How to Build with Grid Beam: A Fast, Easy, and Affordable System for Constructing Almost Anything

by Phil Jergenson, Richard Jergenson, Wilma Keppel

Overview

Grid beam is a modular, reusable building system that is fast, easy, affordable and virtually goof-proof. Ordinary people, with few skills and even fewer tools (all you need is a wrench!) can tackle projects ranging from furniture and shop benches to more ambitious projects like wind turbines, truck racks, small buildings--even electric vehicles.

Grid beam's modular pieces and bolt-together construction make the system fast and straightforward to work with. It has all the advantages of an industrial building system: standard, modular sizes; uniform materials; and interchangeable parts. Projects knock flat and are easy to transport. Since the pieces can be used over and over again, grid beam is easy both on your wallet and on the environment -- the authors have been using some of their components for over 30 years.

How to Build with Grid Beam includes hundreds of photos of real projects built over a 60-year period, showing the many uses of grid beam, from shelves for college students to projects involving alternative energy. The versatility of grid beam is inspiring, for beginners, more experienced do-it-yourselfers, and innovators who will develop their own designs. Even school-age children can use grid beam to build simple projects.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781550923926
Publisher:	New Society Publishers
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Series:	Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	289
Sales rank:	469,080
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Phil Jergenson is an artist and systems designer who enjoys building solar powered machines."I enjoy chasing dreams and testing new ideas. I am a trained model maker and self-taught machinist and metal fabricator. I have lived off-grid for 30 years, and spent 15 of those years building and living in micro-houses in remote locations. I have scratch built more than a dozen small solar-powered vehicles, some which are tractors and work vehicles." Phil is a co-founder of the Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI), a 19-year- old nonprofit in Willits, California.

A 30-year resident of Willits, California, Richard Jergenson started a number of successful businesses in the 70s and 80s, including his favorite, running the local cinema. The Whole Earth Catalog and Mother Earth News fueled his life-long interests in technology, energy, transporta- tion (especially railroads), and alternative lifestyles. A cultural archivist and 20-year member/officer of the Mendocino County Railway Society, he is a member of Roots of Motive Power and active in the Little Lake Grange. One of the builders of the world's first solar-electric rail vehicle, the Sol Train, Richard has been grid beaming since 1977.

A professional welder and metal fabri- cator in the mid-1980s, Wilma Keppel switched to grid beam in 1995."I am interested in anything that works exceptionally well — whether grid beam, regenerative land management, or mental performance." She writes on environmental topics and is a site editor for ManagingWholes.com. Since 2003 Wilma has done research in practical psychology — real things we ordinary people can do to improve our lives. She teaches life enhancement and mental per- formance skills through Peak Performance Preparation in Oakland, California (PeakPerformancePreparation.com).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

PART 1: GRID BEAM BASICS
Chapter 1: What is Grid Beam?
  The basics
  How it works
  The Twelve-Minute Workbench
  Sources
  Using this book
  Measurements

Chapter 2: History
  A pictorial history of grid beam
  Who we are and why we wrote this book

Chapter 3: Advantages

Chapter 4: The grid beam system
  Hole spacing
  Standard stick and panel sizes
  Stick materials
  Skin materials
  Hardware
  Accessories
  Adapters

PART 2: GRID BEAM PROJECTS
Chapter 5: Furniture
  Tables
  Desks and workstations
  Chairs
  Beds
  Living Structures
  Sleeping lofts

Chapter 6: Storage
  Shelves
  Bike Rack
  Drawer Carts
  Pegboard
  Closets and closet organizers

Chapter 7: Workshop and Industry
  Workbenches
  Shop tables
  Equipment stands
  Work supports
  Storage
  Industrial machinery and assembly lines

Chapter 8: Structures
  Booths
  Railings
  Baby and pet gates
  Temporary kitchen
  Partitions and walls
  Store displays
  Stage sets
  Scaffolding and platforms
  Buildings

Chapter 9: Renewable Energy
  Solar panel mounts and trackers
  Wind turbines and towers
  Hydro power
  Solar concentrators
  Portable power
  Firewood harvesting

Chapter 10: Trailers, Racks and Carts
  Truck racks
  Trailers
  Electric Mower
  Garden carts
  Yard Truck

Chapter 11: Vehicles
  Why electric vehicles?
  Solar-Assisted Mountain Bike
  Electric Vehicle Test Bed (EVTB)
  Scamp
  Electric Tote Goat
  Bear garden tractors
  X-Wing
  Vanda
  Go-karts
  Solar Powered Utility Vehicle (SPUV)
  Sol Train
  Rail Rocket
  FOCUS research submarine
  Project possibilities

Chapter 12: Learning and Innovation
  Teaching and learning
  Innovation and product development 

Chapter 13: Other Projects
  Animal cages
  Chair arms
  Clotheslines and laundry drying racks
  Desk organizer
  Disability aids
  Easel
  Exercise desks
  Fences
  Float switch
  Growing equipment
  Laboratory and scientific equipment
  Lifting equipment
  Moving
  Model railroad benchwork
  Photographic equipment
  Projection screen
  Recliner Workstation
  Signs
  Toys

PART 3: WORKING WITH GRID BEAM
Chapter 14: Basic Components
  Buying grid beam sticks
  Cutting sticks
  Skin materials
  Working with panels
  Hardware

Chapter 15: Accessories and Adapters
  Splices and extensions
  Mounting hole position and spacing
  Furniture wheels and casters
  Feet
  Shims
  Screws
  Butt joint brackets
  Lamps
  Power strips
  Drawers
  Shelves and shelf brackets
  Pallets
  Clothes poles
  Round tubes
  Pivots
  Wheel mounts
  Rotating shafts
  Fabricating adapters

Chapter 16: Homemade Sticks
  Should you drill your own?
  Required tools
  Work space
  Stick specifications
  Stick width
  Hole size
  Drill-it-yourself aluminum
  Drill-it-yourself steel
  Drill-it-yourself wood
  Finishing your sticks

PART 4: PROJECT DESIGN
Chapter 17: Frame Types
  Box frames
  Offset frames
  Stem frames
  When to use which frame type

Chapter 18: Bracing
  Bracing basics
  Cross-bracing
  Beams and trusses

Chapter 19: Building Safe Projects
  Avoiding trouble
  Loads
  Failures and fixes
  Testing your projects

Chapter 20: Designing Your Own Projects
  Project planning
  Design by imitation
  Drawings
  Scale models
  Mock-ups
  Project assembly

Chapter 21: Designing Vehicles
  Safety
  Vehicle basics
  First things first
  Planning your vehicle
  Drawings
  Prototyping
  Assembly
  Design solutions

Chapter 22: Additional Resources
  Books and videos
  Magazines
  Organizations
  Events
  Grid beam online
  Grid beam designers

Chapter 23: Suppliers
  Grid beam
  Hardware
  Panels
  Finishes
  Components and tools

Afterword
Glossary
Index
About the Authors

Important Charts and Measurements
  Metric conversions
  Stick lengths and panel sizes
  US stick widths and hole sizes
  Metric stick widths
  Drill speeds (rpm)
  US lumber sizes
  Units of measure - US
  Units of measure - metric