Old framer in Austin told me to stop using my speed square for rafter layouts

I was cutting rafters for a garage addition outside Austin and this older guy walks over, looks at my layout, and just says 'you're fighting the tool.' He showed me how to use a framing square with the rafter tables instead. Took me like 3 tries to get the hang of it but now I can lay out a common rafter in under 2 minutes without guessing. Has anyone else switched from speed squares on steep pitches?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy4397d ago

Ngl that old timer did you a solid. I fought with a speed square on a 12/12 pitch for way too long before a guy at the lumberyard showed me the same thing. The rafter tables on a framing square feel like magic once you get past the initial confusion. Honestly it's one of those things where you don't realize how much you were guessing until someone shows you the real way.

ross.angela7d ago

Bought an old farmhouse a few years back and had to replace half the rafters on the barn. Spent three weekends measuring and cutting, then trimming, then cussing because nothing fit right. Finally this 80 year old neighbor walked over with a beat up framing square he'd had since the 50s. Showed me the rafter table and I had the whole thing done in two days. Still use that same trick whenever I build anything with a pitch now.