@mikey

I'd be especially interested in manufacturing Grid Beam with hand tools rather than power tools, if this is something you know how to do.

cc: @kira, in case hand tool woodworking falls under urban bushcraft.

Update: Bought 16 feet of 2x2 from a reclaimed lumber yard near my workspace.

Now I need:

• Fasteners: I'm tempted to use wooden dowel pins but I feel like I should just find the actual bolts that I need. I think I need a bunch of 3/8 inch bolts that are just over 3 inches long (~90mm), plus nuts and washers.
• Saw: I have a backpacking saw but that feels bad. I'll probably need to use a hand saw because of where I'm working.
• Depending on the fastener used, maybe a bit or socket to hook up to my drill.

I don't have a template to use so I think my first project should probably be a jig for drilling holes with a hand drill. Maybe there are already designs for this? Also, I'm way more bothered than I should be about the imperial versus metric thing. 1.5 inches is very close to 4 cm, but it's not the same. In an effort to avoid analysis paralysis I think I'll just go with the 1.5 inches, because it's smaller, but I'm not sure that this is the right thing to do.

Obligatory photo of the Reclaim NW:

@Christian Bundy

Also, I’m way more bothered than I should be about the imperial versus metric thing. 1.5 inches is very close to 4 cm, but it’s not the same. In an effort to avoid analysis paralysis I think I’ll just go with the 1.5 inches, because it’s smaller, but I’m not sure that this is the right thing to do.

since you're living in the United States and have better access to imperial sized parts, i reckon it makes sense to go with 1.5 inches. back in the US, i have some 1.5 inch Grid Beam i bought from the original Grid Beam creators. but of course anyone outside the US should be using metric, as will i in New Zealand.

Fasteners

for 1.5 inch Grid Beam, the "standard" (according to the Grid Beam book, which i highly recommend until i port the content to gridbeam.xyz/guide) is 5/16 inch holes and 1/4 inch bolts. the best type of bolts (sold by the OG's) are "joint connector bolts" and corresponding "joint connector cap nuts", but anything works.

Saw

regarding sawing and drilling, i just published %bUTTrIJ... which goes into my deeper feelings, but to be more helpful here: i think you'll want to find ways to use your hand tools with jigs that enable you to mimic a table saw and a drill press.

• "4 Cheap Tricks for Drilling Straight Holes"
• "Get better cuts from any (circular) saw"

keen to hear more about how you go, this is very exciting! happy to help any way i can.

(shit, sorry, the above posts were supposed to be nested)