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Kerf: Wednesday's Word Of The Week
A kerf is a slot cut into a wood member. Typically this is done in order to use concealed plates at connections. Each connected wood part has a kerf cut into it, a continuous steel plate (a "kerf...
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Horizontally Curved Glulam Beam For Harborwalk Park
Glulam that we manufactured recently made its way into a stunning new pier for Harborwalk Park in Portsmouth, NH.The photo, below, shows the pier under construction, where you can clearly see the...
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Hanger: Wednesday's Word Of The Week
A hanger is a steel end connection assembly which supports the end of a beam and has a top bearing plate on the supporting member (so the connection "hangs" from the top of support.) Two common types...
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Unique #Glulam Frames New Building
I know, I know, we're always blogging about unique glulam projects. It's just that our customers are always challenging us to stretch our design and manufacturing capabilities to the limit. This...
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Countersink: Wednesday's Word Of The Week
Countersinking refers to boring a large diameter, partial-depth hole at an existing hole location. The starter hole is sized for the body of a standard fastener (bolt or lag screw), typically 1/16"...
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Another Look At #Glulam Dining Hall Progress
Back in late October we blogged about a new glulam dining hall going up with Tudor arches. The building is large, 54' x 190'. The decking has now been installed and crews are working to finish the...
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Eased Edge: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week
Eased edge refers to the rounding off of exposed edges of glulam members. This is typically done with a ⅜" or ½" radius roundover router bit, depending on the finished width of the glulam member (if...
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Intricate #Glulam Framing
We snapped photos of this beautiful glulam framing in our finishing department before it shipped to St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church. It was a fairly complex task, because of the concealed...
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Compression Ring: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week
In the descriptions of Arches and Tied Rafters, it was noted that part of their structural action is leaning against each other in pairs. Arches and tied rafters can also be used in multi-sided or...
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Beautiful New #Glulam Health Center
The new Narragansett Indian Health Center in Charlestown, RI is a fantastic example of the beauty that structural wood adds to buildings. Many hospitals and clinics are stark and unfriendly looking....
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#Glulam Perspectives: Appearance Grades
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...
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Tension Ring: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week
Just as a compression ring is used to link the tops of arches or rafters in a round structure so they can all lean against each other, the outward thrust of those members also needs to be restrained. A...
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That Time We Glued Old Boardwalks Into A Trellis #TBT
We can't believe that it's been over three years since we glued old pieces of the Coney Island boardwalk into a new trellis for Steinberg-Dietrich Hall at the University of Pennsylvania. The boardwalk,...
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Ease For Welds: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week
Easing for welds refers to beveling the edges of a glulam beam where it fits with a welded steel assembly. Unlike eased edges, which use a roundover bit, eases for welds use a chamfer bit. Easing for...
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Being Part Of Mad. Sq. Art Outdoor Exhibition
We often talk about how wood and wood building products add feelings of warmth when they are used in building spaces. Sometimes, we've gone so far as to say that our product can bridge a gap between...
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Bolt: Wednesday's Word Of The Week
One galvanized bolt (silver) & one galvanized + power coated bolt (black)There are many pieces of standard hardware used in glulam and timber construction. One that is certainly not unique to wood...
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Reverse Gambrel Glulam Roof Truss
We aren't sure whether a reverse gambrel roof actually exists, but if it's something new we'll take credit for inventing it. Where a gambrel roof starts with a shallow roof pitch at the top and then...
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Shear Plates: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week
Shear plates are pieces of hardware unique to wood construction. Local stresses in wood are usually the limiting factor for how much force a bolt can resist. A shear plate grips a larger area of wood...
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Update: New Project With Novel Glulam
A while back we blogged about glulam panels that will be used as structural floors in a new academic building. Here are some new photos of the panels in our finishing department. We are making over 150...
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Split Ring: Wednesday's Word(s) Of The Week
Split rings are similar to shear plates in the way that they grip wood around a bolt to increase the strength of a joint. While shear plates are installed flush to a single piece of wood (so they can...
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