#Rafter square windows

It’s also good for laying out rafters and stair stringers. You can also use it as a guide (fence) when cutting drywall.Ĭabinetmakers like this fixed square for checking corners and edges, but for most carpentry tasks, a combination square is more versatile.Ĭonsisting of a long blade and shorter, narrower tongue, this L-shaped square comes in handy when marking up wide boards and sheet stock or checking their squareness. With its 4-foot blade, a drywall square is ideal for laying out cut lines on standard-size sheets of plywood, drywall, and other board materials. You can use a sliding T-bevel together with a compass to bisect angles for mitering, It won’t measure the angle, but that doesn’t matter-a match is what you’re looking for. The movable blade allows you to copy an angle and transfer it onto moldings, lumber, or other materials. | Photo by Nedjelko Matura Types of Squares Try SquareCabinetmakers like this fixed square for checking corners and edges, but for most carpentry tasks, a combination square is more versatile. Use the basic models we show here whenever you measure and cut add specialty squares, such as a drywall square or a sliding T-bevel, as your current projects require. You’ll find many types of squares on the shelf at the home center, but you don’t need them all. “I use the 12-inch one as a crosscut fence for my saw and router, and the 6-inch one is always in my apron pocket - it’s especially handy when I’m up on a ladder.” On the job, though, Tom does most routine carpentry with a couple of speed squares. And anytime he’s working in the shop, he keeps a combination square, with its sliding head, close at hand for gauging lines. Tom grew up using a traditional L-shaped framing square, which he still prefers for laying out a pattern rafter or a stair stringer. It gives you 45- and 90-degree angles, it’s also a ruler, and it’s not hard to measure other angles with it, too.” “The first square you buy should be a 12-inch speed square,” says Tom Silva, This Old House general contractor. Most provide a fixed 90-degree angle in various forms, and some can help copy or draw other angles.

#Rafter square windows

When corners meet at 90 degrees, drawers fit snugly, windows close tight, and walls stand straight. A right angle is the standard by which all carpenters build.