Speed Square Diamond for Rafter!  

Speed squares are awesome !! Been lugging one around for 32 years

Me: "Yes, I completely understand everything you said, the birds mouth, got it "👍 "Grabs the closest bird and takes to rafter"

Been in construction 30 yrs off n on...biggest regret is not learning all of the capabilities of the square...framing and speed......I've watched guys work them n it's amazing !!

And here I was watching an almost 30 minute video to learn what you just explained in less than 1. Thanks!

Diamond is at 3½" btw. Can use it to scribe anything at 3.5 w your pencil.

Birdsmouth cuts should never extend beyond 25% the width of a rafter. (It’s not necessary for a rafter to contact the entire width of a top plate.)

Except if one board is wider than others your birdsmouth will change size which means your "height above plate" will change. It will show up in the cornice. Use the diamond from the top of rafter when you mark your common pitch, then do the reverse angle to that mark. Except I always went with a 4¼ H.A.P.

You only do that on the first common. After that birdsmouth is laid out check the height a ove plate and that is the dimension used for the rest of the commons. You need to use the height above plate on the rest of the commons because all the rafter material is not the same width.

If you must do it that way; at least square back from the 7/12 line that you made first to get a reference with which to judge the square of your seat against.

Thank you!

I own a speed square and never knew this, I had to resort to doing math. Awesome tip, thx

I learned something new today!

Cool tip. This is only for a 3 1/2" seat cut however.

The birds mouth is determined by the heel.height. which varies. The 3.5 mark is to scribe out beyond the birds mouth to create a 3.5 wide tail on the rafter

I see someone read the old book that used to come with em

Nice!

Seems real accurate......

Learned something new. Thanks

Sweet....., it's that easy !!

I cant even fucking use one of these things... and someone decades ago, was so smart they made this thing to make lives easier... So it used to be way harder. And I'm still dumb.

Great tip. Got my subscribe

awesome tip

That depends on the width of the beam you're setting rafter on not to exceed too much any Carpenter would use a framing square not a speed square

I sure wish I had know this years ago.

3.5 inches = width of top plate. Great bit of info ..

I reckon a Master Carpenter knows what you just said.

I don't know what you're doing but I'm impressed

Speed square good for scraping ice off wood....that's it

I never knew that

I've used one wrong for years and this taught me nothing. But nice square!

I always included the wall sheeting for the seat cut. For that, on a new Swanson I would measure 4" on the back side of the guide and scar it with my utility knife.

Thanks man I always wondered why that was there

I just use them for straight lines. There's more uses for them?

Wow...I didn't know that

That is pretty useful.

nice job...been 20 yrs didn't know that..always did the math

Actually, using that mark is not as accurate as using the value of the remaining 90. In this case its actually 32/58. Your mark was actually a degree or 2 off....

I could of used that 40 years ago.

Get it lined with this dahmand

Believe it or not in nueces county jail I learnt all of this in a week lol

Thanks from a 35year carpenter

Sounds accurate

Yeah close is good

Man thank u lol

Don’t forget your 1/2” for plywood

It didn't look like you landed a 7-12. Looks more like a 6 3/4-12

Gang the rafters, and cut them all at once. For the love of god dont do each one seperately

That's just to make a perpendicular cut

Good for backyard builds but don't frame a house like this

What about 6-12!???

If you use it a speed square to cut rafters you're an amateur try a framing square

Is there a 7/12 mark on the square???

A real carpenter know and goes by the degrees.. and not line an edge by eyeball for square

What’s a birds mouth raptor

That is def a speed square.

No ours don’t have that

Try a squangle

a birds mouth?....wouldnt that be a beak?

These videos remind me of how useless I am

Sharpen yo pencil lol!

Perfecto

Im so confused lol

Believe me, this is not set in stone.

Bro sharpen your pencil

Domend, use the domend

Giddy Up

How did you get your first degree 😳 🤔

What's a bird mouth

Dear god those things confuse me

Domind

Umm.. unless you need a specific heel height 🤷🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️

Bruh.

I REALLY don't care.

?

The outside edge are degree numbers. 1-89 and the outside edges being 0 or 180 (same plane line) and 90° angles. When you step up to the next set of numbers (Toward the fulcrum of the square) you have you "common" numbers which are offset by a few degrees each and are your common slopes and angles. The one example in this video is a common 7/12. It's always over 12. This means that your degrees or slope would be a 7 inch rise over 12 inches. Hopefully that helps. The guy that made this video seems to want to impress unknowing individuals while also being a terrible teacher.

poor tutorial. Doesnt show how to get the 7/12 pitch (for home owner level) and fails to account for wall sheathing (for trades level).

Cheap Chinese crap I have doesn’t have diamond

Square off your pitch line and that will be a proper way of doing it

That is a true speed square, not a copy. And if you save that little blue book most of the work is done for you. Just gotta know how to use it.

I get your plumb cut on the 7 , and lining up the diamond to get your birdsmouth , but what dictates the angle when you pivoted off the botton of the rafter other than that it looking absolutely square ?

Geometry is 95% of that "you'll use this when you're an adult" and it's not always this obvious

Wish it was that easy. Houses i build have wood overhangs 16in and 12in, walls different heights, windows tuck under the overhang that’s stepped out 4 in for brick. When cutting rafters you have to take into consideration what you need for a heel height,then if that will leave you enough tail to nail the overhang into. Sometimes you don’t get full 3 1/2 in bearing.

Forty years ago there was no diamond on a speed square.

I learned something new 🆕

The diamond means absolutely nothing the number that means everything is 3 and 1/2 in so your heel matches up on the inside of your structure on your top plate you have no clue what you're talking about bro your fired

What's crazy it how many ppl don't know how to really use one now days ppl don't be training like they use to

Your 7 or 12 didn’t line up but I know you said you had it already. People like to see it done. Good vid

How is the seat cut 90 deg to the vertical cut this way, do you just eyeball!!

why pre-mark the 7 12 when you could have shown us that too?

If you don't know that you don't need to be cutting rafters

Nah

What about figuring out your run first

Sharpen that damn pencil

Just use a framing square

What if it’s 2x6 wall

That's not correct

Pretty wonkie!

That's just a 90°

Idk about that

THAT'S the difference between a SWANSON speed Square and all the others