Need some enclosure design help....

[Breven]

I know many of you have had constuction experience and for those who have built an enclosure around your oven using metal studs...you know the capabilites and limitations.

I've attached a drawing (sorry, my artistic skills are lacking) of where I'm currently at. The red line is an existing metal stud.

My question is if anyone has any idea on how to go about rounding off the back side of the roof? I measured the header beam so that if I attach an agnled truss suport directly off the end of it to the top middle of the cureved wall, the distance is exactly the same as the rest of the trusses, so the anngle should be perfect. However, for the roof to look right (i picture half of a pointed roof like you see on a castle) I need to attach 5 or 6 trusses to the back. How can I attach them all to the same point on the end of the header beam??? By the way, the header beam, vertical support and the support beam spanning between the block walls are all metal studs, but I screwed 2 of them together to add more strength.

Any ideas?

[toddj]

Looks like your enclosure is entering the world of TRON

[Ken524]

Nice pic. I think I see where you are going with this. I'll think about it.

[Ken524]

Breven,

The diagram on the left is what I perceive as your problem: too many steel studs coming together at the same spot.

My idea on the right is to have studs 1, 3 and 5 coming to the "apex" and being screwed in. You'll need to do some trimming and bending of the ends to make it work.

Studs 2 and 4 stop short of the apex. A tab is bent on one side of each and secured to studs 1 and 5.

The gray studs are additional reinforcements to firm the whole thing up. You can add more reinforcements if you wiggle stuff around and think you need them.

Am I on the right track?? (if this doesn't work, I can use the same diagram to design an old Crosley radio )

[dmun]

How 'bout something like this:

[Wiley]

Breven, What's your final roofing surface going to be? That will help determine how it needs to be supported. Are you going for a cone shape (OK half cone) that is smooth or one that consists of many facets? Most cone topped towers end in a metal finial that takes care of the problems at the apex (read that "hides and makes water tight"). That's because most old time (you mentioned castles) were roofed in tile or stone (slate being preferred) later they had the ability to make large metal sheets (and the roofers still haven't sobered up from celebrating :-) Still those old time guys had something going for them that you won't... their creation would be viewed from a fair distance off... like on the ground looking up 75 or 100 ft.. Your creation will be viewed up close.

If you are going with metal and want help with the finial I have a copy of " "Essentials of Sheet Metal Work and Pattern Drafting" by Daughtery that has the "how to" of laying out the pattern. Your local library may have a copy but I doubt it as copyright is 1918. It's so far out of copyright I have no problem with scanning and sending along the pertinent pages. No math, it's all geometry, dividers and a ruler, just like the builders of the cathedrals.

Wiley

[Ken524]

Uhmmm... Dmun, did you forget to attach?

[Wiley]

Breven,
I did a quick search of Google regarding the book I mentioned. Seems I'm not the only one impressed with the work. The entire book is online at:

Essentials of Sheet Metal Work and ... - Google Book Search

Wiley

[dmun]

Uhmmm... Dmun, did you forget to attach?

Not only does that site not let you link to a picture, it doesn't let you link directly to a page:

http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris2006/fly...Dame_Paris.jpg

Let's try another view of the same round back roof:

[Breven]

Dmun...nice pic. That's exactly what I have pictured in my head, only this one is a little nicer. Ken thanks for your advice- I think you and I were on the same page here. The big problem is that in order to keep the round shape on the top of the roof I wanted to put as many trusses as possible coming from the apex. The roof on that castle is perfectly smooth all the way around, no flat spots. The more trusses I can fit in there, the less flat spots I'll have. I managed to fit 8 in! I think it came out pretty good....for some reason the pics are too big to attach...go here instead:

Picasa Web Albums - Breven - My Brick Pizz...