Homemade trusses built with bearing press

[@curlydave7689]

15 years ago, I found was that trusses made in a truss shop were priced LOWER than the lumber to build them myself. Plus the huge time savings, and they had an engineer's stamp certifying the design.

[@allenlane5000]

wonder if this is still true today.....i'm skeptical

[@therealmichaelfrat]

Thanks for making this, I had the exact same idea but wondered if it would work, or if I was just going to waste time…. This clinched it for me, now I know how to proceed, hanks so much!

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

Your welcome! Appreciate the feedback, Kevin

[@jonscott831]

I can't wait to see what you post next, but I have no doubt it'll be fun to watch. Thanks for sharing

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

Really appreciate your feedback, thanks for watching, Kevin

[@lonnieclemens8028]

Nice device to have! Thank you for sharing this video.

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

Lonnie, appreciate the comment, thanks for watching, Kevin

[@douglashank8480]

That's a really great idea! I've wondered about how you're supposed to get those plates on without smashing the little pins over sideways. You remind me a lot of the kinds of things my dad used to come up with. He made similar kinds of devices from whatever he had on hand at the time. Sometimes they looked a bit like Rube Goldberg devices that I never would have imagined - but every one of them did exactly what he wanted them to do. I'm looking forward to seeing more build ideas from you. +1 new subscriber.

[@TheModelmaker123]

Thanks for sharing and nice workmanship. I can understand wanting to build things yourself when you have time and it saves money. In this situation it seems that adding plywood gussets with ring shank nails or screws would have been quicker and probably stronger than the metal gussets. The other thing I noticed is that the truss span is not very long, nor is the depth very deep. Trusses become more cost effective as the span increases as shorter spans such as this can be easily constructed with dimensional lumber (2x6's) perhaps? I know for my shed, I use the open area to store plywood, lumber and small parts.

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

Thanks for your comment. You are right, I like doing things myself. The trusses were a fun project and worked well for me because of my physical limitations, they were so light and easy to work with. They also were very uniform, I used the centerline marks to aline on a string-line, I had pre-installed the hurricane anchors and they were easy to place and have installed in minutes.

[@columbuspalmer846]

Nice work. I’m going to have to look you up.

[@tobiehead400]

Like the video. I've been looking how to make my own trusses and floor joists haven't found the perfect hydraulic c press yet but just and idea that might save you time on keeping everything aligned try using a corregated fasner stapler.

[@MrRickoscar]

Very ingenious .

[@roberthughes2665]

Awesome idea. Thanks for the inspiration

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

Robert, I appreciate your feedback. Thanks for watching, Kevin

[@jwiereng]

nice idea

[@micmike]

Cool idea I was going to ask, you can't do top and bottom nail plates at the same time can you?

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

I appreciate the feedback, it may be possible. I found it was easier to focus on the one side and get all the joints tight, positioned and the truss plate placed correctly. Once the one side is done it was quick easy to do the other side with everything locked in place. Thanks for watching, Kevin.

[@allenlane5000]

So you just flip it over and press the other side?

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

Yes, the backside goes quickly and easily with everything locked in place. Thanks for watching, Kevin

[@jefft9060]

Thats alot of work. I would just cut rafters for a shed.

[@svm409699]

interesting, but I think a good heavy hammer would have worked too, and likely quicker.

[@byugrad1024]

Can't do that. The teeth need to be pressed in straight. Hammering them in bends them by quite a bit, making the finished product much less stable.

[@TimSlowey]

Large trusses are built with structural old growth lumber only which is typically 3X as strong as lumberyard material. Unless the building span is very small I would not recommend anyone building their own trusses. I am an engineer,

[@kevins_fix-it_or_make-It_shop]

Tim, I appreciate your feed back, the span was small for a storage shed. Thanks for watching, Kevin