A few of you have mentioned in earlier posts using a crimp tool for assembling steel studs. I tried a Malco stud crimper recently when assembling a wall with 25 gauge steel studs (the kind the local Home Depot sells) and was not real happy with it. I felt that the result was FAR less sturdy than previous efforts using self-tapping screws. What I ended up doing was to use the crimper to hold the wall together during assembly, then going back and adding a screw at each joint. I still had to use my c-clamp to hold the joint together when adding the screw - the screw would push the crimp apart while it was drilling into the stud (after going through the track). Not a real big time saver.
What am I doing wrong? Am I: (1) expecting too sturdy a joint from the crimper; (2) using too few crimps per joint; (3) using too light a gauge of steel (the crimper can be used with 22 gauge as well); or (4) using the crimper incorrectly? None of the above? All of the above?
Any help would be appreciated. No instructions came with the crimper.
Go to http://www.malco.com and see if you can find out from those guys what the problem is with their steel stud crimper. Nothing like getting advice from the horse's mouth.
I used the crimper on a few walls. The crimper worked excellent with the heavier guage studs which are available at independant building supply yard and I had the same result as you with the HD studs. Incidently I found a cordless hammer drill with a dimpler made the job of fastening sheetrock much easier as the kick of the drill starts the screw through the metal....Start the screws at the bottom and work up as each screw will keep the stud from floating
Tags: steel, stud, crimper, adding screw, gauge steel, steel studs, stud crimper, with gauge
