I don't buy it Jay. I have no beef with line rule (although I do have a beef with overuse of quotation marks), nor any system of layout. I mix and match them all of the time. I asked you how you'd layout this hypothetical middle beam with line rule on this very forum, but never heard an answer.



Scribing it would be easy. Square ruling it would be easy. Line ruling it, I don't think so. Oh, and my imaginary beam is not at the end of the other posts, let's say that's a section cut. I even drew fancy little centerlines. You can't measure the distance off of the centerlines in this case. And what if it came in at an angle? Or what if you didn't know the width of that center beam yet (you're trying to cut the mortise in one of the outer posts?

I have a hard time taking anyone seriously who is dogmatic in their viewpoints. And that's pro-SIPS or anti-SIPS. All mill rule all the time (and that's where line rule would really be a waste of time), or all scribing. And certainly not in politics. It's all a balance.