Appreciation post: The day I stopped using a speed square for everything

Tbh, for my first 5 years framing houses in Austin, I used a speed square for every cut without question. It worked fine for basic rafters and studs, but last spring I had to build a weird angled bay window for a remodel off South Lamar. After messing up three jack rafters in a row, my foreman handed me a Swanson big12 square and said 'try this for your weird angles.' Honestly, it cut my layout time in half and I got the whole thing framed in one day. Now I keep both in my bag and use the speed square for quick 45s and the big one for any angle over 30 degrees. Has anyone else switched up their go-to square after a frustrating job?

2 comments

2 Comments

samk7714d ago

Nah, a speed square gets clumsy past 30 degrees for sure.

nguyen.morgan14d ago

Are we really acting like a speed square can't handle a 30 degree cut? Seems like a lot of drama for something a framing square does.