Pressed Particle Board Shelving Warning

From: Pete Turnbull <pete_at_dunnington.u-net.com>
Date: Sun May 30 12:23:31 2004

On May 28, 12:20, der Mouse wrote:
> >> I suppose the [raised-floor tiles] I am familiar with from the one
> >> job I've worked at that used them are atypical, then. They [...]
> > I've worked in an office which had those too, so you're not alone.
> > They were very tight fitting too, and needed a couple of big
> > suction-cups to lift them up. They could take one hell of a weight
> > though.
>
> Matches my experience on all counts. (Though if you start with a
tile
> with a hole cut in it, so you can get a grip by hand, you don't need
> the suction cups. A screwdriver between the tiles can also turn the
> trick.

On May 28, 12:46, McFadden, Mike wrote:
> I have a pile of computer flooring setting in the corner of my
garage.
> The hospital removed it and I'm hoping to set up a computer room. My
> wife keeps asking about when and where.
>
> Tiles have a black rubber/plastic edge about ? inch wide on all
edges.
> Center is tile/hard linoleum. Structure is steel with an x pattern
> on the bottom. Very heavy. The tracks to support the tiles are
metal
> channels [...]

Mine are high-density chipboard about 45mm thick with zinc-plated steel
cladding top and bottom (the steel is pretty thin). The top side is
further clad with hard vinyl floorcovering. The sides are beveled to
make it easier to lift each one in and out, and have a plastic strip
bonded to them to prevent moisture ingress; each corner has a metal
plate that helps locate them correctly on the crossheads on the legs.
 The suports are just over 1" diameter zinc-plated steel with a cast
alloy crosshead on the top. They're epoxied to the concrete floor and
there are no stringers or stretchers between the legs. They are
similar to the Guardian range made by Propaflor, the specs for which
you can see at http://www.propaflor.co.uk/public_html/gheavy.htm

The ones at work are just like the Guardian Heavy range, with
carpet-like material on the top.

Mine (at home) and the ones at work are all fitted together so closely
that you couldn't really get a screwdriver between them to prise them
up.

If you're curious about the translation of Newtons to American weights,
the lightest range (Propadek, 30mm thick, unclad) on those pages says
it can support 1500 Newtons on any single 1" square of the tile --
that's about 330lb. The 38mm version can support twice that. The
middle range (Spacedek) claims up to 4500 N, that's half a ton. The
Guardian range goes up a bit more, and claims to support almost a ton
and a quarter (2455lb) on four equidistant points, each a third of the
way in from the corners of the 600mm square tile.

> The only problem with the suction cup tile pullers is that picking a
> tile up at an angle can result in dropped tiles, they loose suction.

If they're two-cup suction lifters, they probably need cleaned. They
sometimes get like that when they get grit embedded in them. If
they're one-cup versions, they're meant for pulling dents in car
bodywork, not floors :-)

-- 
Pete						Peter Turnbull
						Network Manager
						University of York
Received on Sun May 30 2004 - 12:23:31 BST

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