Why I finally stopped using a speed square for everything last month

I was building a shed frame and spent 2 hours marking rafters with my speed square before a neighbor walked over and showed me a simple rafter square jig he built in 10 minutes. Turns out I had been doing layout the hard way for 8 years since I started DIY. Anyone else ever realize they were using the wrong tool for a basic task after someone else showed them a better trick?

3 comments

3 Comments

thomas_martinez2mo ago

Oh come on, it's not THAT serious man.

hernandez.blake2mo ago

Grabbed my framing square and spent a whole afternoon building that exact jig after I saw a guy on YouTube do it (spoiler: I definitely overcomplicated it at first). I remember the first time I tried cutting birds mouths with just the speed square and a bunch of guesswork, ended up with rafters that looked like they were drawn by a drunk toddler. Now I feel silly for not figuring it out sooner, but hey, that's the hobby right?

riley_taylor1mo ago

Had a buddy try the same thing last summer, spent three weekends building a jig that looked like it belonged in a NASA lab before he admitted he could've just used a speed square and some patience. Took him another two tries to get the angles right on a test rafter, but at least his drunk toddler phase didn't cost him real lumber.