Why would someone choose one shape over another? Here are some examples from our project plans here at Mechanical Elements. Since most DIYers don’t build skyscraper… See more

For most materials, the size designation is something like Width x Height x Material Thickness. That is certainly true with Square and Rectangular tube. Also, Angle iron is Leg … See more

One of the complaints about standard I-Beams is bolting. The beam shape is optimized for carrying a vertical bending load — which is wonderful — but, bolts don’t sit as … See more

It’s worth a small dive into stresses and loading with I-Beams in this conversation. We won’t go too deep. The one point to make, when doing traditional calculations for wide fla… See more