VirginBuilder

Cool new tool

I know this is out of sequence, as the blog hasn't caught up to the real life project yet, but I just found a cool product which is great for framing. Two things commonly affect the straightness of lumber, even from a good lumber yard. Boards can be "crowned" which means that they curve consistenly along their length, or can be twisted. Crowning is relatively easy to deal with, as long as it isn't too bad. Simply make sure that all of the framing crowns in the same direction, leaving out any boards that crown excessively. Twisting is harder. Normal levers or prybars aren't designed to really grab on to the framing. For most of the project so far, I've secured one end of the board, and used clamps to pull as much of the twist out as possible. this works okay, as long as there is something convenient to clamp to. I just came across this "new to me" tool, a simple pry-bar with a clamp designed to grab 2" dimensional lumber (e.g. 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, etc.) In real time, I'm starting the roof framing now, and this tool will hopefully make a big difference!

posted by VirginBuilder @ 12:37 PM