Hi Dan, Now that you have cut the brace pocket on the post before you made the pocket on the tie..... that is an inside curve at knee level or just below. Baseball pun.

I called it random because I don't know how much curve your tie has, and as such, it would be random, I think. In other words what ever number the stick dictates you will use. I try to stick to whole numbers, with out fractions.

I always cut the pocket on the tie first as this will determine where/what the brace location on the post will be. So you can square rule and have all the same length braces.

The number of inches above the bottom snapped line, gaining a third line will determine how many inches off the post brace will be from the 36 inches. As an example if the third snapped line corresponding to the brace location on the tie is 2" up from the bottom line then the post brace mortice will need to be dropped up to 34" instead of the 36".

Now, if you have a 36" leg on the post(now cut) and the difference is 2" on the tie you have to make a brace for a 38" leg, a brace 53-3/4" long. And your brace on the tie gets bumped out to 38", too. The normal brace length for 36" legs comes in at 50-15/16", have you cut all your braces yet? You may need to cut a couple more, if so.

A drawing would make it clearer than my words for sure. Draw it out full scale on the shop floor and see what happens. Then return to the sticks and see how it all relates.