DIYbanter - View Single Post - Splice together 2 x 4's for storage shed?

(Rob) wrote in message . com...
Thanks to everyone for the info and the welcome to rec.woodworking!
The ASCII diagrams were especially useful. With this post I was mainly
concerned with the side walls. I will likely use (purchased) clear
spans of 2"x4" for the roof in the interest of safety. Although, if I
can figure out a solidly engineered truss system using the same
construction cast offs I might go in that direction.

Scarf joints _can_ be used to make longer horizontal beams and
rafters out of shorter pieces of wood. Unless the challenge
of the task is really, really, attractive, and you are very
confident of doing ti well then I agree that you should
just use whole stock

You can make longer studs from the shorter pieces using mortise and
tenon joints. Cut the tennon on the lower piece and the mortice in
the bottom butt of the upper piece. However half-lapping or just
butting them with additonal pieces nailed to either side will do
just fine.

Again, it is a question of how fancy you want to get in addition to
being frugal.

I also have a reliable source of wood pallets through my wife's
employer.

Well, why didn't you say so before? You can saw the slats off
in between the stringers and use those to overlap the splices on
the studs. If you can seperate the slats from the stringers
without breaking them (often it is easier to pund the nails
through the slat rather than pulling them out) then you can
use those for the rafters too.

You will need to plane them to uniform thickness and then laminate
them face-to-face, staggering them so that no two places where
they are butted end-to-end are accross the same section of the
rafter. You will need to use at least three 'layers' of slats
per rafter, and maybe four to assure that the minimum thickeness
accross any section is 1 1/2". THis will also take a lot of glue.

Do you have a source of cheap glue?

I will be examining these next for the 2"x4" used. I am aware that the
quality of wood varies widely in pallets and may not be worth using
(or even safe).

But you get to select it.

--

FF