Slip Sticks & Story Sticks

[charlie b]

The "Measuring - Don't Be Oral Anal Retentive" introduced the term "story stick", implyng that it's synonymous with "slip sticks" It's not. They're two different things, intended for two different purposes.

Slip Sticks are for get the distance between two parallel parts you've already got and can be used to check inside diagonals on a "box" to make sure it's square (assuming the parallel sides are, in fact, the same length. They're for Build As You Go and Check Diagonal For Square,. They ARE NOT for recording dimensions and building to those dimensions. (see alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking Measuring - Use Slip Sticks)

A Story Stick is a straight piece of wood, longer than the longest length you want to record on it. Horizontal distances are marked on one face, vertical distance on another and "depth" on a third face. The reference end is usually marked to identify it and notes are often written on the "good side" of distance marks. The Story Stick is often labeled to identify the project in case you want to build another one later.

Unlike Slip Sticks which hold one distance at a time, multiple dimensions can be recorded on a single Story Stick. However, with a Story Stick, you've got pencil marks to accurately place and you still need to align the saw blade to a line, or transfer a line from the Story Stick to the stock to be cut

- and a pencil line at that.

Just a clarification.

charlie b

[Swingman]

Nicely done, with the exception that the above erroneously implies that the term "story stick" was introduced as being synonymous with "slip sticks" ... it was not.

More succinctly put, a slip stick is a measuring device, a story stick a reproducible record of project dimensions without further need for quantification.

A story stick, properly made and carefully wielded, will generally result in a more accurate reproduction, with fewer errors and less waste, than a tape measure.

[Robatoy]

When I stick a 10-foot slab of whatever countertop material between walls, I create a slip-stick-story-stick-template. *S* I also use that templating system on vertical surfaces, like for full-height back splashes (does a wonderful job at locating electrical outlets and non-level windowsills). Upon further reflection, my templates are story-sticks... sorta. I write all kinds of notes on them too.

r

[Swingman]

A rose by any other name ...

I use straight 1 x 4's to mark, from a know reference point, the distances and height from the floor/ceiling to every receptacle, outlet, drain and supply pipe (along with their actual dimensions), and any other anomalies, along on the wall of a cabinet run.

Back at the shop, all these items can be accurately located and holes pre-drilled, or design work-arounds implemented, in the cabinets for pipes, under counter wiring, etc. ... all without the inaccuracies of measuring or revisiting the site.

Multiples of these "story sticks" can be aligned with each other with the appropriate reference marks, or, as I often do for sink bases, I'll use one for horizontal location, and a shorter one for vertical location of the various pipes, receptacles, etc.

[Robatoy]

I hear that! I, in effect, take the jobsite back to the shop with me. Making a full-size template also clues me in on other things---> will the damn thing make in/out of the house/condo elevator in one piece etc.

There are some advantages to working with projects which occupy 2 out of

3 dimensions only.

[Lee Michaels]

"charlie b" wrote

I just gotta say this charlie b.

With all this talk here and elsewhere about the dead and dying internet, I consistently copy things from this newsgroup to my personal archives/reference folder. And this lovely little peice with a couple follow up remarks made it into my "gonna keep it forever" woodworking tidbits of knowledge file.

Thank you Charlie, for helping to make this such a fun, productive and EDUCATIONAL newsgroup.

Hanging around you makes me feel almost like a kid again. (until the arthur - itis kicks in)

Lee Michaels

[charlie b]

snip

snip

Just trying to fill in some gaps and maybe save someone some grief. There's an almost infinite amount of things to learn in this woodworking thing. The problem is that much of the really basic, fundamental. foundation information is assumed to be common knowledge or obvious.

The problem is that what seems obvious often isn't.

Assumptions are often wrong

" I bought these kiln dried, surface on all four sides boards at the Borg/Lumber Yard so - they must be flat - the corners must be square - the edges must be straight - the ends were cut square right?"

Maybe you're right. But you might want to check them before you start cutting and trying to stick them together. And you don't need a machinist square or 4 foot machinisist straight edge to check if they're good - a flat bench top or floor will tell you much of what you need to know

Anyway, as I learn another piece of the basic/fundamentals that are assumed to be common knowledge but weren't obvious - to me - I write it down - with ilustrations - I'm a visual learner. When I understand the Whys and Hows then I pass it on - like other's in the group have done or are doing. And it doesn't hurt to have others check your work - another set of eyes may find errors of significant gaps that need filling.

Sure wish The Wreck allowed for pictures and diagrams.

charlie b

[Ba r r y]

I'd be happy to put your pics and diagrams on the web.

Barry

[charlie b]

Ba r r y wrote:

Thanks for the offer but most of them are already on my WWing site. But having to click out of a news group to go look at a web page and then click back to compose a question or comment is not the most convenient way to go.

charlie b

[Larry Jaques]

On Sun, 26 Feb 2006 21:21:31 -0800, with neither quill nor qualm, charlie b quickly quoth:

But once you've done it a couple times, it becomes second-nature.

Doesn't everyone here go Google things while reading posts so they can give actual URLs in the answer? I've been doing that for eons now, charlie, and seldom have fewer than half a dozen windows open at once; sometimes a dozen or more. I've happily been doing the good old multitasking thing since I found DOS 3 and DESQview over a decade ago.

remember being very, very happy to have a second window open so I could cut and paste from program to program. What a timesaver!

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[Bob Bickers]