Fabricating own building

[stablegirl]

We have done a lot of building work here and do quite a bit of fabricating.

But we have never built our own shed, since its only small i quite fancy having a go.

I want to put up a small building 40 foot long, 24 foot wide and 12 foot to the eaves.

What do people do as far as getting things cut and drilled, plates and purlin cleats?

What about drawings to follow?

 

[robs1]

You can get the steels cut to the right angle which is imvho the hardest part unless you have a really good power hacksaw, drilling is easy with a mag drill, the most important thing is a good tape measure, get that wrong and nothing will line up, as for drawings just copy one of your existing sheds for clear spacing, we do most of our own building now, to be honest not sure there is a huge saving if you count your own time

 

[Mur Huwcun]

Cutting at correct angle is not that important, you just need to knock up an angle template/jig and weld each end plate to perfectly match the jig, a little gap in the joint helps weld penetration anyhow!!!

Last one I did just used two offcuts of 40mm box section tacked together at correct angle with a flat piece tacked across. Used it to set each end plate. Realistically if you can’t drill, punch, bend and cut your own steel you’re going to struggle on price compared to a kit building anyhow as they but steel by truckloads not a few lengths. Whatever you do don’t under estimate the time it will take you aswell.

 

[Scotter]

We get the rsjs mitre cut when ordering them and then get all the purlin plates, bracing bits etc lazer cut. We have use ESP for lazer cutting. We use a mag drill for drilling thr rsjs.

 

[v8willy]

Mag drill, angle ruler thingy & a tape measure & off you go.

Just bought a laser measure, should have had one ages ago, was a bit nervous of trusting it the first time on a 40' beam but was spot on.

 

[Col555]

A farm near us who has put up a few of his own buildings, doesn’t bother with plates and bolts, just lifts up the steels and welds the legs directly to the eaves, then welds in a gusset, job done. No time spent drilling plates, or cost of bolts.
None have fallen down yet, and can see it been fine on smaller spans. Not many sheds are put up with the intention of been taken down again any time soon.