Is there a video or some sort of visual that deals with snap line. What are limits on out of sq.from ref face to next side. I have read all about it but still do not undertstand it. I went to the project in Heflin Al where it was done but that was my first experince with frame. Since then I have attended one othe short course but they did not use snap line every thing they had was sq and short length.. I have some reather long timbers that are not perfectly sq. yellow pine that are some what dry. Some of the timbers were cribbing out of a Ga Power Plant that was used to move some large draft fans they were like 3,000 hp.
any help would be great

Will you be square ruling or scribing? How long are the rather long timbers? Are the timber more than 1/4" out, how out are they?

I would be sq. ruling. The timbers range from 16 to 24 feet in length. Most have a common dimension of 10 inches like6x10, 8x10, 10x10,10x12 There are a few 8x8 not many. In all I think there are 73 total. Like I said they were used to move a large fan motor out of a power plant where they could not get a crane in the building.

I do not know how much they are out but I know they are not sq since they are yellow pine and it moves around. They for the most part are pretty clear and box heart cut since I got them I had them stacked with 2x4 between them they have been stacked over a year and they were cut about 2-3 years ago.

If they are very far out, I would hesitate to use square rule. Square rule still requires you to use pretty good stuff.
If they are way out and twisted or curved or any such, scribing might be a better way to go.

It doesn't sound like they are that bad. The more ugly the deeper the housing.
Here is an example of a timber that was too good, hardly any twist, it could have been out of square. The guy that made the video didn't show if or how much out of square it was, but the top was nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz3R4IfSM...mp;feature=plcp

I've seem some really wonky stuff square ruled and it came out well enough.