World's Largest Glue-Up?

[4nthony]

I came across this article about a bridge built with very large glue-lam beams.

Furnituremakers among you undoubtedly remember your most difficult glue-up: A countertop, bench or tabletop of unwieldy dimensions. Well, you probably won't complain again, after seeing what these folks are doing. Swiss timber company Huesser Holzleimbau, which specializes in creating glue-lam beams, recently won a contract to manufacture two burly beams for a bridge.

World's Largest Glue-Up? - Core77

Furnituremakers among you undoubtedly remember your most difficult glue-up: A countertop, bench or tabletop of unwieldy dimensions. Well, you probably won't complain again, after seeing what these folks are doing. Swiss timber company Huesser Holzleimbau, which specializes in creating glue-lam...

www.core77.com

 

[luvmytoolz]

That's pretty amazing stuff!

 

[Duckler]

However, they did not provide pics of the super-jumbo-colossal Domino (and equally impressive tenons) used in the build.
If all the engineering facts in the article are true & correct that is some impressive old-fashioned INSIDE-the-box thinking.

 

[4nthony]

However, they did not provide pics of the super-jumbo-colossal Domino (and equally impressive tenons) used in the build.
If all the engineering facts in the article are true & correct that is some impressive old-fashioned INSIDE-the-box thinking.

I'm guessing the adhesive was some kind of epoxy? I imagine they required a pretty long open time

 

[Duckler]

I'm guessing the adhesive was some kind of epoxy? I imagine they required a pretty long open time

In my mind I was thinking “Titebond 3”.
(Don’t know why because I use West Systems Gflex quite a bit.)

 

[luvmytoolz]

I'm guessing the adhesive was some kind of epoxy? I imagine they required a pretty long open time

I dunno, if they were going the resin route I would think it would most likely be a Resorcinol glue variant, but these are characteristically brown/red, whereas what they used looked like PVA or similar?

 

[Steve1]

Did you notice the beams in their shop ?

 

[Michael Kellough]

Impressive all right. Could anyone tell whether they applied glue to both mating faces? This would require the piece on the top of the lamination to be flipped over while moving into position.

And how did they get those 4-1/5 foot by 90 foot surfaces smooth enough for lamination?

 

[4nthony]

And how did they get those 4-1/5 foot by 90 foot surfaces smooth enough for lamination?

Lo and behold, the Stanley 1000!

 

[leakyroof]

Very impressive. Glue DID look like a PVA from the way it was being poured out, and no one was required to wear a mask like you probably would when working with an Epoxy in that much of an open amount , workshop wise- think of the fumes from that much Epoxy open to air while you're working on it.