How to construct and use a "Story Pole", by Jim Rogers

Jim_Rogers · March 10, 2006, 03:57:05 PM

How to construct and use a "Story Pole."
By Jim Rogers

Recently I was asked by a timber framer: ".......do you have any detailed information on how to use, construct, and layout dimensions on a story pole? I would like to use one instead of a tape measure when I do layouts on timbers. I have found some general info, but nothing really specific or detailed. Thanks for any help you can provide."

To construct a story pole you'll need a piece of good lumber. Straight as you can find and without any large knots or defects. I would start with a full inch board maybe two inches wide. Or even three inches wide in order to have enough room for all your notations. This "story pole" should be longer than the timber you intend to lay out.
It should be planed smooth on both sides to make it easy to write on, so it will probably finish around 3/4 of an inch thick.

For the purpose of this story, I have selected to create a story pole for a post used in a simple "garden shed." It is the one in the picture below, marked with the red "X."

This shed has six posts, and many of the dimensions on each are the same.
Here is a single timber drawing showing all the important dimensions of all the tenons, mortises, shoulders, housings, and peg holes.

This type of dimension line is called a "base line" dimension. It starts on one point and all locations are measured from that "base" point up the dimension line to the top of the post's top tenon.

In the above drawing the dotted lines show cuts entering from either side the timber or on the opposite face of the timber, basically cuts that aren't on this side.

To lay out a "story pole" I would start by laying out a post using the dimension from your single beam drawing. Locate all the locations of the joints, housings and peg holes along the arris of the reference face and the adjacent face, known as the reference edge. And then lay out each joint, housing and peg hole on all sides of the sample post to insure that each is correct. And then transfer these locations onto your "story pole."

Once you have the joints, housings and peg hole locations marked on the "story pole" you'll need to identify each line with some type of note as to what that line or location means.

In this photo you'll see that he "over all" length of the timber has been labeled as "OA." And the shoulder has been
labeled "Sh." Some might be TM for top of mortise, BM for bottom of mortise, and PH for peg hole. If your "story pole" is wide enough you can write out each label in full so that anyone can understand these line locations later on. Also mark your arris edge on your "story pole" and note which is top and bottom of your posts.

After you have transferred the line locations to your story pole and you have labeled them then you can use it to layout more posts of the same frame.
I would inspect each post for crown and arrange your post for the best faces to be showing inside the building and label your reference edge with the standard triangles or whatever markings you use to show these reference face and edge. Then place your "story pole" along this arris and transfer these joint locations onto the post. After you have transferred all the location lines from the "story pole" to the new post, you can layout each joint, housing and peg hole around this post to their proper faces.

A while ago, I discussed this "story pole" layout procedure with another very experienced timber framer and he said he used one to inspect his timbers for defects, such as knots. He lays out his "story pole" with all the joint locations and then holds it up to his timber looking to see if a knot will be in the area of a joint. If the knot is in the area of a joint, housing or peg hole, then he slides the "story pole" down or up the timber until all joints, housing and peg holes are free from knot defects. Then once he has located the correct position of the "story pole" so that the joints, housings and peg holes are free from knot defects he marks one line on the post that matches one line on the story pole, such as the shoulder line. He then lays out all the joints, housings and peg holes with a tape measure from that shoulder line to ensure that they are truly in the correct and accurate location.

I personally layout with a tape measure for the same reason.

It's one thing if you're building a storage shed, barn, cabin or outbuilding and another thing when you're laying out some planed expensive timbers for a house.

I hope you have found this story useful.

Jim Rogers

PS. If anyone would like to see larger photos of the above drawings let me know and I'll either post them here or email them to you directly.

Raphael · March 10, 2006, 07:44:52 PM

Hey Jim,

Thanks for the info. I do plan on starting my barn as soon as the dust settles around the house and am tempted to put story pole layout to the test. It's certainly good enough for simple elements like drop in joists.

I don't believe I'd abandon my tape for layout of a customer project either.

Using a story pole to dodge knots is a great idea. Avoiding knots in my principle rafters involved spotting the locations of up 11 joints in 9+ft. of pine. A simple visual would have come in real handy.

isassi · March 10, 2006, 08:00:34 PM

Very interesting Jim. I read an account of a barn framed with a story pole from the time period od 1912 or so. It was a book by "Ralph Moody" titled "The Fields of Home" . I thought it was fascinating to read of how a grandfather showed his grandson how to build a barn using a story pole, and your account is the technical insight to the method. Thanks for the post.

TexasTimbers · March 11, 2006, 09:09:41 AM

Jim,

I've stated previously that I have a hard time visualizing things from text. I just want to say I really like the way you write. I've almost always been able to "see" what you are describing. Thanks for keeping it simple.

Both you and Raphael still like to use your tape, but I'm going to experiemnt with this because, although reading a tape is second nature to me also , I like this idea. It seems to me that there would be less chance for a mis-mark. I don't know about you guys, but when I make one, it is almost always 1" too short. If I need 97 11/16" and mark it wrong, it will invariably be 96 11/16". Did I say I was effecient with a tape?

Thanks for posting it.

Raphael · March 11, 2006, 10:31:11 AM

I've gotten intimately aquainted with that missing inch, the fellow who cut our primary famed managed to do that alot he's also introduced me to the gained inch. A story pole would make a good second check to catch something like that before you start cutting.

I never burn an inch on my tape... If I'm measuring in inches I burn 10" and if I'm measuring in feet I burn one foot. I figure my eye will pick up on a 10" error alot faster than it will a 1" error, also my tape is laying much flatter and closer to the timber's surface at 10" so I decrease the chance of a paralax error in layout.

TexasTimbers · March 11, 2006, 05:17:13 PM

Yep I'm with you - I always burn 10. That's not where I get or lose the phantom inch though, I get it when I hang the tape proper :D I have some wires crossed in my head and things don't always come out like they're 'posed to if'n ya catch my drift. ;)

I'm hanging in there though ........

TexasTimbers · March 11, 2006, 05:41:54 PM

BTW Jim I could use the blown up version of that illustration like you offered whenever you get a chance.

Raphael · March 11, 2006, 10:57:14 PM

Quote from: kevjay on March 11, 2006, 05:17:13 PM
Yep I'm with you - I always burn 10. That's not where I get or lose the phantom inch though, I get it when I hang the tape proper :D I have some wires crossed in my head and things don't always come out like they're 'posed to if'n ya catch my drift. ;)

I'm hanging in there though ........

I hear that... Only I'm more likely to have a measurement of 69 11/16" come out 96 11/16" or worse find myself trying to get sixteen elevenths. ;-)

Don P · March 12, 2006, 07:31:39 AM

Yup, I've made every one of them and some real creative misreads. We usually call it "inch syndrome"

We use story poles when doing railings, it makes layout and centering of pickets a whole lot easier.

I'll ditto that, Jim you have a very good technical writing style, its hard not to make mud out of most technical discussions, you do a great job of getting the point across, something for us all to strive at

.

simonmeridew · March 12, 2006, 10:26:51 AM

Sometimes I cut it twice and it's still too short
simonmeridew

TexasTimbers · March 13, 2006, 10:25:15 AM

:D

Jim_Rogers · March 13, 2006, 10:52:18 AM

We usually always burn 10" and do all our dimensions in inches.
That way when the distance is 69 and 11/16 and we add 10 to make it 79 and 11/16.
As soon as we have marked the location at 79 and 11/16s we draw the tape back to the standard end clip and check that the line matches the drawing 69 and 11/16. That way we measuring twice and cutting once.

Unfortunately the CAD drawing program I use doesn't give me inches and fractions when I select the inches scale in the dimension settings for my drawings.
If I select inches it gives me inches and decimal after the inches.
So I use the feet and inches setting and then I convert that dimension to inches only and place that dimension next to the feet and inches dimension line.
That way my rule of laying out everything in inches can be done.
We find it so much easier to do all layouts using inches only as it's easier to add the 10 inches to the distance shown in the drawing.
Some frames have 30" brace layouts. It is easier to do the math in your head when you have a tie beam shoulder at 106" off the sill and you need to subtract 30" for the brace pocket layout to just subtract 30" from 106 and get 76", then to use 8' 10" and say subtract 30" what will that be?
It all depends on what you're use to using and how you were taught to layout joints.

Jim Rogers

Raphael · March 16, 2006, 01:27:23 AM

Since I'm working outside and solo I've adapted my layout technique to decrease the number of trips up and down a long timber to make sure the "dumb" end of the tape hasn't moved or to reset it after the wind has blown it off the timber for the umteenth time. I've also adopted pinning woven mason's twine with push pins to establish reference lines on crooked timbers rather than attempting to snap a chalk line.

I layout the major intersections from one end of the timber and verify them from the other before proceeding to layout braces "locally" with the other joinery. The 106" minus 30" you describe would come into play after everything is drawn on the timber and I'm checking the whole timber one last time (I usually measure from the clip for this check).

So far this has worked for me quite well; my end of the frame has two corrected mortices and neither was a measuring error, they both arose from working without drawings. :