Miniature Trusses

Our first activity with balsa wood and super glue was to construct miniature trusses. All students were to construct the exact same truss in order to gain experience working with the tools we'd be using. This took roughly 1.5 days to complete (50 minute periods)

Here's the handout we used to build the trusses: Truss Worksheet (pdf)

• Testing trusses is simple- hang a mass hook from the center of the truss and add masses until it breaks. You'll notice I've cut notches into spare 2x4's to allow the truss to fit snugly in (use shims to get a tight fit, if necessary).


• Some trusses held more masses than I could add to the mass hook. Thus, I quickly added a makeshift bucket to the system. It's easier to add masses to the bucket, but don't drop them in or you'll get inconsistent results. Set them into the bucket softly.

Here are two pictures showing a completed truss and a way to test them:

Created by Jeff Hellman, March 2004