Appreciation post: A framing trick that saved my bacon on a tricky roof

I was working on a shed addition in Portland with a 12/12 pitch that needed a valley rafter. My usual method with a speed square was giving me a headache and wasting wood. I remembered a guy on a jobsite years ago talking about using a simple 2x4 block as a guide for the compound angle. I cut a block at the exact plumb and level angles, clamped it to the rafter, and ran the saw along it. It worked perfectly on the first try. Anyone else have a go-to trick for cutting complex roof angles?

2 comments

2 Comments

williamh485d ago

Ever try using a story stick for something like that? I had a similar mess with a hip roof on a porch, kept messing up the cheek cuts. Ended up just nailing a scrap piece to the deck at the right angle and using it as a physical guide to set the saw against. It was way faster than trying to remember all the numbers.

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kim.charlie5d ago

That scrap piece trick is solid for sure. Makes me wonder if we overcomplicate things trying to be too perfect. Sometimes the best tool is just a piece of junk wood clamped in place. It's like the cut either fits or it doesn't, and a physical block doesn't lie. All the math in the world won't help if your saw is off by half a degree that day.