Glulam Building: Start to Finish – Part Six A
Welcome to our “Glulam Building: Start to Finish” series. Our goal is to provide an overview – from idea to completion – of a glulam building, from the perspective of a glulam manufacturer and designer.
Part 6A: Production Prep
The approved and final Shop Drawings include the dimensions and quantities of all glulam members for a project. But, they are spread out over several pages and don’t include all of the specific information needed for the production of each part. A glulam schedule is generated, with general project information (project name, number, wood species, treatment, finish, and appearance grade), and a line for each unique glulam part which includes:
- Part number
- Quantity
- Sheet of shop drawings where its detail appears
- Stress combination
- Camber
- Approximate shipping weight
It also include production information for each billet (some of which are cut into multiple finished parts):
- Lumber size
- Length of plies
- Ply thickness
- Grade requirements for each ply
- Total material quantities
For simple projects that don’t require shop drawings (straight beams without any fabrication except cutting to length) the Glulam Schedule is the only production document sent to the plant. The Glulam Schedule is also used to print the unique tags for each glulam part, which we use to help track parts during production, and identify parts in the field after shipping.
