Diy shade sails continued......p3
Turnbuckle Connection
The final tensioning of the sail is done by tightening the turnbuckle. Wind the turnbuckle open and apply a lanolin or anti-seize compound to the thread. Hook the turnbuckle up to the sail, and attach it to the fixing point. Tighten the wire rope as much as possible by hand, then clamp the ends as explained in the section 'Wire rope termination' (Fig 11)
Finally tension the turnbuckle until the wire rope sufficiently stretches the body of the sail, and then tighten the lock-nuts to the turnbuckle body.
The illustration right shows the complet ed turnbuckle corner.
The wire rope is well tensioned and there is enough thread left on the turnbuckle for future tensioning.
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Fig 10 |
Wire Rope Termination
Where every sail has a continuous wire rope in the edges, the wire rope should be terminated in one corner as shown:
Prior to tensioning the turnbuckle, the wire rope has been pulled tight by hand and clamped by two wire rope grips. ensure they are far enough away from the sail to give you room to feed the wire into the hem as shown. This looks tidy and also prevents sharp ends being exposed .
The ends of each wire should be wrapped in a plastic tape before it is fed up into the hem to prevent the wire rope from fraying and damaging the sail.
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Fig 11
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Pre-Made Shade Sail Structures
Pre-made Shade Sails are a very cost effective shade sail environment with a pre made shade sail.
Essentially, the processes are quite similar as a custom made sail, however you will additionally ne ed to plan out the location of your fixing points relative to the sail's pre determined size. For example, a 5m x 5m sail represents the measurements from corner to corner, and NOT from post to post, and thus you will ne ed to install your posts in an area larger than the actual sail.
Without over complicating the issue, and launching into a lesson in Pythagoras Theorem and how to determine the length of the diagonal of a right angled triangle, we advise you simply layout your sail in approximately the location that you would like it, and plot accordingly.
Once your shade sail is laid out and in position, allow approximately 300mm DIAGONALLY from each corner for placement of your posts/fixings. Remember, it does not hurt to leave more space between the post and the sail, as this can be accommodated by a larger turnbuckle or even rope if required , however if the space is too small then inadequate tension will be able to be maintain ed through the shade sail, it will sag, its quality will be compromised , and it certainly would not look as good as perhaps it could have.
Irrespective of whether your sail is triangular or square, always allow plenty of distance from your shade sail to the fixing point, and attempt to make the directional pull from the fixing point to the sail diagonal.
When you are happy with the positioning of your fixings, install as required . You should install your sail once any installed footings have fully set, in accordance with the steps mentioned in Custom Made Shade Sail Structures above.
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