not timber framing but 2x6s ?

[dustyhat]

I have a ? from you guys . i cant saw 20 foot stuff ,so im looking at some 2x6 stock a local guy has for my barn rafters. but its that put together stuff , has the shark tooth cuts in the end and glued up. dont know if i explained it right. but was wondering if its stable enough for rafters or not.

[beenthere]

Can't tell from the description just what you have.
Maybe the name the lumber yard calls it would help.

Sounds like engineered glu-lam, which is better than an individual board, but don't want to say it without knowing.
Put up a pic of what you have and that will help. Or explain what the individual pieces are that are glued-up (size and number of laminations).

"sharks tooth", is that the birdsmouth for setting on the plate?

[dustyhat]

There typical 2x6 dressed , but across the end grain they have been run through a moulder type cutter leaving glue up slots. i just thought they looked like sharks teeth, but then there glued end to end making long peices.  there not laminates but could have been manufactured for that purpose.

[Dave Shepard]

I've seen laminated construction lumber, but not finger jointed like that, only trim. I wouldn't trust finger jointed lumber for structural purposes.

[beenthere]

Ohh!! fingerjointed 2x6... not laminated. Understand much better now.

The fingerjointed structural lumber has a pretty good history, and it helps when the load is shared with other rafters such as in a roof structure. But it only takes one bad fingerjoint to spoil the lot (like one bad apple in the barrel (old saying) ).

Often the large, bad knots are cut out and the remaining clearer lumber is fingerjointed into long pieces and structurally better than with the knots. But again, depends on how that structural piece is used.

A google search on "fingerjointed structural dimension lumber" will give you some reading to make your decision..
http://www.wwpa.org/TECHGUIDE/FingerJointed/tabid/861/Default.aspx

and
http://www.merrittbros.com/images/Finger%20Joint/STRUCTURAL%20FINGER%20JOINTED%20LUMBER%20FLYER.pdf

It will be your call to make. Prolly boil down to the cost of the other options.

[Grizzly]

In BC where I grew up and built with Dad, the only place a finger-joint stud was allowed (building code) was for just that. Vertical load only. So long as the finger-joints are held stable they will handle vertical load without issue.
I packed drywall for a time and I can't tell you how many finger-joint studs we broke. We would usually go through walls by passing the drywall hand over hand through one stud space while we walked through the other one. Occasionally my timing was off and I either stopped short when the sheeting hit a stud or if it was a finger-joint stud we just waltzed right on through. I would not trust those joints for side pressure at all. Just my opinion.........and experience.

[beenthere]

The present day evaluation (MSR- machine stress rating) of structural lumber including fingerjointed joists is much different than the "old" days and for studs.

I think today, you can trust them to be structurally sound. Whether one does or not, is up to the individual. ;)

[dustyhat]

Thanks guys, im still on the fence on this, good reads on those websites , beenthere  , i will look for structure codes when i go back . if i use some of these i might build the rafter and then laminate with plywood  glue and screw  them put on another rafter and build that way and use them every two or three rafters , kind of veneered rafters i guess you would say. at five bucks apiece i would like to use some. the guy buys out large construction co. and lumber yards and sells at a reasonable price.

[VictorH]

Personally I would'd touch the stuff for a wall or roof.  Surely you can find a sawyer who can cut what you need pretty close to you.

[ScottInCabot]

Having worked two commercial lumber yards as a delivery driver, I use to bring six pieces of that stuff to job sites(where the crew only needed one).  They would cull through them to try to pick out a piece that might be good enough....most of the time I'd bring all the pieces back, and some would break on the way back.


You've apparently spent quite a large effort to 'do it right', until this point....
I'd go with VictorH on this one, find a local sawyer that can do those 20 footers.



Scott in Cabot

[fishfighter]

My take, they been used down here in the south for many years. Never saw or hear of one to fail. Now this is all in stick build and they are used as rafters. When installed, they also install cross braces and under braces to shore them up.

Now up north, y'all deal with snow loading. No such thing down here. ;D