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Builders’ Tip: Story Sticks Make Measuring Easy
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Click for larger image. | For those of us boys and girls who don’t like to remember numbers on tapes or which side of the measuring mark to use, story sticks can simplify a number of measuring situations.
You can buy commercially available gadgets that do the same thing — they are called bar gauges ― but I’d rather make my own. Here’s how:
- As shown in the accompanying illustration, I start with a piece of garden-variety 3⁄4-inch copper pipe about 4 inches long.
- I drill a hole in its side, and then solder a 1⁄4-inch brass nut to the side of the pipe, centered over the hole.
- I screw a 1-inch-long, 1⁄4-inch machine screw with a knob on one end into the nut.
- The screw acts as a clamp, bearing against a 3⁄4-inch dowel that has been split in half.
To use the story stick:
- Simply loosen the screw and let the dowel halves slide past one another until they bear against the surface of the target.
As an example, to measure the inside of a window jamb, extend the dowels against the opening, clamp, transfer to work piece and cut. No numbers required.
- Another option is to add nail points to each dowel half, as shown in the drawing.
They can be used to transfer outside measurements.
- For measuring diagonals such as drawer boxes or picture frames, bevel the ends of the dowels so that they tuck into 90-degree corners.
— Paul K. Kincaid, Lawrence, Kan.
Tips & Techniques provided by Fine Homebuilding.
©2008 The Taunton Press
To contact Fine Homebuilding, e-mail Christina Glennon.
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