Suspended scaffold

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guymac

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Can any one point me in the right direction ?
I was asked yesterday to build a scaffold in the top of a lift shaft approx 4 m high , the man said his normal London based scaffolders use SKs to fix to the vertical guides of the lift mechanism, and the build off of these . I told him that I did not think SKs had a safe working load in vertical slip resistance and pulled off the job . I have seen clamps that Otis use to secure lift car to the guide rails but these have three bolts and come with a test certificate and new bolts every time they are used . They are meant to tale a high load but this bloke said SK would do . Any ideas ?
 
They have a slip load of 500lb per pair


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Depends on what coupler you mean by SK's - there are three versions of the SK coupler, all of which are obsolete / not manufactured any more and none are rated for vertical slip as far as I'm aware. If it is Gravlocks you are referring to, they can take around 1 tonne SWL slip along the beam when used in pairs.
 
Yep gravlocs used in pairs will take a tonne with no vibration (in a concrete lift shaft this should not be an issue) a lot of people still call them SKs even though they look nothing like them.
 
Could you not just use the SK fittings to kick you of and then spur back to the floor below,
Or drill a couple of band and plates into the wall to help the SKs
 
Can you still get the old SK fittings. I prefer them over the gravlock
 
As already stated Gravlocks are tested on the vertical although I would recommend doubling them up (check fitting);)
 
Yes use SK (gravlocks) as checks any experienced scaff would know if the job was safe and how he would build it,as I would rather come off steel at the top instead of being stuck in a poxy liftshaft building a job from the basement up to the top, but like stated above spur down to floor below or spur off gravlocks lower down on the steel you started with or drill the good old band and plates in the wall and away you go
 
Just put 2 x rakers either side of the lift shaft door below where you need to be at a 75dg angle coming from the front egde of the door to the back wall.- tie these together with a tube on the inside of the shaft door(this stops them slipping out or down) - erect 2/3 more trannys accross the rakered tube to act as a ladder & stand on these to erect 4 corner punchins off them - box, check & erect your lift to the desired height....easy peasy- we do these all the time, i wouldnt trust a sk on the verticle of a lift runner noway nohow lol
 
Is Stevie Knight had a pound every time a scaffolder called a gravlock a SK
he would be a very rich and happy man
 
Does anyone else remember the DH steel face fittings that where around in the 80s ,
They where the Same as a normal DH but instead of them being half round to take a tube they where flat .

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------
southernpoofter said:
Just put 2 x rakers either side of the lift shaft door below where you need to be at a 75dg angle coming from the front egde of the door to the back wall.- tie these together with a tube on the inside of the shaft door(this stops them slipping out or down) - erect 2/3 more trannys accross the rakered tube to act as a ladder & stand on these to erect 4 corner punchins off them - box, check & erect your lift to the desired height....easy peasy- we do these all the time, i wouldnt trust a sk on the verticle of a lift runner noway nohow lol
Click to expand...
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We used to always have to take the bottom 20 foot of the tower out to allow the car installation which meant the tower had to be supported from the first floor up,
And that's all we done SP was spur down to the shaft doors below and a 5 across the lift shaft door ,
And if a good Scaff based it out instead of base plates he used screw jacks so you could just undo the sleeve and unwind the jack once your support was erected and strike the bottom 3 lifts or so out
 
That's the fittings I was asking about the old Sk. Just like the DH they were great fitting. We still have a few but don't know of you can still get them anywhere
 
DH

Worked for SGB Sheffield Depot in the 70s used both Round (Raker & Transom) & Flat (Toeboard & Beam Tie) nickame for them was Clogs.
Perfect fitting when Throwing up to a height above 1.8m
Got a head scar to prove its not advisable for a Umpa Lumpa to walk underneath during the ongoing activity.
PPE was non existent those days

Still have an abundance of them in the Kingdom of Chaos and our scaffs use them as and when Required.
 
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I believe you are talking about 3 different couplers
1) The SK, basically a double with a rocking clamp on the back. Has not been around for years
2) The Gravlok, still in use comes in all sorts of copied versions
3) the Girder Clamp, which is the DH look alike with a thicker plate and a flat side to sit on the steels.

I have attached scans of the SK & Gravlok
 

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  • SK.jpg
    SK.jpg
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  • Gravlok.jpg
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SGB Girder Coupler

Thanks Alan; Here's a document for the SGB "Dead Head" Grider Coupler
 

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  • Doc7.doc
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We always called the girder coupler SK. We still have some here and as stated preferred them to gravlocks. Always found them easier to work with although not as strong but they done the job. Never see them about much they must stop making them.
 
Thank you all for all replays . My thoughts exactly about using the SK as apposed to the gravlock . Impossible to spur done to lift below so it's in the hands of design engineer
 
Build a horse on the top floor and beam into the lift shaft, unless I've completely misunderstood
 
There`s a supplier in Norway but they are not cheap
They are also showing within the Plettac system scaffold brochures
 
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