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This past weekend, I began framing the enclosure around my dome. It was a pain in the neck. Steel studs are awfully wiggly, flexible and difficult to work with.
I can chop them easily enough; I put a metal abrasive disc on my cheap brick saw (my best investment by far). Lots of sparks, noise and a burnt smell, but it's effortless.
But cutting the ends with tin snips. to create the tabs for attaching the to each other, is a pain in the A__. If you don't have the snips exactly 90 degress to the metal, the jaws of the snips just scratch the metal. Then there's the little slivers that are created with each cut.
Anyway, here are my questions. I would appreciate any answers or comments you can provide:
1) How do you do fine cutting on the studs, i.e. how do you create the "birdsmouth" notch for the rafters? I believe ColCorn did a fantastic job with his; the cuts look so clean. If I tried to do that with tin snips, it would look like it went through a meat grinder. I have two pairs of Wiss tin snips; one straight pair, like scissors, and the other, right-handed offest pair that is supposed to be more convenient.
2) can you cut studs with an angle grinder? If not, what do you use an angle grinder for when framing the oven?
3) How rigid must the frame be? I've had to add reinforcing braces, etc, but the frame is still a bit flexible and wiggly. Will Cement board compensate for this?
4) How do you account for the prodtruding screw heads when screwing cement board onto the studs? They protrude about 3/16" from the surface of the studs. I'm wondering how perfectly monolithic the framed sides have to be before tacking on the cement board. Due to the squishy, flexy nature of the steel studs, there are bends, minor dents, and slight warps created when the metal is "grabbed" together. In other words, there's a bit of "slop" in the construction.
I'm hoping that a nice, rigid, flat, heavy cement board covering will overcome and neutralize all the cosmetic flaws and sloppy connections in my framing.
Is this a realistic hope?
Thanks in advance.
- Fio
2)
I can chop them easily enough; I put a metal abrasive disc on my cheap brick saw (my best investment by far). Lots of sparks, noise and a burnt smell, but it's effortless.
But cutting the ends with tin snips. to create the tabs for attaching the to each other, is a pain in the A__. If you don't have the snips exactly 90 degress to the metal, the jaws of the snips just scratch the metal. Then there's the little slivers that are created with each cut.
Anyway, here are my questions. I would appreciate any answers or comments you can provide:
1) How do you do fine cutting on the studs, i.e. how do you create the "birdsmouth" notch for the rafters? I believe ColCorn did a fantastic job with his; the cuts look so clean. If I tried to do that with tin snips, it would look like it went through a meat grinder. I have two pairs of Wiss tin snips; one straight pair, like scissors, and the other, right-handed offest pair that is supposed to be more convenient.
2) can you cut studs with an angle grinder? If not, what do you use an angle grinder for when framing the oven?
3) How rigid must the frame be? I've had to add reinforcing braces, etc, but the frame is still a bit flexible and wiggly. Will Cement board compensate for this?
4) How do you account for the prodtruding screw heads when screwing cement board onto the studs? They protrude about 3/16" from the surface of the studs. I'm wondering how perfectly monolithic the framed sides have to be before tacking on the cement board. Due to the squishy, flexy nature of the steel studs, there are bends, minor dents, and slight warps created when the metal is "grabbed" together. In other words, there's a bit of "slop" in the construction.
I'm hoping that a nice, rigid, flat, heavy cement board covering will overcome and neutralize all the cosmetic flaws and sloppy connections in my framing.
Is this a realistic hope?
Thanks in advance.
- Fio
2)
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