A big advantage of using strut channel in construction applications is the multitude of options available for quickly and easily connecting lengths together and other items to the strut channel, using various strut-specific fasteners. Channel can be assembled quickly with minimal tools and inexpensive labor, which reduces costs significantly in many applications. A strut channel installation can be modified or added-to easily if necessary. The expensive alternative to strut channel for many applications is custom fabrication using steel bar stock that require welding and/or extensive drilling and bolting.
The inwards-facing lips on the open side of strut channel are used to mount channel nuts, braces, connecting angles, and other types of fittings to join lengths of strut channel together or to connect pipes, wire, threaded rod, bolts, or walls into the strut channel structural system.
The most popular strut channel sizes are 1 5/8” x 1 5/8″ and 1-5/8” x 13/16. The material used to form the channel is typically 12 gauge or 14 gauge thick sheet metal. Several variations are available with different hole patterns for mounting to walls and supports. Solid channel has no holes predrilled, and must be drilled on site. Punched channel has round holes, large enough for threaded steel rod or bolts, punched in the top of the channel at regular 1 7/8 inch centers. Half-slot channel has short, rounded end rectangular slots punched out on 2” centers. Slot channel has longer slots on 4” centers.
To form stronger structural elements, shapes are manufactured with two lengths welded together back to back, or three or four welded together in various patterns Strut is mostly manufactured out of sheet steel with electro plated, perma-gold, pregalvanized and hot dip galvanized coatings. Strut channels is also manufactured from stainless steel or aluminum alloy, in cases where rusting might become a problem or where weight is an issue.
The Smart DI+ is an all steel internally threaded anchor specifically designed with safety, reliability and speed in mind. The patented Smart DI+ design reduces the amount of force required to set the anchor. What used to take approximately twenty hammer blows on a typical 3/8″ diameter part can now be accomplished in approximately 5 blows, reducing overall labor costs by approximately 50%. The cylindrical plug design concentrates more expansion at the bottom of the anchor where it’s needed to maximize performance.
Mechanical contractors and electrical contractors use drop-in style anchors to hang threaded rod from ceilings to run pipe supports, fire sprinklers, cable trays and strut. Concrete contractors use them for temporary form work. With the added feature that allows a contractor, general foreman or inspector to see if the anchor has been set, Smart DI+TM drop-in is not only easy to set but safer than conventional drop-in anchors.
Smart DI+ Drop-In has the highest safety rating in its class. That not only makes the choice smart, but easy!
Easy to use:
1. Drill the hole with Smart DI+ Bit
2. Lock on the Smart DI+ setting tool
3. Drive the plug with the same tool used to drill the anchor hole
When using a tap it is important to start with the correct hole size. Check out the handy Tap/Drill chart for general guidelines for selecting the right size twist drill.
One of the most common questions we’re asked is, “How do you measure a rivet?”
Let’s use a common code description and break it down, we’ll use ABL6-8A as our example.
The first letter “A” indicates the rivet material. For instance, “A” for aluminum, “S” for steel, “C” for copper and “SS” for stainless steel.
The second letter tells us the head style, “B” for button head, “C” for countersunk.
If there’s a third letter in the description, it’ll be an “L” for large flange head.
The first number in the description is for body diameter, in 32nds.
The second number indicates maximum grip length in 16ths. Grip Range is the “working range” that the rivet can handle to meet the strengths designated in the IFI 114 Standards. Grip Range is not actual length. As a general rule, you would want to subtract 1/8″ off the length of the barrel for the barrel to be able to expand and lock the material together. So using your math skills and reducing 8/16″ to 1/2″ and subtracting 1/8″ you would have a grip range of 3/8″ and your rivet would have a size of 6-8.
The final letter is the mandrel (nail or stem} material. “A” for aluminum, “S” for stainless steel, “B” for brass, “C” for copper. No letter indicates a steel mandrel.
A blind rivet consists of two parts, a hollow, cylindrical body with a flared head and a solid-rod mandrel with a bulbed head that resembles a nail.
The body of the blind rivet is inserted in a hole in the materials to be joined or the blind rivet is placed into an installation tool, and then inserted into the application.
Activate the tool by squeezing the trigger in an air/hydraulic tool or the handles in a manual tool. The tool pulls the mandrel, drawing the mandrel head into the blind end of the rivet body. This action forms an upset head on the rivet body and securely clamps the application materials together.
The mandrel then reaches its predetermined break-load and will snap, with the spent portion of the mandrel breaking away and being removed from the “set” blind rivet.
Blind rivets are available in a range of body styles such as open, closed end, and multi-grip, with head styles in button, countersunk and large flange and in materials such as aluminum, steel, copper, plastic and stainless steel.
Fast, easy-to-use blind rivets offer speed of assembly, consistent mechanical performance and excellent installed appearance, making blind riveting a reliable and economical assembly method.
The initial cost of a metal cutting circular saw blade is more expensive than wood cutting blades.The good news is there are simple tips that will extend your blade life and lower the overall cost-per-cut. The Morse Metal Devil® metal cutting circular saw blade can cut through solid steel plate (6” x ¼”) in less than 12 seconds. If that kind of time savings and productivity is something you can use on your next project, keep reading!
1)Metal Devil® metal cutting circular saw blades are engineered to use dry cut technology. That means you do not need to use lubricant or coolant with the Metal Devil blades.
#1. The shear and tensile strength of the blind rivet selected and the number of blind rivets used in the application should equal or exceed the joint strength requirements.
#2. The blind rivet body material should be compatible with the materials to be joined to resist galvanic corrosion that may result in reduction of joint strength. If dissimilar materials are widely separated on the galvanic chart, it is advisable to separate them with a dielectric material such as paint or other coating.
#3. The total thickness of materials to be joined must be considered. Select the rivet “grip range” which includes the total thickness of materials to be joined.
#4. Use recommended hole sizes for each blind rivet. An undersize hole will not allow insertion of rivet body and an oversize hole may cause rivet failure, joint failure and could adversely affect rivet shear and tensile strengths.
#5. Various head styles are offered to accommodate different assembly needs. The most popular is the button head, whose lower-profile head is twice the diameter of the rivet body. This provides adequate bearing surface for nearly all applications. The large flange rivet provides greater bearing surface for fastening soft or brittle facing materials. The countersunk head rivet is available for applications where a flush appearance is required.
Rivet nuts are simple and reliable fasteners with internal threads that can be installed into thin materials such as panel, tube, extrusions, castings, plastics and many other materials providing strong load bearing threads. Once installed, the fastener remains captive to which a mating component can be attached using standard hardware.
Rivet nuts offer many benefits over nuts, bolts, weld nuts, self-tapping screws and pressed inserts, primarily their faster assembly and lower installation costs. Rivet nuts are assembled “blind” from one side only, ideal for assembly of box, tube, extrusions, or closed sections. Rivet nut installation is very efficient by using easy-to-operate, inexpensive, lightweight hand tools or handheld powerful air/hydraulic setting tools. Rivet nuts install into a wide range of material thicknesses due to their wide grip range tolerance.
A rivet nut is applied strictly as a mechanical fastener with minimal deformation of the work-piece and no damage to pre-painted surface coatings. Installation is environmentally friendly and produces no harmful gasses, heat, dust or electromagnetic fields to affect workers.
The purchase, assembly and installation of solar panels represents a significant investment. The value of solar panels has made them an inviting target for resourceful thieves. Solar panels can have a retail price approaching $1,000 each for some panels.
Very few solar systems today have any security measures to prevent theft. In fact most solar panel rack systems secure solar panels with a simple commercial fasteners. This requires little effort on the part of thieves to remove them.
Where access is easy and the potential for tampering and theft is high, protect your investment with Tanner Security Fasteners. The cost of our solar security fasteners is minimal compared to the potential cost of replacing damaged or stolen solar panels.
We are The Security Solutions Specialists. Tanner offers a complete line of security fasteners, anchors, and tools including innovative products such as Secure Wedge-Bolt® Expansion Anchors and Trident® Security Nuts
Contractors in a wide variety of industries rely on Tanner for quick solutions to their security problems.
Informative article detailing the use of selectively-hardened fasteners Bi-Flex and Dril-Flex in the construction of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida.
Selectively hardened fasteners with corrosion-preventative coating protect the integrity of the structure and avoid the dangers of hydrogen assisted stress corrosion cracking (HASCC), also known as delayed hydrogen embrittlement. In exterior applications or aggressive interior environments, bi-metallic or super alloy fasteners are recommended.
Labor-reduction associated with the new super alloy fasteners is expected to result in even more significant overall savings, especially on high-rise structures.
Stalgard® is a durable, multilayer, corrosion-resistant coating, engineered to provide optimal performance in demanding construction applications.
Tanner offers several quality fastening products that are coated with Stalgard® finish. Fasteners coated with Stalgard finish typically show no red rust or other base metal corrosion on significant surfaces even after 800 hours of 5% neutral salt spray exposure (ASTM B117).
Tanner fastening products with Stalgard Corrosion Resistance Finish:
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