d34d3ND
06-06-2020, 07:23 PM
Hey everyone. Just looking for some feedback on what others do in this situation. I recently purchased was 18 5" mortar tubes and noticed something odd when laying them out to get ready to build my racks.
My issue is more about the O.D. due to the plug. O.D. at the top (open end) of the mortar is almost a perfect 5.5 inches. This is great because that would be the nominal size of a 2x6 board. Here comes the hard part, the plug flares out the bottom of the tube to 5.625 inches (5 5/8).
I completely understand why this happens because of HDPE being somewhat of a softer material and the plug having such a tight fit for, among other things, safety. What is typically done for this when building racks? Do you squeeze them onto a 2x6? I mean, I can probably tap them in with a mallet. Or, do you go for the larger lumber (2x8) and rip it down to the width of the bottom of the mortar tube? This would leave an 1/8 inch gap towards the top, but that movement should not be too radical where it would cause any issues would it?
Please help. Let me know what others have been doing.
My issue is more about the O.D. due to the plug. O.D. at the top (open end) of the mortar is almost a perfect 5.5 inches. This is great because that would be the nominal size of a 2x6 board. Here comes the hard part, the plug flares out the bottom of the tube to 5.625 inches (5 5/8).
I completely understand why this happens because of HDPE being somewhat of a softer material and the plug having such a tight fit for, among other things, safety. What is typically done for this when building racks? Do you squeeze them onto a 2x6? I mean, I can probably tap them in with a mallet. Or, do you go for the larger lumber (2x8) and rip it down to the width of the bottom of the mortar tube? This would leave an 1/8 inch gap towards the top, but that movement should not be too radical where it would cause any issues would it?
Please help. Let me know what others have been doing.