How to Build with Grid Beam
Description
Grid beam is a modular, reusable building system that is fast, easy, affordable and virtually goof-proof. Ordinary people, with few skills and even fewer tools (all you need is a wrench!) can tackle projects ranging from furniture and shop benches to more ambitious projects like wind turbines, truck racks, small buildings--even electric vehicles.
Grid beam's modular pieces and bolt-together construction make the system fast and straightforward to work with. It has all the advantages of an industrial building system: standard, modular sizes; uniform materials; and interchangeable parts. Projects knock flat and are easy to transport. Since the pieces can be used over and over again, grid beam is easy both on your wallet and on the environment -- the authors have been using some of their components for over 30 years.
How to Build with Grid Beam includes hundreds of photos of real projects built over a 60-year period, showing the many uses of grid beam, from shelves for college students to projects involving alternative energy. The versatility of grid beam is inspiring, for beginners, more experienced do-it-yourselfers, and innovators who will develop their own designs. Even school-age children can use grid beam to build simple projects.
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Persons
Phil Jergenson is an artist and systems designer who enjoys building solar powered machines."I enjoy chasing dreams and testing new ideas. I am a trained model maker and self-taught machinist and metal fabricator. I have lived off-grid for 30 years, and spent 15 of those years building and living in micro-houses in remote locations. I have scratch built more than a dozen small solar-powered vehicles, some which are tractors and work vehicles." Phil is a co-founder of the Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI), a 19-year- old nonprofit in Willits, California.
A 30-year resident of Willits, California, Richard Jergenson started a number of successful businesses in the 70s and 80s, including his favorite, running the local cinema. The Whole Earth Catalog and Mother Earth News fueled his life-long interests in technology, energy, transporta- tion (especially railroads), and alternative lifestyles. A cultural archivist and 20-year member/officer of the Mendocino County Railway Society, he is a member of Roots of Motive Power and active in the Little Lake Grange. One of the builders of the world's first solar-electric rail vehicle, the Sol Train, Richard has been grid beaming since 1977.
A professional welder and metal fabri- cator in the mid-1980s, Wilma Keppel switched to grid beam in 1995."I am interested in anything that works exceptionally well - whether grid beam, regenerative land management, or mental performance." She writes on environmental topics and is a site editor for ManagingWholes.com. Since 2003 Wilma has done research in practical psychology - real things we ordinary people can do to improve our lives. She teaches life enhancement and mental per- formance skills through Peak Performance Preparation in Oakland, California (PeakPerformancePreparation.com).
Content
Acknowledgments
PART 1: GRID BEAM BASICS Chapter 1: What is Grid Beam? The basics How it works The Twelve-Minute Workbench Sources Using this book Measurements
Chapter 2: History A pictorial history of grid beam Who we are and why we wrote this book
Chapter 3: Advantages
Chapter 4: The grid beam system Hole spacing Standard stick and panel sizes Stick materials Skin materials Hardware Accessories Adapters
PART 2: GRID BEAM PROJECTS Chapter 5: Furniture Tables Desks and workstations Chairs Beds Living Structures Sleeping lofts
Chapter 6: Storage Shelves Bike Rack Drawer Carts Pegboard Closets and closet organizers
Chapter 7: Workshop and Industry Workbenches Shop tables Equipment stands Work supports Storage Industrial machinery and assembly lines
Chapter 8: Structures Booths Railings Baby and pet gates Temporary kitchen Partitions and walls Store displays Stage sets Scaffolding and platforms Buildings
Chapter 9: Renewable Energy Solar panel mounts and trackers Wind turbines and towers Hydro power Solar concentrators Portable power Firewood harvesting
Chapter 10: Trailers, Racks and Carts Truck racks Trailers Electric Mower Garden carts Yard Truck
Chapter 11: Vehicles Why electric vehicles? Solar-Assisted Mountain Bike Electric Vehicle Test Bed (EVTB) Scamp Electric Tote Goat Bear garden tractors X-Wing Vanda Go-karts Solar Powered Utility Vehicle (SPUV) Sol Train Rail Rocket FOCUS research submarine Project possibilities
Chapter 12: Learning and Innovation Teaching and learning Innovation and product development
Chapter 13: Other Projects Animal cages Chair arms Clotheslines and laundry drying racks Desk organizer Disability aids Easel Exercise desks Fences Float switch Growing equipment Laboratory and scientific equipment Lifting equipment Moving Model railroad benchwork Photographic equipment Projection screen Recliner Workstation Signs Toys
PART 3: WORKING WITH GRID BEAM Chapter 14: Basic Components Buying grid beam sticks Cutting sticks Skin materials Working with panels Hardware
Chapter 15: Accessories and Adapters Splices and extensions Mounting hole position and spacing Furniture wheels and casters Feet Shims Screws Butt joint brackets Lamps Power strips Drawers Shelves and shelf brackets Pallets Clothes poles Round tubes Pivots Wheel mounts Rotating shafts Fabricating adapters
Chapter 16: Homemade Sticks Should you drill your own? Required tools Work space Stick specifications Stick width Hole size Drill-it-yourself aluminum Drill-it-yourself steel Drill-it-yourself wood Finishing your sticks
PART 4: PROJECT DESIGN Chapter 17: Frame Types Box frames Offset frames Stem frames When to use which frame type
Chapter 18: Bracing Bracing basics Cross-bracing Beams and trusses
Chapter 19: Building Safe Projects Avoiding trouble Loads Failures and fixes Testing your projects
Chapter 20: Designing Your Own Projects Project planning Design by imitation Drawings Scale models Mock-ups Project assembly
Chapter 21: Designing Vehicles Safety Vehicle basics First things first Planning your vehicle Drawings Prototyping Assembly Design solutions
Chapter 22: Additional Resources Books and videos Magazines Organizations Events Grid beam online Grid beam designers
Chapter 23: Suppliers Grid beam Hardware Panels Finishes Components and tools
Afterword Glossary Index About the Authors
Important Charts and Measurements Metric conversions Stick lengths and panel sizes US stick widths and hole sizes Metric stick widths Drill speeds (rpm) US lumber sizes Units of measure - US Units of measure - metric
