Custom Strut Plate

What a strut plate joins

A strut plate joins the top of a strut, or web, to the top chord it comes up under. The top chord runs through, and the strut meets its underside, cut along it. A bar runs along the top chord and a leg down the strut, with bolts through each, and you can slide the strut toward either end of the bar. The foot of the same strut takes a fan plate, or a strut fan plate where there's no king post. If a catalog size fits, our strut truss plate is ready-drawn in six collections for 3" to 12" timbers.

Sizes this designer makes

• Timbers: 2 1/2" to 15 1/2", entered as measured, in 1/8" steps: the top chord's width and the strut's width.
• Angles: the top chord's pitch and the strut's angle, each 3/12 to 24/12, or 15° to 65°.
• Plate: 8" to 48" along the top chord, and up to 36" down the strut. The bar and the leg are each 2" wide or more, up to their timber's size.
• Strut position: centered on the bar, or moved up to a quarter of its length toward either end.
• Bolts: 1/4" to 3/4", in one row or two. You set how many go in the top chord and in the strut.
• Ends: square, clipped, rounded, or pointed, with sharp or rounded inside corners.

The designer opens on our catalog Y4 plate on surfaced 6x6 timbers, the top chord at 6/12 and the strut at 45°: a bar 13" long, centered on the strut, with 5/8" bolts, square ends, in 1/4" steel. Change any of it.

Where the bolts go

The first question is how far the bolts sit from the ends and edges of your timbers, and from each other. Minimum distances, the default, holds every bolt to the American Wood Council's NDS minimums for softwood: 3 1/2 bolt diameters from the end of a timber, 1 1/2 from its edge, and 3 from the next bolt. That's how we lay out our own plates. Here the end to watch is the strut's, where it meets the top chord. Full-strength distances doubles the end distance to 7 diameters and spaces bolts 4 apart, so plates come out larger or with fewer bolts. No minimum distances puts each bolt where you set it. Wood that close to a bolt can split, so have your engineer check that layout. The bolt spacing and edge distance guide explains the numbers.

How it's priced

By weight: the steel in your plate, less its holes, with shipping in the lower 48 built in. There's no charge for design or setup. The price changes as you change the plate, and the price you see is the price you pay. A plate over $500 goes through the quote form instead.

Questions

How many do I need for a truss?

A truss with struts has one on each side. Plated on the front only, it takes two plates; front and back, four. The plate flips over to fit the other side, so they're all the same plate. The designer opens at two.

Which thickness should I choose?

3/16" is our standard plate and suits most decorative work. 1/4" is a third heavier and stiffer, and 3/8" and 1/2" heavier still. Our plates are architectural hardware, not engineered or load-rated: if a plate is part of how your truss carries load, your engineer decides whether it's suitable and how thick it should be.

The basics

• A36 steel plate, laser cut in our ISO 9001 shop in Texas.
• Holes are cut 1/16" larger than the bolt you choose. Bolts aren't included.
• Enter your timbers' real size, not their name. How to measure a timber.
• Bare steel, or matte black powder coat added in the cart.
• Ships free in the lower 48 states.
• No published load ratings. Ask your engineer, and see what to give them.