This document provides instructions for assembling and raising a tower structure. It includes details on the various wood and metal components needed for the lower and upper platforms. It recommends building the base triangle and platform subassemblies first before connecting them. Horizontal and vertical cables should be installed and loosely tightened before raising. The raising process involves establishing roles, clearing space, attaching guide ropes, and having teams slowly pull and lower the tower into place under the direction of a lift master. After raising, bolts and turnbuckles should be re-tightened.

1. Tower Build Manual
& Raising Guidelines
Camp Homeslice
Version: 5 July 2014

2. 4x4 Wood Beams
4x4 Steel Box sleeves
6x6 Steel Boxesleeves
Lower boxes support
TWO Cables
6x6 Wood Beams
4x6 Wood Beams 4x6 Steel U-Shaped joiners
Short 6x6 with 3 cable holes
Short 6x6 with 2 cable holes
Long 6x6 with 3 cable holes
Long 6x6 with 2 cable holes
4x4 Corner Sleeves
Tower Assembly – The Big Picture
4x6 Corner Sleeves
6x6 Steel Boxesleeves
Upper boxes support
three Cables (even
though this illustration only
shows two.)
Six identical 6x6 “Boots”
Fulcrum (look for marker
writing to see which end goes up)
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 2

3. Cables Assembly
Cable #
1
2
3
4
5
9
10
11
12 (not shown)
13
14
15
8
7
6
16
Note: Although not shown in
The model, the Upper Steel Box
Couplers have supports for Three
Cables. Do not mix upper and Lower
6x6 Box Couplers. They’re different.
One of the three vertical
Strengthening cables is
shown Make sure the
Turnbuckles on all 3 of these
cables are toward the
bottom for easy tightening!
Cable #9 incompletely joins the
beams. This leaves an opening
for the Climber to crawl through
into the inside of the upper
section.
Make sure turnbuckles on all
Horizontal cables of the lower
section are not on a side where
the climber will step on them as
he makes his route to the top.
Think it through.
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 3

4. Lower Platform Subassembly
Open
To Below
Six identical
4x4” wood
beams
Three identical
4x4” Steel box
sleeves
Three identical
4x4” Steel
Corner sleeves.
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 4
For both upper and lower
platforms, all Bolt ends
face out (threads and nut
face in). Tighten
midsection box sleeves fully.
Leave Corner sleeve bolts
loose

5. Upper Platform Subassembly
Three identical 4x6” Steel Corner
sleeves.
A A
B
B
C
C
A
B
C
E
F
D
4x6 Beams
with squared
off ends.
Note the
Letters A - C
Plates with
missing corner
3-sided
Rectangular U-
shaped joiners
Shortest miter -
ended beams
Medium miter-
ended beams
Longest miter-
ended beams
Open
To Below
Open
To Below
Open
To Below

6. Upper Platform Subassembly- cont’d
Here’s what it should look like after you have attached
the plywood panels with the wood screws. (You’ll need to
flip the frame over first to attach the plywood). .
Pro Tip: Arranging the plywood panels is
like a jigsaw puzzle, but you will find that
underside of each piece of plywood there
are markings that will give you a clue how
they should be arranged.

7. Tower Build- Suggested Order
1. Lay out and organize all components
2. Build Base (bottom) triangle out of 4x4 wood beams segments connected
together by steel box sleeves. Connect assembled segments together with
angle supports to form the final triangle. All bolts used should be the
shortest of the skinny bolts. While assembling, think about how angle
support bottoms will be positioned after raising! Set aside.
3. Build Upper platform use the diagram as a guide. You’ll need the flat iron
pieces with cutoff corners, as well as the U-shaped steel joining sleeves.
Keep all bolts loose and with some play until you have the whole thing built.
Then tighten it all down, and cover it with the plywood panels, using wood
screws and a power drill driver to secure panels directly to wood framing.
Set aside.
4. Put together any two lower 6x6 sections of wood using steel sleeves and
any two upper 6x6 sections of wood using steel sleeves. Remember that
the upper fulcrum side of each beam sections will have groove scars aligning
with a weld line inside the fulcrum. A score (or scar) 5 inches from the end
of a beam indicates that is the end the platform or the base “boot” attaches
to. On these four subassemblies sections, you add their 8 boots.
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 7

8. Note optimal height for
Fulcrum when assembling
“X” structure. Approx 12”
Taller (three 4x4 blocks) above
Sawhorses. You may need to
vary this during the build as
well. Err on the side of more
blocks (height) which will
make leg attachment easier.
Tower Build- Suggested Order
5. Set the Fulcrum on a sawhorse. Orient it properly and at one tower leg’s length from the
final raised resting place. Where you place the fulcrum now determines the tower’s
permanent location. Using other sawhorses as support, add the four segments you’ve
build from Step 4 to the Fulcrum. Respect which side of Fulcrum is up. Think about where
the holes are drilled for cable attachments. Think about orientation of all faces in all
dimensions. Take your time.
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 8

9. 6. For the third lower segment and the third upper segment, both of which
telescope up into the air, don’t pre-assemble the full segments. Instead
just add one piece at a time, which makes it easier to lift them into place.
Wood beam, then metal sleeve, then wood beam, then finally boot.
7. Attach Horizontal (climbing) cables per guidelines and tips highlighted
elsewhere in these instructions. Remember to open all turnbuckles to
their loosest setting before affixing cables to them. Cable #9 opening
should not be on the same plane as turnbuckles.
8. Take some slack out of the cables by tightening turnbuckles a bit, but
don’t tighten cables completely until after raising.
9. Attach Vertical (Structural) cables. (Measure all cables and runs first).
Loosely tighten, saving turnbuckle capacity for post-raising. Make sure
turnbuckles are accessible from ground level after raising.
10. Double check and re-tighten all bolts.
Tower Build- Suggested Order
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 9

10. Tower Build – Hardware White Cloth Bag #1
These 6 screw
Into wood. They
are used to affix
the center
triangle of the
top platform
Into place. Note
that one screw
bolt is shorter.
Grant says that it
will be obvious
where to use the
short one of
these bolts.
These long skinny bolts
are only used on the
upper platform assembly.
They affix the upper
platform 4” x 6” beams to
the metal support plates
as shown below.
Many of the
plates have
angled
corners
because of
the way two
plates will
meet each
other in
supporting
the platform.
Misc Extras

11. Tower Build – Hardware White Cloth Bag #2
These 18 shorter skinny bolts are for the 4 x 4 base beams (bottom support triangle). They
attach the 4x4 box frames to 4x4 segments, to build longer segments, and also attach the
the long segments to corner box beams.
Spares for the
18 shorter
skinny bolts.
Don’t use the
chrome ones
unless you have
to, since they
aren’t hardened.
Spare
Spare iron plates
for upper
platform
Spare Turnbuckles
and cable
supports
More Spares long skinny bolts for upper platform
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 11

12. Tower Build – Hardware White Cloth Bag #3
Long Beefy Bolts are used to join all of the 3
dimensional “X” components together
Spare Long Beefy Bolts
Spares of the
18 Bolts used
for base
triangle
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 12

13. More Long Beefy Bolts ….used to join all of the
3 dimensional “X” components together (Steel
Boxsleeves and Fulcrum with 6x6 beams
Tower Build – Hardware White Cloth Bag #4
Short Beefy bolts
are used to attach
Beams together,
through the U-
shaped steel sleeves,
for the top platform
outer triangle
Do not use.
Obsolete, “too
short” woodscrew
bolts originally
Intended to secure
upper deck.
Replaced by
longer versions in
Bag#1
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 13

14. Raising the Tower
• Establish the Homeslice Team. One Pulling Captain, one Breaking Captain and one Lift Master. All sober (at
the moment) and all Experienced Tower Raising Slicers. Make sure volunteers know to watch and listen to
their Captain. The LiftMaster is in charge of everything. The captains watch and listen to the LiftMaster, and
relay precise orders to their crew. The Lift Master (usually Kheddarz) oversees the entire raising.
• Clear Trampoline, and any obstacles away that could be crushed by catastrophic failure, or that might trip
hurried raisers/breakers scrambling to change position. Ropes should have clear, straight lines of sight.
• Make sure thick rebar has been driven on correct side of the base as a break from lower end slippage across
the playa. . Try to get at least 12” deep into playa. Never hurts to rebar both sides, since tension shifts.
Rebar should only touch center metal sleeve, at 2 points, at least 18” apart.
• Attach ropes. One rope pulls. Two ropes for break. (Same with Lowering, One rope pulls and two ropes
break)
• ALWAYS more recruits on breaking than pulling. We always want more break than accellerator!!!!
• Get Big guys to lift it off the ground to get started, while pullers start pulling and breakers keeping rope
taught only. Breakers should keep it taught, but not fight the pullers.
• Once off the ground, Big guys move to break line. Get out of the way in case of fall.
• Captains watch the Liftmaster and listen carefully at this point!!
• When point weight pivots, Liftmaster asks pullers to ease up on pulling, transitioning to keeping line from
slacking, but not pull from the breakers. Meanwhile breakers who now have the tension, slowly lower tower
to resting place. As this happens, Breakers closest to the tower will need to let go as the rope gets too high.
They will move to the back of the breaker line.
• Cheers! As the Tower settles.
• Re-check and tighten all bolts. Tighten all Turnbuckles.
• For safety, remove all rebar that secured movement during raising.
Tower Assembly and Raising Instructions 14