[TowerTalk] what not to do in your tower

[jimlux]

W5CPT wrote:
> Bill said>
> 
> Why worry about little things like that when you have a key chain  ring 
> holding up the tower!
>  
> They may not be "key chain rings". When I worked @ Lowe's we sold solid steel rings (welded together) that were substantially stronger than key rings. They were however (IMHO) NOT strong enough to use as he is.  I don't think they were marked with a Maximum or Working load.  They were stocked in the bins above the chain.
> 
> 


those are "welded steel rings".. as I recall, the 1/4" diameter ones 
(the diameter of the rod they're made of) have a load rating of few 
hundred pounds.

Yes, they'll deform under load, but what you're really concerned with is 
tension failure of the metal, and that's way above the deformation load.

Yes, they're not typically x-rayed or inspected as far as weld quality 
goes. So you'd maybe want to double them up?