Mending Plate Test - Gangnail

[@PastorDariusTempleton]

I use a dirt tamper to put the truss plates in. You can pick one up at lowes. Steel handle and steel plate.

[@pilkingtonkurt]

I build trusses for a living My dad owns the business and we use these plates for all joints but there are different gages (strengths/thicknesses) and we have never had a truss fail We do however nail the corners of the plate down on the truss the place a plate beneath the joint and use a press. Even tho you couldn't see bent teeth on that plate there were believe me So every joint is pressed and plated on both sides. I have never heard of any plate that allows you to only plate one side of a truss

[@LandtoHouse]

Kurtis Pilkington Those presses are the only way to go! without those I dont think its possible to get the trusses built properly. In this test I just wanted to see what would happen if I hammered the plate without a press. It would need a second plate for sure! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@13370101]

Simpson has a mending variety and a structural variety meant for trusses

[@deiseldes1]

Hi ya Kurtis ,must pick your brain sometime ,re a small job i want to do re old roof.

[@pilkingtonkurt]

@@deiseldes1 go on And sorry what is re

[@tehpimpmasta]

I’ve worked at a truss shop before.. yes you put one on each side. My job was to grab all the plates according to plans and hammer one corner in. It then got nailed (by gun) to support it more.. then it was sent (via: a treadmill type of conveyor belt system pulled it, if you will.) down a huge set of rollers, until it eventually went through the end which was just big enough of a (still sliding/rolling) space, to allow it to come through once pressed in fully. (It basically was like using a huge rolling pin on some cookie dough essentially.. you could theoretically build this roller setup yourself. I don’t remember having any type of hydraulic press in that shop. One guy grabbing the wood, two more printing plans and cutting said wood, me and four others making the trusses, I wanna say we’d have a complete ready to be built with stack of 5 trusses or so easily within no more than 15 minutes. (It’s been a whiiillleee so forgive me if I’ve remembered and/or worded things wrongly. Just trying to paint a little bit of a picture, hopefully. And to vouch for & backup everything @Kurtis Pilkington said. He’s speaking truth. Holla.

[@G5Hohn]

I think with a mending plate on both sides, you could have a pretty strong connection. Simpson shows them used that way on their website.

[@LandtoHouse]

Yes but they are pressed in by machine not hammer.

[@terrykleier5068]

The real issue is liability due to these connectors or any connector other than nails is the listing or testing. You can field apply these connectors with a Deadblow hammer available nearly anywhere including the box stores and many others. There is a procedure that needs to be followed using this method. That’s the legal part of the usage but I think the connectors installed in accordance with the listing which would include fields installation will perform better than correlated metal connectors so this style connector will be the one I use when I get my truck camper started this spring

[@girlmastergeneral]

They go on both sides of the truss

[@JohnSmith-je6fy]

These Mending Plate is actually the same thickness on the engineering trusses, these plate did mention not for trusses use, just because the plate company is not responsible for, if you build wrong, trusses may not be strong enough and fall down, if you do it right, it may be stronger than the engineering trusses. The Safety Department doesn't supply us a permit to build trusses, you have to buy through the trusses company which is very expansive.

[@LandtoHouse]

That is good info! Thank you. I did look into having trusses built because I learned that it was frowned upon to build them oneself. But when I learned of the price I soon decided that I would give them a try. These plates are nice but hard to drive evenly.

[@JohnSmith-je6fy]

Land to House .com I already build one test truss and these plates is very easy to pound it in by using big hammer, joint two piece of 2x4 line them up as close as possible and place these plate as desire, then pound it as hard as you can from center out.

[@LandtoHouse]

John Smith Yes the big hammer does make it better to drive in! Not as nice as the professional press but for us common folk its not that bad. I am happy to hear that your test run worked well!

[@JohnSmith-je6fy]

Land to House .com The trusses company actually using big metal roll wheel to run over these mending plate twice.

[@LandtoHouse]

John Smith oh right. I did watch a video on that a while back. I bet they can shell out several rather quickly.

[@larrywhalen596]

It appears that the plate LTM is using is a Simpson TP-36 which I literally just used (5-21-2022) to initially secure the top and bottom rails to the side rails of a 4' x 6' wooden gate for my fence. Without a suitable press these plates are a "beotch" to 'drive' into the wood as the teeth tend to bend - then you need to straighten them out and retry it all over again. My Son and I used a framing hammer to 'set' the plates after several failed attempts which finally did the trick until he could get a good swing with an 8# sledge hammer and an eight inch piece of a 2x4 to get it to hold everything in place. Next time I'm faced with securing two pieces of wood as I just did (two pieces of wood at a right angle) I will use the MP 3 1/2" by 7" (mending plate) which is designed to be securely held via several screws until they can be permanently secured with 1/8" steel 'L' shaped brackets at each corner - which are normally used for shelving, (OR - there is a kit which will cost a little more, or as much after buying the mending plates and 'L' brackets which are the same as in the kit BTW).

[@thurlravenscroft2572]

I use my 8” ground tamper. It works great.

[@wahoospa1]

Here is what Home Depot says about the Simpson Mending Plate MP36. "Designed for non-structural applications".

[@wlomond]

I wonder if two hand ground tampers might do the trick as well. Since it is designed for a center strike, it may only need one large bolt in the center or a hydraulic press. Just a thought. Either way, yours look good. Cheers

[@dm4024]

The problem with using a hammer is that with every strike of the hammer you will make the teeth in another position pop out of the lumber, or move. This makes the holes made by the teeth larger and the grip of the plate becomes less. It may look like the plate is sunk flush the way it should be but it would have the same effect as using a smaller screw in a hole made by a slightly larger screw, and the plate could potentially fail.

[@lily5555]

Thanks! That helped me out. I was wondering about these for a small playhouse.

[@LandtoHouse]

I Think its much better to use the osb sandwich method for trusses.

[@twoweary]

IMHO , mending plates absolutely work for trusses. I have seen skilled carpenters use these. I just nail mine on with my framing hammer. Takes a lot of hits, but they're rock solid. I start at one end and hammer my way to the other end ( no press). Kurtis below made a good point about plating both sides and nailing the corners for peace of mind .

[@stjohn9455]

The issue with hammering on plates isn't that you can't do it. It's that while you do it your pieces will move apart, out of square, out of pitch and generally look bad. And unless you're building a shed in the middle of nowhere, you will have to have some kind of permit. Bottom line is, if you want hammer in nail plates, the is a better way to erect your structure than using nail plates

[@LandtoHouse]

+Drew st. john that definitely makes sense. I like the OSP sandwich method best. I will be using that soon for a workshop roof.

[@ShellyGraham]

Thank you do much for the video. I'm building a shaker box, after my first attempt to apply the plate I was fairly certain I wasn't doing it correctly.

[@researchandbuild1751]

why in the heck do these mending plates cause pull tension? Throws off the alignment of the wood

[@keighleyyo958]

Can I order it with a ip door in front and back?

[@tawumpas]

Going to try these for a neighbors swing set. I hope it works out! Old boards near the swing bolts/monkey bars. Thinking this plate will be over kill at rejoining the semi splitting wood.

[@LandtoHouse]

These require a specific type of press to work properly. I would recommend one of the nail plates that has lots and lots of nail holes.

[@tawumpas]

@@LandtoHouse oh man.. time to hope they hold. I may need to return to them again.

[@AyalasBand]

Would these work to use for a 12' long sub fascia board???

[@xadam2dudex]

You might want to secure your wood since hammering causes it to bounce which keeps it from setting the plate

[@d.a.s.3921]

THIS - Needs to be secured . All these do is prevent wood from drifting and separation from sun/water exposure ...

[@p39483]

There's also nail plates with only holes and you're supposed to put a bunch of hanger nails in them.

[@roydredge1273]

Interesting test as mentioned if you use one back and front should be no problem by the way which editing program are you using

[@LandtoHouse]

It seems strong enough for most non weight bearing projects. .... I have been using premier pro for about 10 years now. It's amazing.

[@lynnpetkus1437]

You mentioned you used a different plate for truss. What exactly would you use to adjoin truss boards. These trusses would only be supporting tin roof. No plywood/osb, just furring strips.

[@LandtoHouse]

I used nail plates. There is a video on my Channel that shows the steps. If you do a search for scissor trusses you will find it. I do recommend using the nails that are twisted not straight nails. Screws are good too.

[@fuzzybutkus8970]

I was a set up guy at Century truss in Mich. We were the biggest until owner tried to bust the Union and got himself killed and they closed. Anytime we did a repair on a broken upright or web not at a joint. we hammered them on thousands of times . Have talked to engineers and plate reps. Hammering is perfectly acceptable We would always overplate repairs by gauge or size. If you’ve never done it. Grab a handful of truss nails.and use with truss plate. I see people killing themselves with huge sledge hammers. A 24-30 Oz. Estwing is what we all used.

[@LandtoHouse]

Ah you found an old video. That is interesting! Sorry to hear about the boss. I have really enjoyed building small sheds with plywood gussets. They are customizable and easy to make.

[@vnickelman1111]

what am I doing wrong? I just tried using mending plates for the first time to join two pieces of plywood. Could not get them to go in really at all. Do I need a sledge hammer or don't they work for plywood for some reason? Thanks for any responses!

[@LandtoHouse]

+Charles Miller from what I understand mending plates are only good if you have the appropriate press to press them into the wood. I was just seeing if I could get them to go together in this video.

[@monstermushroomcloud]

Wouldn't use on ply wood. The plate nailed aren't very long. Won't grip enough of the wood.

[@LandtoHouse]

Good point. I think plywood sandwich is the better choice over these plates.

[@BuiltOut]

The people that commented saying it wouldn’t work most likely have never swung a hammer😂.. Of course it works🤯😂

[@rickb5158]

Worked for Ryan homes in the truss dept and they had a air press for pressing these into the wood ....

[@LandtoHouse]

Yes that is the only way that I would want real trusses made. I just wanted to see if I could get this to hold with methods around the house.

[@herbiesnerd]

They fail during fires. Once the char is 1/4” deep or so they release. If they are holding together your trussed roof, the entire truss assembly can collapse under load, such as a firefighter on the roof. Sink a nail on each side of the gusset plate to make your firefighters safer. Mathematics vs Mass Math is cheaper. Mass is safer.

[@LandtoHouse]

I should think that to be true. Also you have to have a machine to press them correctly.

[@brendanwoods7399]

Who would use mending plates for a workbench? Primary use is for trusses.

[@mikehozempa441]

Like hell I'd trust that haha worked for gangnail and we had handheld hydraulic presses for ones that missed or needed extra push.... By hand you do not set them in properly and they will flex which is dangours as hell.... Besides 1 main problem.. tac your boards together first... the spacing between shouldnt be there... weak spot... this would not pass quality control and would be tossed

[@LandtoHouse]

This is a nice old video. I was just seeing what would happen.

[@mikehozempa441]

@@LandtoHouse yea seen it was older but never know if others will go threw it lol I still use videos older then this for things lol And for a DIY no press of any be a few things I'd do differently... my points are just from the assembly line stand point for "professional" grade lol I wasnt going at you I just know few guys personally who would watch this and think a gap is ok and all that little stuff that I'm sure you wouldnt do if actually building one lol

[@user-ly6ld8op8h]

Obviously you need to hold the materials tight and not let them bounce around while hammering.

[@devhavoc8146]

I did this on my table I build use one on both sides start hammering from on side then work your way over

[@LandtoHouse]

I imagine they are best with some type of press. but if done right will hold well.

[@estebanleon527]

Hello, whats the size of the male pins that go into the wood? Thanks!

[@LandtoHouse]

+Esteban Leon The nails are small. I would say in this plate they were only 1/4" to 3/8"

[@estebanleon527]

+Land to House thanks!!!

[@LandtoHouse]

+Esteban Leon You are welcome.

[@juvaus07]

How can I remove one of these?

[@andrewjames4346]

How do you remove a mending plate?

[@TheGotmilk777]

Thanks brother

[@johnperkins8895]

Try putting another one on the otherside like they are intended to be used

[@LandtoHouse]

This was just a fun test. I was not looking to make anything with this.

[@hungvu8480]

It goes on both sides

[@matt7iron]

Dude put that wood up against the wall and put a 45 lb weight up against it, or a 2x4 board rammed against something stationary and the boards

[@calmeaj]

This guy looks super high lol 😆 😂 🤣

[@t.tocsmaillup8685]

You nailed it lol

[@deankay4434]

Use two thick plate of steel, a pipe with a hole in it & a small number of magnets... Then mount it on your 20 ton log-splitter and god to town doing both sides at a time! Besides, mine has a hitch with 50 MPH tires that can go to the job site without a power source, just a can of gas. Get-Er-Done! Then just smile!

[@johngodwin7902]

Good test

[@LandtoHouse]

Thank you. It went better than I was expecting.

[@silviopolimene9323]

Very scientific test

[@LandtoHouse]

Only the best here... haha. These early videos sure are funny.

[@user-ly6ld8op8h]

One goes on both sides.

[@williambacon369]

I built trusses for a living. One plate on each side.

[@LandtoHouse]

This was a fun test. I like plywood gussets.

[@hungvu8480]

I did the same.......and it bend

[@PastorDariusTempleton]

Sorry, I got the Razor-Back tamper from Home Depot for $30.

[@LandtoHouse]

+Cedar Creek I have seen those but not used one. I only got this plate as a test but did not use it for anything.

[@PastorDariusTempleton]

+Land to House I found your video while I was looking for a better way than the dirt tamper. Most of the trusses I build the Hydraulic machine presses. However, the 16' truss requires some extra work with the dirt tamper.

[@LandtoHouse]

+Cedar Creek I can see that being effective. The sledge is not the way ha ha. The hydraulic press that works on the entire truss seems like it would be quick and easy.

[@SamsonZoomBespoke]

much harder with plywood

[@LandtoHouse]

I like to use plywood gussets when I build. It seems to be the easiest and strongest way to make a truss shed roof.

[@steelcap8448]

We make nail plates

[@jessedover6175]

Learn how to swing a hammer like a real man.🤨🔨

[@LandtoHouse]

Haha this was my first time to swing one.