Custom T Plate

What a T plate joins

A T plate bolts a post to a beam that runs across its top, or to two beams that meet over it. Turned the other way up, it joins a king post to the tie beam or bottom chord it rises from. The bar runs along the beam and the leg along the post, with bolts through each. It assumes the beam's and the post's faces are flush. For a joint where one timber ends at the corner of the other, use the custom corner plate. If a catalog size fits, our T 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.
• Plate: 8" to 48" across the beam and 8" to 36" tall, in 1/2" steps.
• Reveal: the timber showing beside the plate, which you set. No leg is narrower than 2".
• Bolts: 1/4" to 3/4", in one row or two. You set how many go in each arm and in the post.
• Ends: square, clipped, rounded, or pointed, with sharp or rounded inside corners.

The designer opens on our catalog T4 plate on surfaced 6x6 timbers: 16" by 16", 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. 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?

One for each face of the joint you plate: one on the front, or two for front and back. The plate turns over to fit the back.

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 structure 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.