Know anything about steel web joists?

[Pete Lamberty]

I am looking to buy a steel web joist. I would like to get the kind that is shaped like a triangle in it's cross section. It would have a triangle shape when viewing its end. Or think of the shape of a radio tower. I think I would want a five foot long piece. Is this possible to get? I called a steel fabrication business today and the guy on the phone told me it would be much to expensive. So I said what is expensive? And he said it would cost thousands of dollars just to turn on the machine that makes it. Well I figure that he just doesn't want to be bothered. Does this sound right to you? I want the kind that is made out of the round rebar steel. Is it made in different diameters of the rebar? I think that I would want the rebar to be about a one inch in diameter for the long parrallel sides. The bent webbing that holds the long pieces could be smaller in diameter. Also I think that I would want each side of the triangle to be about 15 inches long. I figure that I will call some more businesses tommorrow to see what they say. But in the mean time I thought that I would ask the experts here first. You can probably tell from reading this that I know nothing about this subject. Any thoughts are appreciated. Pete

[Rob Russell]

Pete,

What is the application here?

You might be better off with standard steel I-beam. It's readily available, both for the beam itself and connecting hardware.

Rob

[Pete Lamberty]

Hi Rob, I have designed a chair that will use the joist for the legs and back support. I will attach wood for the seat and for the back.

[Mark Singer]

Pete,
I used them in my studio for the roof structure.They look great! the company was out of Texas that fabricated them

[Pete Lamberty]

I'm surprised that you had to get them from Texas. Your location says that you live in California. I would have thought that these things were made locally by steel fabricators. Hmmm... Now what do I do?

[Rob Russell]

Hi Rob, I have designed a chair that will use the joist for the legs and back support. I will attach wood for the seat and for the back.

A chunk of I-beam doesn't sound too aestheticly pleasing for your application.

Why not get some rebar and weld the triangles yourself?

[Pete Lamberty]

Hi Rob, That's exactly what the guy at the business I called told me. Try to make them yourself. I may have to do that. But I don't know how to weld or bend the stuff. I may have to volunteer a friend to do it for me. Thanks for the thoughts.

[Rob Russell]

Hi Rob, That's exactly what the guy at the business I called told me. Try to make them yourself. I may have to do that. But I don't know how to weld or bend the stuff. I may have to volunteer a friend to do it for me. Thanks for the thoughts.

"Bend stuff"? I don't think you would have seen anything but straight elements in a truss.

Welding is really sort of fun. If you're thinking of making a lot of chairs, it could well be worth the investment in a welder. Besides, you will find other things to do with it.

[Pete Lamberty]

If you visit the attached web site you will see three different sections of a radio tower. http://www.texastowers.com/unvsctn.htm What I am interested in is something that looks like the straight section. In this drawing the pieces of metal (lets call these webbing) that hold the vertical tubes together appear to be individual pieces that are welded right to the vertical element. The web joists that I have seen have one long continuous zig zag webbing that are curved where they are attached to the vertical element. I am sorry that this is about the best that I can describe.

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Pete,

Try the recycling center, out there in the land of the fruits and nuts , known in the rest of the country as a junk yard . It may take a while to find one that has it but it would be way cheaper. I bought 48' of 5/8 cold rolled bar stock for a saw mill repair job and it came to almost $120. my price. The cost of steel is still stupid high. Maybe contact a demolition contractor to see who they sell their scrap to.

Is the 5 feet for one chair or several?

It would not be hard fabricate this. Drop me a line if this is what you need to do. Kieth posted a thread a while back about bending steel.

Good luck,