Do you have a client who wants to create a space at their business or residence that will attract and impress their guests? Whether it’s serpentine walls, arches, ceiling clouds, soffits or stairwells, such architectural features can pose challenges even for seasoned contractors. Curves are often risky, and many a design has foundered—aesthetically or economically—in rounding those bends. Fortunately, Simpson Strong-Tie (strongtie.com) has built its reputation over the decades by introducing innovative, cost-effective solutions to countless industry twists and turns.
Ready Products hand-bendable framing members and Ready Bender™ portable bending tools equip an installer to create curved cold-formed steel (CFS) wall and ceiling framing for drywall designs right on the jobsite.
Together, the Ready framing system consists of two separate product groups:
1) Ready Products—Framing Sections Manufactured for Shaping with Your Hands
With their bendable joints and prefabricated fastener holes, Ready Products framing members provide professionally precise, consistent curves in less time and with much less effort than traditional methods. Easy to work with and endlessly versatile, the Ready-Track®, Ready-Arch®, Ready-Hat®, and Ready-Angle® flexible steel sections form a comprehensive CFS framing set that can help you realize even the most daring and elaborate curves for drywall designs.
- One-piece steel construction is designed to hold shape with fewer fasteners
- Flexible yet durable sections make it simple for installers of all skill levels to hand-form smooth, regular curves
- Product mix allows you to complete any curved framing job quickly and efficiently the first time
2) Ready Bender™—Portable Framing Equipment for Shaping Standard CFS Members
Are you working with jobsite CFS studs or track that you need to bend to prescribed shapes? The Ready Track Bender™ and Ready Trim Bender™ framing tools allow you to create steady curves at the desired radius from track or studs up to 20-gauge thick.
Let’s take a closer look at the specific products available in each group.
Ready Products Hand-Bendable Framing Members
Ready-Track® Framing
Ready-Track is the most popular of all the Ready Product framing members, a fast and dependable way to create graceful, curved walls right on the jobsite. Easy to bend by hand along its strong axis, it holds its shape without fasteners for easy positioning and installation.
- Handles almost any application when you need material curved along the flange
- Ideal for curved walls, stairwells, soffits, clouds and complicated compound radiuses
- Screw holes in the bottom web allow the top track radius to be locked down for easy replication after it has been fitted over the bottom track
- Optional screw holes in the leg allow the radius to be fastened in place easily from the side
Ready-Arch® Framing
Creating arched doorways, windows, alcoves and other wall openings is simpler than ever with Ready-Arch members. Ready-Arch sections are ideal for almost any application where the framing needs to curve along the web. Round, elliptical and S-shapes are all easy to hand-form on the jobsite without any cutting or additional reinforcement.
- Ideal for soffits, arches, light coves and elliptical or eyebrow curves atop windows and doorways
- 20-gauge (30 mil) steel holds its shape without any fasteners
- Installs easily on either cold-formed steel or wood framing
Ready-Hat® Framing
Whether the plans call for framing over a cement masonry unit (CMU) wall or concrete column or just a gradual transition from wall to ceiling, the Ready-Hat furring and framing channel is right for the job. This versatile product is easy to form by hand into the exact shape you need and can be secured to concrete or CMU walls with either power-driven fasteners or concrete screws.
- Ideal for furring on curved walls or to create coves, barrel vaults, groin vaults, soffits or serpentine ceilings
- Great for wrapping columns or cross-framing to eliminate drywall butt joints
- 20-gauge (33 mil) steel holds its shape once formed and positioned for easy fastening
Ready-Angle® Framing
The Ready-Angle framing angle adapts to almost any shape, and it can bend either direction along either axis, making it easy for you to create challenging compound curves and sinuous S-bends. Use two pieces to replicate curved track for steel and wood studs, to form arches of any depth quickly, or to produce finished corners that are ready for drywall.
- Ideal for S-shapes, spirals, sweeps, or virtually any free-form shape
- 20-gauge (30 mil) steel holds its shape without any fasteners
- A versatile product for problem-solving on the jobsite
Ready Bender™ Tools for Jobsite CFS Framing
Even if you don’t have the Ready Products framing members on hand, Simpson Strong-Tie has portable bending tools to facilitate custom framing using standard CFS track and studs.
Ready Track Bender™ Custom Framing Tool
The Ready Track Bender framing tool is a portable, ready-to-use device that curves studs and track easily, accurately and conveniently on the jobsite by creating compound indentations at consistent, calibrated intervals along the length of the material.
- Spaces indentations as close as 2” apart for a tight radius, and as far apart as 12” or more for a wider radius
- Bends standard stud and track up to 20-gauge thick and 6” wide
- No flange or web cutting required to form radius, and no plywood or strap repair needed for reinforcement
- Reliable, precise, and labor-saving—turn the dial to the desired radius and create uniform bends in piece after piece, all day long
- Durable, heavy-gauge steel construction allows smooth, trouble-free operation job after job
- Rugged plastic case for easy transportation
Models and Capabilities
S150 Standard Tool
- Bends 20- and 25-gauge steel
- Forms track or studs 2 1/2” to 6” wide
- Leg length up to 1 5/8” high
D150 Deluxe Tool
- Bends 20- and 25-gauge steel
- Forms track or studs 2 1/2” to 6” wide
- Leg length up to 3” high
Ready Trim Bender™ Custom Framing Tool
The Ready Trim Bender tool allows the user to create framing angles quickly, accurately, and conveniently right on the jobsite by creating compound indentations at consistent intervals along the length of the angle. It eliminates the need for old-fashioned tin snips and the trial-and-error method of approximating the right radius.
- Consistently forms the exact radius you need
- Durable, heavy-gauge steel construction allows smooth, trouble-free operation job after job
- Perfect for 20- to 25-gauge angles with 1 1/2” x 1 1/2”, 2” x 2” or 3” x 3” legs
- Minimum radius is 30”–44”
New Framing Power Right in Your Hands
Curved drywall framing using CFS can add an artistic touch to interiors, and it can be attached to steel, wood, or concrete structural framing. The versatility and aesthetic elegance are reasons this framing is so popular for use in airports, restaurants, and higher-end residential construction. And the Ready Products and Ready Bender™ systems make it much easier to realize such designs on the jobsite.
Simpson Strong-Tie Is at Your Service
As with every product Simpson Strong-Tie sells, the Ready Product and Ready Bender CFS framing products are backed by our industry-renowned, completely complimentary customer service. From order and delivery to design and installation consultation, we’re here for you until the job is finished.
To learn more about how Simpson Strong-Tie can make your curved CFS wall and ceiling framing jobs faster, easier and more smoothly finished, visit strongtie.com/products/go/connectors/ready-products.
