0
You might remember the squiggly glulam beams we blogged about nearly a year ago. These went into the roof of a new Veterans Memorial that is right around the corner from our manufacturing plant.

With the nice summer weather, we were able to get good photos of the, now finished, memorial. It's a beautiful way to honor local veterans.
 
↧

Heavy Timber: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week

August 17, 2016, 6:18 am
$
0
0
Building codes recognize five general Types of Construction, each with different restrictions on what types of materials can be used to build the structure as well as interior and exterior walls. They also specify how much protection from fire those elements need in various parts of the building. The code imposes limits on the height and size of each construction type. One of them, Type IV, is Heavy Timber Construction.

This building type recognizes the long history of predictable fire performance of buildings constructed of exposed, large wood components. It does not allow concealed spaces where fires could grow or be difficult to fight. As large wood parts are exposed to fire, their outer surface chars and insulates the interior, which maintains much of its original strength. Therefore, Heavy Timber members tend to remain standing during a fire, or give audible and visual warnings before failure.

Glulam structures qualify as Heavy Timber Construction as long as the columns, beams, and decking meet minimum floor and roof size requirements specified in the code. The majority of glulam members we produce meet these minimum size requirements.

*Wednesday's Word Of The Week is a feature on Unalam's Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.
↧

VIDEO: All About Unalam - Part I

August 18, 2016, 7:46 am
$
0
0
Here's our latest video. 

In this first of five upcoming episodes, we introduce Unalam and talk a bit more about making glulam. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and stay tuned for more episodes, coming each month.

And, in case you missed our fun Newsreel video, here's your chance to watch that.
↧
Viewing all 564 articles
Browse latest View live
Search