New use for old tool

[Burnham]

I recently needed to lift a 4x6 beam about 1/2 inch from its position on top of a 4x4 post under my front porch. No need to go into the nitty gritty details of why unless someone is really interested...but after removing the T braces that secured the position, I used a pair of old beat up 8 inch double taper falling wedges, one from each side, driven equally into the joint. Lifted the beam, and thus the corner of the 36'x6' porch, roof and all, like child's play.

Wedges/levers are amazingly powerful technology.

 

[cory]

💯

The corner of my storage shed has some of the gravel holding up one corner washed out. Of course you could never put the gravel back where it belongs and have it be tight so I apply double wedges- the face cut wedge (@Mick! a gob) from a cherry tree for volume and then drive in a plastic felling wedge on top of that for lift to support the corner of the shed. The corner/corner post is one of the strongest parts of the structure so I didn't like seeing it unsupported.

• Simple Machine:
  A wedge is a triangular-shaped tool that converts force into pressure to separate objects or hold them in place.

.Interesting, that notion of converting force into pressure

 

[davidwyby]

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Used one to get one inch clearance to drop a trailer down on the ball. tongue jack was retracted all the way and on a 4x6 to prevent sinkage.
Wedged one in between the coupler and the receiver to lift the tongue and jack just enough to remove the block of wood under it, then knock wedge out. No lift from the tractor necessary this time

 

[davidwyby]

See how the one on the right is black? Got used near torch at work.

Both those big yellow wedges were brittle and broke (before fire exposure)

Bjarne power wedges ftw

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Hard heads for the win

 

[Burnham]

That would be us, no?

 

[davidwyby]

Hard heads for the win

I have a couple. They do seem to drive well, but more vibes.

 

[treesmith]

I recently needed to lift a 4x6 beam about 1/2 inch from its position on top of a 4x4 post under my front porch. No need to go into the nitty gritty details of why unless someone is really interested...but after removing the T braces that secured the position, I used a pair of old beat up 8 inch double taper falling wedges, one from each side, driven equally into the joint. Lifted the beam, and thus the corner of the 36'x6' porch, roof and all, like child's play.

Wedges/levers are amazingly powerful technology.

I must know....WHY??? Honestly curious. I've always used a hydraulic bottle jack to lift wood framing. But the wedges seem perfectly suited for the task.

 

[Kaveman]

I must know....WHY??? Honestly curious. I've always used a hydraulic bottle jack to lift wood framing. But the wedges seem perfectly suited for the task.

Sometimes you can't get a bottle jack into such a spot. Often, you can place a footplate, a post and a bottle jack, but if you only have to go a little ways, wedges are far better, being as they're more secure. If B only had to lift a corner a bit, wedges may well have been the only viable option. @Burnham has recently discovered what many carpenters have known for centuries is all.

Most mobile homes, if set properly, are all on wedges or screw jacks, or a combination of the two.

The best possible arrangement for keeping your mobile home completely level, is a concrete pad, with poured-in-place monolithic piers about 24-30 inches tall topped with greenplate (pressure treated lumber) then the trailer is set on the piers with a set of wedges between the greenplate and the trailer frame.

Thin wedges, called shims are used to level every door frame and window in your home during initial construction. Often once a "hole" has been set with its wedges, a nail or screw is driven through them to hold their place. This is technically improper, as static friction should be adequate, and adjusting is impossible once pinned.

That fancy floating laminate floor? It's spaced from the wall with tiny, interlocking sets of wedges, again, called shims.

Anywho, never underestimate a wedge, a lever, physics, or gravity.