Anyone think of any shop uses for a 40' I beam? It's a 30" tall, 15" wide I-beam, the horizontal parts of the I-beam is 1" thick, the vertical part is 3/4" thick. By my calculations it's just over 100 pounds per foot of length. My scrap guy is fixing to cut it up and scrap it. 1 foot chunk for a vise stand? Cut it in half and use it to raise a car 30" off the ground? Any ideas?
Use for a 40 foot I-beam?
- Thread starter bluebolt
- Start date
rsanter
Well-known member
ridge beam for your new shop
you can also hang a chain hoist from it
bob
you can also hang a chain hoist from it
bob
Pukeballs
Well-known member
That's what I was thinking.
deathbound
Well-known member
Abodyracer
Well-known member
Bumper for your truck for those rare shopping mall trips.
Vinko
Well-known member
hoist is what I was thinking too.
Not practical for shop, but I'd love to have a piece like that to cut up into table and chairs. You could make some cool designs with I-Beams.
Not practical for shop, but I'd love to have a piece like that to cut up into table and chairs. You could make some cool designs with I-Beams.
E.rodz
Well-known member
myself would sell the beam and or trade it for smaller more manageable beams and build a bridge crane!
rquackenbush
Well-known member
That's a legendary crane setup!
hifi_hokie
Well-known member
Burning Man statue?
PAToyota
Well-known member
Closest I could get to 30" x 15" would be a W30x173. So about 3.5 tons for 40 feet of it.
Just trying to support the weight of the beam itself pretty much rules out any practical applications as part of a structure unless you're thinking along the lines of bridges or skyscrapers. As a ridge beam for a shop, the beam weighs more than any snow load you'd ever see.
And the 15" wide by 1 1/16" thick flange is going to require custom trolleys if you're thinking about a gantry of some sort. Even a couple sections for "legs" for the ends of a workbench are going to run about 400lbs apiece.
40' clear-span ridge beam. You'd have to buy or otherwise procure some pretty hefty steel for the rest of the building to go along with that ridge. 
Cross-rail for a 40' wide gantry crane. See above about needing more steel.
Tank trap.
Road barrier.
Driveway or other small road bridge across a stream, culvert, small river, etc.
Beefy trailer.
Cross-rail for a 40' wide gantry crane. See above about needing more steel.
Tank trap.
Road barrier.
Driveway or other small road bridge across a stream, culvert, small river, etc.
Beefy trailer.
Major Ramifications
Well-known member
I can't nail it down on my W beam tables (your dimensions must be approximate), but it weighs way more than 100 pounds per foot.
I would sell it to some place that uses that sort of thing. If you don't have the equipment to handle it, then there's not much you can do with it. The damn thing is HEAVY.
I would sell it to some place that uses that sort of thing. If you don't have the equipment to handle it, then there's not much you can do with it. The damn thing is HEAVY.
slopecarver
Well-known member
a flagpole at least 40 feet from any structure, call it hurricane/tornado-proof.
blazemaster83
Well-known member
make a stand for your 300lb man vise!
GarageEnvy
Well-known member
This is the only place I know of where a bridge would be considered a DIY project and nobody would question it. I love GJ
Do you have any House movers near you I would see if its worth some $$$ to them and sell it and take the money to buy what steel you really need
don't cut it up till you are sure its not worth money to someone in one lenght
don't cut it up till you are sure its not worth money to someone in one lenght
deathbound
Well-known member
I think I was looking at the same chart...couldn't find anything with the exact dimensions provided...but the W30x173 was closest.
BTW...that gantry crane set-up is the ****....travels both was!
Located near Shreveport Louisiana. I would like to build a hoist but too big.
Measurements are not aproximate, its exactly what I measured it at. The end has a surface area of 51 square inches. (two 1" x 15" for the top and bottom and 28" x 3/4" for the center) I did make a mistake somewheres, it calculates out to 14.16 cubic feet of steel. At an average of 490 pounds per cubic foot it should weigh around 6900 pounds or 173 pounds per foot.
Measurements are not aproximate, its exactly what I measured it at. The end has a surface area of 51 square inches. (two 1" x 15" for the top and bottom and 28" x 3/4" for the center) I did make a mistake somewheres, it calculates out to 14.16 cubic feet of steel. At an average of 490 pounds per cubic foot it should weigh around 6900 pounds or 173 pounds per foot.
blackice
Well-known member
home made frame jig?
I though of that but again too big
Still waiting for OK from property owner to clean out the scrap. The scrap dealers will give us $110 a ton for it.
Busted Bolts
Well-known member
Did you say it was 30 intches tall, and 15 inches wide? thats too big for overhead use, but a shhort piece would be good as a stiking table or if bolted down it could be used as a anchor point for chaining up items to straighten with comealong, or porta-power IMO
imavanner2
Well-known member
Just what i need for my loft.
