Building techniques info online

[Pigeon Lady]

Thought I'd post this link.

I was researching Birds mouth cuts for rafters and found this.

Hope it helps someone.

http://books.google.com/books?id=1MG...z_Kk#PPA113,M1

Pauline

[TNHermit]

Anybody that builds should bookmark this. Lots of good stuff an you can read the thing for free it seems

[Macybaby]

You can only read a few pages for free - but often a good book is well worth buying. Just think about what one or two miss cut rafters would cost. On most of our DIY projects we've researched to find a few good books on the subject of interest, and read a lot before starting. After 15 years, we have a decent collection of "how to" books. And we still refer to them from time to time.

I just got a really comprehensive book on pouring concrete counter tops. Not sure if we are going to actually do it, but this way I can find out if it is something we are willing to attempt.

Cathy

[TedH71]

Actually there's a faster way and I'm taking carpentry classes at a local college!

Anyway you'll need to know some geometry in order to custom cut a rafter. Do you remember the Pyrethean theory? The one that goes A squared + B squared = C squared? That way you can find out what pitch your roof is at and get the diagonal number to add and multiply from. Suppose your roof is 6/12 pitch which is one of the most common numbers for roof pitches. and your roof is supposed to be 4 feet from the top to the bottom of the walls....and you want a 1 foot long overhang (highly recommended to have overhangs or else you will have water leaks in the roof seams) so that would be (4 x 13.42)+(1 x 13.42)= 53.69 + 13.42= 67.1 inches. Convert that to feet and inches. Viola! That is your rafter cut from out to out. Then you use the speed square to put in pencil where the angle 6 short on your rafter on both ends and cut. Then you can use the roof square to measure out the steps that way to the bird's cut as well. Kinda hard to explain here

My current best friend for carpentry is the Construction Master 5 calculator for $45 from Lowe's. You don't have to think too hard to get things figured out. My teacher is old school and prefers NO calculator but he knows some people can't do paper work and would be faster on a calculator. I'm one of them.