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

Mother Earth News Wiser Living

by Phil Jergenson, Richard Jergenson, Wilma Keppel

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 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 thirty years. How to Build with Grid Beam includes hundreds of photos of real projects built over a sixty-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. Phil Jergenson is an innovator who built the first grid beam vehicle. Richard Jergenson built his first grid beam project in 1977. Wilma Keppel is a writer and editor who is also a welder, carpenter, and grid beam builder.

Genres: Design

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Clivemichael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent intro, filled with great ideas and stimulating suggestions, Too much to absorb in one go. Projects galore.

[Megengelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimmed ( I liked it more each time I skimmed it! )

Great idea for projects - variety.

Check this out when wanting to build most anything for the home / office / workshop / outdoors / solar / much more. THINK "Adult Erector Set."

LOTS of ideas!

Most ages and abilities can do these projects.

Con - may be pricy to get the grid beam components - however, ease-versatility-time savings can make up for the cost quickly.

Grid beam components can be purchased or made - so this may not be an issue....

[Joshua]

This is great stuff! I showed my students and they immediately "got" the concept. What is somewhat unfortunate is that there are not many commercial vendors for pre-drilled wood grid-beam parts. It would be great to be able to just order precut, pre-drilled materials easily.