Do you use a story pole?

[dryhter]

The story pole is probably one of the oldest,simplest and most overlooked of the tools available for woodworkers to usetoday. A carpenter, cabinet/furniture maker or somebody doing simple projectsaround the house can assure the successful outcome of the project using a storypole.

A story pole can be simple or complex. Acarpenter might use a story pole to lay out elevations of a house in order tosee the relationships between different architectural details such as window header and sill heights, stairways,roof, eve and trim details to name a few. A cabinet maker may use a story poll to seethe relationship of all the different components that are going to be broughttogether in the building and final install of the kitchen cabinets. A furnituremaker may use a story pole to figure a cutting list or help with the design ofmoldings and reveals. And a DIY’er could choose to use a story pole to lay outsome simple storage shelves.

There are several advantages to using astory pole. The biggest advantage is that laying out your story pole makes youget your head around what ever you are trying to build and the more detailedthe story pole the better you will understand what you are attempting to do. A cabinet or furniture maker building acomplex piece could use the story pole along with a layout stick for thehorizontal layout to help visualize all the small details and theirrelationship to one another that will make up the piece and possibly precludeany of those oopses that everyone hates to find in the middle of a build.

Speed and accuracy are other benefits. Layingout a pantry, walk in closet or even some storage shelves in the garage can bequickly and accurately laid out using a story pole and a level. Take the storypole and place it on the wall making sure it is plumb, place a tick make on thewall that corresponds to a mark on the pole, level a line around as required,take your story pole and place it on the wall lining up with the original markand transfer all marks from the pole to the wall, if you do this at the cornerssnap a chalk line at each mark and you are done. No tape measure, no misreadingof the tape, no compounded error of the level, no compounded pencil mark error.

A story pole helps speed up installinghinges. Installing hinges on one or two doors is one thing, ten or twenty doorsis something else. Here is what I do. Cut a story pole that is 3/4 X 3/4 in.and is not bowed. Cut to fit in the opening where the doors are going. In akitchen you might have a lot of cabinets that have doors all the same size,seldom are all the openings all the same exact size, cut the stick tofit the smallest opening. Check all the openings noting any differences anddecide if any adjustments or further fitting of the doors are required. Chooseyour hinge and how many and layout your story pole. Mark your story pole allthe way around on all four edges. Mark the leaves for Butt hinges, center linefor Euro style. It is important to mark the story pole either top or bottomdepending on whether the doors are going into an upper or lower cabinet. Any discrepanciesas far as fit should be as far away from the eye as possible, on the lowercabinet doors that would be the fit nearest to the floor. So when using thestory pole hold it tight to the upper rail of the lower cabinet opening, letany discrepancy be at the bottom. On an upper cabinet index the story pole offthe bottom rail, so that any differences are at the top of the cabinet, farthestfrom the eye. You know what I mean, just be sure to always have the story poleoriented the same in each opening, indexing off the rail that you want yourmargin to look the best. Mark your cabinet.

Before you can mark your doors you need to tack a small block on to the appropriate designated end of the story pole tosimulate the rail you chose to index off of. Now you need to find something toact as the reveal or margin around the door, I usually use a piece of laminate,about .040 in.. Lay the door flat orient the door and mark. Install hinges.

The images below show a piece that I designed and built using about six story polls and lay out sticks in order to help visualize the concept and to make sure the piece fit the space. It is constructed entirely out of Rift cut red oak veneer plywood. The only solid wood on the piece is the molding on the cornice and the mullion/muntions on the glass display cases. The lower cabinets are actually about 30 in. deep. They stick into a storage closet

[harryangel69]

The only time I find myself using a story stick is when I am copying an antique. Just how I have always done it. Easy reference when I don't have the unit close.

[sbarton22]

What is this "story pole"? is it a place holder that you use to mock up certain parts or transfer relative measurements and/or profiles?

If that is what it is, it seems painfully obvious the advantages to using it over our desire to measure the heck out of everything.

I've never heard the term.

[petersb]

Yes, I do use story sticks, only just recently. I have used one for laying out drawer spacing, and pretty much whatever else where I am making multiple layout measurements for a project. They are also good for remembering your layout for a future date, in case you get sidetracked on something else and can't get back to what you are doing for a while. Story sticks have really helped me to make fewer mistakes in measuring and marking. Great post topic!

[petersb]

What is this "story pole"? is it a place holder that you use to mock up certain parts or transfer relative measurements and/or profiles?

If that is what it is, it seems painfully obvious the advantages to using it over our desire to measure the heck out of everything.

I've never heard the term.

Here is an example on one that have used for a couple of projects.

The stick is the same length of the opening where the drawers are located and I was able to measure and mark those measurements right on the stick to remember them and to transfer them to necessary spots on the project using the stick. On another face of the same stick, I used it to layout the tails and waste for some dovetails on a chest that I was making. I don't have to measure and mark each piece, I only have to measure and mark once and then transfer those lines to the actual project piece. This also helps to eliminate the chance of making an error by measuring and marking multiple pieces. I have found it to be a really great help. It is also good to be able to see the dimensions for spacing and the look of the design. If it doesn't look right on the stick, it probably won't look good on the project either.

[dryhter]

Yes, a story pole is a very simple tool, so simple in fact that tool making companies have not been able to figure out a way to make a buck on them, that 's why you probably have not heard of one before. Usually just a scrap piece of wood with some pencil tick marks, critical measurements that can be transfered to some other place or stored, a reference.

There are different kinds, I usually make a story pole at the start of a build to help me see the relationship between the different components, fairly detailed, starting with the overall height. If you are building a set of book cases over lower cabinets What height cabinets looks/feels best?, 32 in., 34 or 36. What if you need a desk area at 30 in. integrated with 36 in. cabinets , how does that affect the drawer and door proportions overall. Add details like moldings and reveals, rail size, margins and joinery, and you will have a pretty good understanding of the project, plus you have generated part of the information needed for a cutting list.

I think the first story pole I ever used was for installing horizontal lap siding.When you install siding you don't want to measure your reveal for the next course off the last course installed because mistakes can be made, especially if two different people are measuring. Once you make the story pole there is no more measuring, you don't have to remember course measurements, less mistakes,accurate,faster.

Another place a story pole comes in real handy is when hinging doors, especially when replacing existing doors. you could just take the old door and use it as a template for the new door, but it is quicker to carry a little story pole through the house to check the openings than a big door. And if you have a partner,helper or another carpenter one stays at the bench hinging the other takes down and puts up, efficient that way.

Dave

[TimV]

Yes, I use them. I also have made drill templates for certain hinge locations for repeatability, I would call those jigs as story sticks also. I've also seen those write on tape measures used as a story stick.

Tim