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LampDude	Tower Help [TBC]	Posted: 02-13-06 11:15:00

Junior Member Location: Joined: 12th Feb 06 IP: Hidden	Can i get some input for improvements on this tower? It weighed around 14g and held about 11kgs. http://img320.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tower2os.jpg

bah	Re: Tower Help [TBC]	Posted: 02-13-06 11:40:52

Father Time Location: New York Joined: 19th Nov 05 IP: Hidden	where did it break?
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dholdgreve	Re: Tower Help [TBC]	Posted: 02-13-06 12:40:11

Member Location: Joined: 6th Feb 06 IP: Hidden	It appears that the bottom half of the tower is "Z" braced insteal of "X braced. This creates disproportional nodes and distances between nodes. Have you considered X-bracing at least the lower half of the tower with 1/16" x 1/16" balsa? Yes, this doubles the length of lower bracing, but it cuts in half the distance between nodes, allowing for much lighter columns (1/8" x 1/8"). The "Z" bracing may work for the upper portion, or you may want to X-brace that as well, and do away with the horizontal struts, so you really would not be adding much weight, just balancing out the distance between nodes. It appears that the leg to leg dimension is about 155 mm, which works well when positioned at 45 degrees to the test opening. I've seen towers utilize the X-type bracing all the way up and still weight less than 7 grams carry the full weight of 15 Kg.

fleet130	Re: Tower Help [TBC]	Posted: 02-13-06 13:24:19

The Fleet Is In! Location: Mare Tranquillitatis Joined: 10th Nov 01 IP: Hidden	In the current configuration the legs are only braced in one direction which allows them to buckle in a different direction. By changing the crossbracing so that adjacent sides of the tower are mirror images, the braces on two adjacent sides of the tower will come together at the same point on the legs, preventing them from buckling in any direction. This increases their load bearing capacity significantly and will allow a you to use a smaller size, reducing the overall weight. An added benefit is this eliminates the need for the horizontal bracing, further reducing the overall weight of the tower.
	-------------------- Information expressed here is solely the opinion of the author. Any similarity to that of the management or any official instrument is purely coincidental!

WrightStuffMonster	Re: Tower Help [TBC]	Posted: 02-14-06 01:56:44

See you in DC Location: Joined: 15th Sep 05 IP: Hidden	I dont think that the bracing was bery effictive and the wood looks a bit larger then i usually use. What sort of glue did you use? 11 grams seems a bit heavy.
	-------------------- Wright Stuff=A way of life!!!! -Alaska

LampDude	Re: Tower Help [TBC]	Posted: 02-14-06 11:15:08

Junior Member Location: Joined: 12th Feb 06 IP: Hidden	Thanks for your ideas but are the "X" spaced on equal intervals, like should there be a "X" every 4cms? the wood i used was 1/16 x 1/16 and the glue was super glue. The tower broke at one of the bottom legs.

WrightStuffMonster

Re: Tower Help [TBC]

Posted: 02-14-06 20:49:06

See you in DC

Location:
Joined: 15th Sep 05
IP: Hidden

Quote:

Originally posted by LampDude

Thanks for your ideas but are the "X" spaced on equal intervals, like should there be a "X" every 4cms?

the wood i used was 1/16 x 1/16 and the glue was super glue. The tower broke at one of the bottom legs.

I like useing 1/8 for my legs. I use light 1/8 and i seem to do better then when i use dence 3/32. My spaceing is a bit different for each tower. I cut a leg and test it on my scale. I have my parter ajust his hands on it to see where and how many braces. I make sure it holds just under 1/4 of 15 kilograms. If you insist one useing super glue make sure you get some good stuff like med. viscosity zap. Not the wallmart stuff. Make sure you dont use to much. A little slip with the glue bottle costs alot in the weight department.

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Wright Stuff=A way of life!!!!
User-Posted Image (tm) -Alaska

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