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Tools & Materials

Stage right: T-braces are a portable alternative

T-Brace

By Roe A. Osborn Issue 188
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• Manufactured by T-Brace
• 866-454-4983; www.t-brace.com
• Cost of three-pack: $80

Extrathick scaffold planks are ungainly to carry and so heavy that even they need support in the middle of a 14-ft. span. But what if you could use 2x stock from the lumber pile instead of scaffolding planks? The T-Brace is designed to let you do just that. Each T-Brace consists of two perpendicular slots joined together to form—you guessed it—a T-shape. The horizontal part of the T is a closed slot big enough to fit over a standard 2×10, which is the walking surface. The vertical slot is closed on three sides with a removable pin on the fourth and is large enough to fit a 2×6, which runs the length of the staging to resist the sag of the 2×10.

T-Braces, currently undergoing OSHA testing, can be used with ordinary scaffolding, pump jacks, ladder jacks, and sawhorses. They also can be adapted to site-built applications, so they’re bound to be useful on any job.

Krysta S. Doerfler
Courtesy of T-Brace

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