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Caught myself using the wrong side of a speed square for years
I was marking a 45 on a 2x4 for a deck I'm building over in Arlington and my neighbor walks over and asks why I'm using the wrong edge. Turns out I've been using the T-side as a fence instead of the pivot point for angled cuts since I started framing back in 2016. Felt pretty dumb but now my miters fit way tighter. Anyone else find out they were using a basic tool wrong way later on?
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gray3141d ago
Used to think the speed square was just a fancy triangle for marking 90s, but seeing how easy angled cuts get with the right edge changed my mind completely. Neighbor probably saved me from a lifetime of fighting miters with that one tip. Hard to believe a tool can do so much more when you just flip it around.
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ivan4621d ago
Friend of mine spent years cutting angles by guesswork til someone showed him the square trick.
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henry1501d ago
Yeah that square trick is a game changer for sure. You just have to make sure the lip is snug against the board edge and hold it tight. If you let it shift even a hair your cut will be off and you'll be filing down the end again. I learned that the hard way when I was helping my neighbor build a deck. Another thing is to always mark your cut on the face of the board not the edge, it keeps your line straight. Once you get that down you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
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Dude that's exactly me with a level... used the bubble wrong for like three years til my brother laughed at me. Feels rough but hey, at least we know now right.
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lisas781d ago
Told my dad after ten years of using a tape measure backwards. He just looked at me and said I've been reading it wrong the whole time. Now my cuts are actually square and I don't have to fight every joint.
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