Coal Bunker Plus a Little Extra Room Has Started...

Ready for Roof Metal....

Finished the purlins, crossties, diagonal bracing and fascia boards. I need to get the chainsaw out and running to trim some small trees in the back and also to trim those utility poles that are left from the original structure. That will be a job for this evening, I have some chores this afternoon that take priority.

By the way I was looking at a pair of air shears from HF to use on the walls when trimming around windows and doors and to cut the pitch for the gable ends. Anyone used those before? At $30 I was only looking to have them last for this project, I wouldn't expect them to be a long term tool. Would an air nibbler be better than the shears?

titleist1 wrote:Ready for Roof Metal....

Finished the purlins, crossties, diagonal bracing and fascia boards. I need to get the chainsaw out and running to trim some small trees in the back and also to trim those utility poles that are left from the original structure. That will be a job for this evening, I have some chores this afternoon that take priority.

By the way I was looking at a pair of air shears from HF to use on the walls when trimming around windows and doors and to cut the pitch for the gable ends. Anyone used those before? At $30 I was only looking to have them last for this project, I wouldn't expect them to be a long term tool. Would an air nibbler be better than the shears?

IMG_20140920_143235.jpg

Air shears are good as long as it's thin gauge metal - no thicker than 20 ga. You'll still need hand shears for doing areas that are tough to get into.

A nibbler is a small detail tool. It's slower for long cuts and tough to make neat looking straight cuts without a guide. Plus, they are prone to braking the small hardened tip if you accidently hold it at the wrong angle while cutting.

Paul

I have found that a good set of offset aviation snips works better for tight spots than a set of air shears, but the air shears work all right for long cuts.
I have used an HF metal cutting saw like this one .....
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_20 ... _200313572
It works well to crosscut the sheets but is a little big for doing fine work.
I found this saw on HF's site that might work for you.
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-38-in-metal-cuttin ... 69702.html
I do not know how tall the ribs are on your roofing. That was the only question I had with it.
Buy a couple of extra blades for it, also.
Plan your cuts so that end cuts are under the roof line at the eaves and not at the ground. You can paint the cut edge but that requires more time to put the siding up.
If you have not bought the roof and siding yet you can custom order the lengths you want but it does take a couple of weeks to get it in.
A freind of mine did that on his garage, as it had the old brick shingle type siding on it. He wanted to spruce it up some as the siding was going bad(falling apart and falling off. He measured and ordered the siding and than we stripped one side at a time and put up girts and with insulation between them and than the siding over it. the only cuts we had to make was for the garage door and man doors. We covered the windows after removing the trim. He was going to install new windows but the money was not in the budget at the time.
Dan.

The roof panels were ordered to my specific length, there is no cutting needed for them at all. They aren't coming until next Tuesday so I will not have them for this weekend as I was hoping.

The wall panels will be ordered to length also, the only cuts across the ribs will be around the man door, a couple windows and to match the peak of the gable end. The overlap rib is 3/4" and mid ribs are 1/2". I will probably get the cut wheel for my 4" grinder and also have a pair of offset hand shears. I have some spray poly to touch the cut edges to help avoid the rust issue. I have used the spray poly on other outdoor things with success and since the siding edges will be tucked into the j channel it should do the trick.

titleist1 wrote:By the way I was looking at a pair of air shears from HF to use on the walls when trimming around windows and doors and to cut the pitch for the gable ends. Anyone used those before? At $30 I was only looking to have them last for this project, I wouldn't expect them to be a long term tool. Would an air nibbler be better than the shears?

IMG_20140920_143235.jpg

Lookin good. I have that set of air shears, and they work good cutting the tin if your going long ways. They don't do so well trying to go across the ribs.

Beautiful work!

Finally finished the last two panels on the roof today. Measured for the wall panels and necessary J & Z channel and will get that ordered Monday.

The relieved feeling that you are probably experiencing following that project should peg your happy meter for a few weeks.

The happy meter isn't quite pegged yet, I'll save that for when it is done! But I am pleased with the roof. That was the first time I used metal panels and I loved how fast they covered, the relative light weight compared to hossin' shingle bundles and plywood sheathing was great for my aging frame.

Standing inside cleaning up tools as the acorns were dropping on the roof took me back to the days of living in the trailer. I remember one hail storm back then made it sound like my head was in a trash can that somebody was using as a drum kit.

titleist1 wrote:The happy meter isn't quite pegged yet, I'll save that for when it is done! But I am pleased with the roof. That was the first time I used metal panels and I loved how fast they covered, the relative light weight compared to hossin' shingle bundles and plywood sheathing was great for my aging frame.

Standing inside cleaning up tools as the acorns were dropping on the roof took me back to the days of living in the trailer. I remember one hail storm back then made it sound like my head was in a trash can that somebody was using as a drum kit.

Your skill and craftsmanship makes me feel that my coal bin was done on the cheep and built in only 2-1/2 days (as it was). I got a call from Bob Bosler saying that my Harmony coal was being delivered in 3 days, and I had nothing but super sacks on hand at the time. My oldest daughter and I finished it about 1/2 hour before his delivery truck rolled down our driveway.