Bending Metal
The hardest part of anchoring the house still lies ahead: securing the mud sill to the foundation using metal plates. Before taking that step, I have to bend the plates (which are manufactured at 90 degrees) to the correct angle for our trapezoidal foundation. Sunday's task was determining the exact placement for each anchor plate, and measuring the angle each would have to be bent. To help me out, our friend Mary graciously donned the spare coveralls and spent a couple hours under the house recording foundation angles, which I measured with a magnetic protractor.
The metal plates I'm using (HFA6s from Simpson Strong-Tie) are designed to be bent to the appropriate angle. But considering they are supposed to hold the entire house in place during an earthquake, it's not surprising that bending them is nontrivial. Pictured here is Mary, fiddling with another protractor, and my first scheme for bending these plates. The best part of this scheme is that it justified buying and installing a 6", 40 lb vise from my new favorite toy store: Home Depot.
If you look closely, you'll notice that this scheme is good for increasing the angle of the metal plate, but not good for decreasing it. More about that later.