Home made timber framers' helpers

[danreed76]

I'm sure there's a bunch of homebrewed ideas out there that make guys' lives easier in terms of layout or cutting of joints; I thought it would be nice to have a thread where folks can throw their ideas out to share with the larger crowd.  I'm selfish enough to admit I'm scrounging for ideas to make my life easier, but as a peace offering, I'll kick it off with one I made the other day.

It seems there are some days that the body of a tape measure is determined to find its way to the floor while I'm 20 feet away with the "tag end".  I had one such day (had to do with a combination of wind, unlevel sawhorses, and a waney timber) when I was working by  myself.  The answer to my woes ended up being in the scrap metal bucket.



 
I grabbed a small piece of 2x2 angle (approximately 3" long) and welded it to a piece of 2" x 3/8" barstock (11 5/16" long).  Turns out this was the perfect balance to not only keep the tape body from rolling over, but also allow me to pull the tape along the waney edge of a timber without issue (it can hold the weight of the tape overhanging almost 5" off the edge, which is way more than would be acceptable for wane in any of the timbers in my frame).  I thought about trimming it off shorter, but since it fits in the toolbox as-is, it's the final revision.

Maybe not so exciting to most, but a huge problem solver for me.  About $2.50 worth of metal scrap and 2 minutes of welding time (or a six pack of beer if you don't have your own welder) has made my life a whole lot easier.  Or for the nominal price of $300 (as set by the sawmilling board with the usual percentages of monetary distribution requisite of sales on the FF), you can have mine!

[Dave Shepard]

I'm not sure I understand what it is that you are trying to do. I've always just laid the tape on top of the timber.

[danreed76]

I'm not sure I understand what it is that you are trying to do. I've always just laid the tape on top of the timber.

I had a windy day and the body of the tape kept falling over.  Especially with a waney timber this made it tough to lay out along the reference edge.  I even tried laying the tape evenly on the flat face of the timber and it kept falling over and twisting the tape on me.    The picture was just to show how stable it made it for me.  Just threw it out as a useful idea that might help someone else.

Dan

[Brad_bb]

Yes, that was one of my big frustrations.  So I made a bunch of these:


 

They are powder coated for durability, and grip tape on the bottom to prevent sliding.  They are weighted to resist the spring tension of the tape measure.

[Ljohnsaw]

I like the idea of this thread and hope to gain from the collective knowledge here.  I have two boring machines (one I purchased from a member), some sharp chisels and a vague idea on how to go forth. ;D

[RavensWood]

Since the first posts featured the timber framer tape measure let me first say that it was one of the most useful tool purchases that I made - layout was a lot easier and I made far fewer measurement errors. My solution for stabilizing the tape is to use 2 Irwin quick clamps - set the tape zero on the reference point and clamp near the hook; extend the tape the length of the timber and then clamp near the body.  After marking the measurements along the timber I always check to make sure that the zero point hasn't shifted.


 

One other suggestion - I found it difficult to grab the hook and extend the tape if I had gloves on and the tape also has a wicked rewind spring and the resulting bite will remind you to pay attention when retracting it :D. I added a small piece of felt to act as a bumper and it solved both problems (the hook itself is never used for measurement).


 

[Brad_bb]

Ravenswood, there is another good and easy solution also- a zip tie.
http://youtu.be/Zx7c2UjDx8o?list=UUQc_0reQmBJHj7NdlIl6cFw

[danreed76]

I think I may have to try the felt idea on all my tape measures!  I don't have a picture handy, but  I made a swivel loop out of tie wire to make it easier to "grab the tab" when pulling out the tape.  Jim Rogers showed us at the workshop how to clamp the tape as well -- a great feature, and now I want to replace all my old Sheffield style clamps with Irwin Quick Clamps.  I make a knife mark at my "0" line and mark it with a big pencil "0" so I can always go back to the same starting point.

[RavensWood]

Thanks Brad_bb - I remember seeing the video when the tape measure first came out but I had forgotten about it. Maybe we should do a post just on interesting uses of tie-wraps. Here's one:
I was never comfortable with pegging the guard on my Makita 16" saw in the open position but I find it impossible to make accurate cuts while fighting the guard. I modified mine by drilling a small slot and attaching a large tie-wrap to it (photo shows the guard locked in the open position). If you get the length of the tie-wrap right, you can easily lock the guard open with one hand when the saw is in position for a cut and when the saw goes through the cut, the slight bounce on the guard then releases the guard so it closes properly. Worst case, at the end of the cut you can use your thumb to release the guard without taking your hands off the saw. I feel marginally safer when I use the saw - but it still demands respect!