if you have a collar beam joining a rafter pair and the collar beam is twisted, even if the shoulders are perfectly tight, the faces of the 3 timbers will not all be flush at every corner of the collar. So you plane off the high spots and feather it in -- blend it back into the unplaned area. make it look like you didn't plane off a high spot. hope that clears it up.

gabel

Thanks alot Jim and Gabel. That is really helpful. I think it is a great idea to use the center, to at least diminish the amount of error caused by a twisted timber. Do you use this technique with a crowned timber as well? thanks again tb

I apply a generous amount of common sense and rub it in well. Every thing mentioned in the above posts sounds great, I like trying new techniques to solve problems. I try not to be overly concerned with edges not coming into plane due to twisted timber,(use Jims method, or a level and a feather mark) as long as the joint is square the structure will stand square. I do understand the the reasoning behind having every thing neat and tidy, it's a personal opinion. I have never had a client complain "those two members aren't in plane", and I have had some fairly wanky stuff. When working with rough sawn material your 9"x9" isn't 9"x9" there are many options. One of my last resorts is to put it back on the mill and resaw. Voila' a perfect reference face. I know every shop dosen't have a small band mill but they are handy and worth looking into. Tim

I used mill rule when I was taught in my class. I suppose that's the easiest to teach a newbie. As has been said, few timbers are actually straight, thus the need for other layout methods. I am confident I understand square rule, but have yet to practice it(soon...). Precise measurements were stressed in my class to give nice tight fitting joints. It would seem that it would be more difficult to be so precise with measurments, given the width of chalk lines and having to judge the center of a chalk line. This leads to housing the joints according to what I have read. This is understandable, but I have one question... If you are putting a mortise in your second (tertiary) reference face, what technique do you use to measure the depth of your housing (the face) relative to the Chalk line on your Primary face? How do you hold the squares? It would seem kind of awkward to try and hold your framing square to your Primary reference face at a set distance from your Chalk line, and then hold your machniist square on the narrow tongue of the framing square measuring the depth. Am I incorrect in how to do this? I suppose I must clarify in that the housing is a full housing whereby you cannot just measure from the edge to the chalkline.

What is the best book for learning Scribe rule? Hey Brad!! How are you? I thought we learned square rule!! What is the difference between mill rule and square rule?

Carlos

Ok I just read the tread about scribe rule. Guess I found my answer...now on to build my Mcmansion. : )

Carlos

First of all you have to understand that the chalk line is not the standard line that comes in the chalk line tool when you buy it from the store. Usually most timber framers replace this fuzzy fat line with something that will produce a very fine true line. The replacement product is a braided Dacron, most commonly sold as a fishing line, (at least I think that's where you can get it).
Using this thin true line it's easier to hold the framing square to the chalk line....

Jim Rogers

Great info Jim. If you have any more info on recommended Chalk tool, the line etc, please let us know as I need to get one. Is everyone else doing as Jim described?

PS Jim, how's Thomas doing on my Chisels? Were you able to order the 3 sheaths I needed? Thanks.

Here is a line I've been using for a while, and I bought some fishing line like Jim says to replace the amazing but short lived line that comes with it. The thing I don't like about fishing line is that it is not stretchy enough. Fine for square timbers, but not round.

Mark, the line I should look for is braided Dacron? Cabela's seems to have it in all different weights, 12lb to 50lb test. What do you recommend?