Explosive powder actuated tool

Today we spent the majority of the day learning about the correct and safe use of explosive powder actuated tools. It was a pretty interesting unit and we learnt about choosing the correct fasteners for the job, depending on what material we are fixing to what, steel, wood and concrete. The main focus of this unit was safety as the gun is very much like a real gun. we learnt about the difference between direct and indirect firing (piston or no piston). After we had a few shots each we filled out the work book which reinforced what we'de learnt about the safety issues and types of nails and strength of charges.

cladding

On tuesday we started on the cladding unit. Ours was to research three different types of cladding, timber, hardie sheeting and fibre cement sheeting. As part of the research we looked at differnt fixings used for different products, safety issues and installation. After doing the research i found that the james hardie website was the most exhaustive in terms of providing information about the products they supply. After lunch we spent the remainder of the afternoon doing take offs for cladding, we found that working out the the amount needed for sheeting was far more involved than the workings out for the hardieplanks.
On wednesday morning we started the practical work on cladding. Firstly we made a height rod based on the height of the wall, the size of the cladding, the overlap and coverage of the cladding. We then installed stop battens on the internal and external corners of the walls for the battens to run into and transferred the marks from the height rod onto them. I worked with King1Daley on one section of the wall, we were using pine cladding and it turned out looking pretty good, we took the cladding up to the bottom edge of the window and we're gonna put sheeting above that to take it up to the top of the wall.

Wall Framing

Today we fininshed off the wall framing. I think everyone in our team is pretty impressed with what we've done cause it all finished lookin good and it all went really smoothly. I'm pretty happy with myself in terms of learning, i'm pretty confident I could do it all again without too many problems. I think the area that i need to spend a little more time on is the bracing and straightening once erected.

The next part of the course is external cladding so we will be looking at three different materials that can be used for cladding, researching them and then using them on the walls we built. For more detailed information, see contruction sequence below.

MANUFACTURING

1. Cut the top and bottom plates to the correct length of the walls.

2. Mark the plates at 450 centres for studs making allowances for windows (550x800) and doors (1200x900).

3. Cut studs at 2230 because the overall height is 2400. Take the two thicknesses of the plates off that are 2230.

4. Nail the studs into the plates using the straightest ones for must studs and door ways.

5. Measure and cut noggings. Cutting extra ones around doors and intersections of walls. Noggings and trimmers were also needed in the shower walls and bathroom.

6. Cut out sill trimmers and head trimmers needed at the bottoms of doorways and windows. Notching some trimmers in 10mm into the stud to transfer weight down the wall.

7. Measure jamb studs to be cut into the space between the sill trimmers.

8. Cut jack studs above head trimmers at doors and windows and below the sill trimmers of windows. Making sure that the spacing between jack studs is at 450 or less.

9. Square up the wall frame by measuring the diagonal distance from corner to corner. Once the two measurements are the same put in a brace at an angle between 30 and 60 degrees. Mark the timber where the brace will be and set the circular saw to 19mm and cut along the marks. Sit the brace in the cuts and put a nail in either side to hold it on. Do NOT nail the brace off.

10. Make an incision on the bottom plate either side of the door ways allowing them to be cut out easily later.

11. Over the top and bottom plates on each stud nail on short pieces of hoop iron strapping with clout nails. Also strap the end of the studs that frame the window.

ERECTION OF WALLS 1. Lift the frames into position on top of the sub floor.

2. Stand frames up in place according to the lines marked out on the floor.

3. Level the frame off with a spirit level and then shoot a diagonal brace from the top of the frame to the floor.

4. Put an adjoining wall into position to support the already standing wall.

5. Clamp the two walls together using G clamps and make sure that at the joints the studs are flush with each other.

6. Shoot the adjoining walls together and remove the clamps so they can be used for other frames.

7. Repeat this process until all the walls are upstanding in place.

8. Set up the string line around the bottom and top plates. Making the distance between the line and the plate a pencil thickness.

9. Once the bottom plates and line up and square, nail the plates down to the floor.

10. Use diagonal bracing to push the walls in places to line the top plate with the string line.

11. Use a joist to wedge between the end stud and the bottom plate of the adjacent wall, pressing down on the joist to push the top of the wall out so we were able to nail it plumb.

12. Nail metal braces off once all walls are square and level.

13. Measure and cut noggings and trimmers where needed and nail them in place.

14. Cut out bottom plates where doorways are and do any final adjustments needed.

wed & Thurs

The last few days have been really valuable in terms of learning. Yesterday we spent the major part of the day drawing details of wall framing on brown paper. We had to check the AS1684 (Australian Standards) and then draw details of of th e wall frames based on these standards. It was an great way to improve my tech drawing and also learn about the wall framing in a way that I wont forget.
Today we spent the whole day constructing the frames. We worked in teams of 3 and had about 3 walls to build per team. It all came together surprisingly easy and well, I think everyone new their stuff after all the drawings yesterday.

wall frames

For the next couple of weeks we'll be focusing on wall frames. Yesterday we started of by finishing up some of the portfolio work on the sub floor. Great for me to catch up as I missed the last day of the last block. We then got into the work book on wall frames, looking at the various components of wall frames and how they come together. We also had a look at as1684 at the australian minimun standards for wall framing. We finished of the day by getting started on the drawings for the wall frames.

Today we were straight out there cutting and marking top and bottom plates. We also had to finish of some flooring, using hardies compressed cement sheet. Again we finished of the day with the drawings.