I finally understood why my dad always used a story pole on big jobs

I was working on a long retaining wall in Dayton last week and my buddy Mike, who's been laying brick for 30 years, asked me why I kept measuring each course. He said, 'Henry, you're adding an eighth of an inch of error every time you put that tape down. A story pole with your course marks locks it in.' I did the math on a 50-foot run and realized that small error could add up to over an inch by the end. I made a quick pole with a sharpie and it saved me a ton of time and worry. Has anyone else had a simple tool tip that just clicked and saved your bacon on a project?

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3 Comments

aaron6776mo ago

Read a carpenter's blog once where he called a story pole a "dumb stick" because it's so simple it feels stupid, but it works every time. That name stuck with me.

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lee7336mo ago

What makes a tool feel "stupid" but still work so well?

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shanel134mo ago

Heard an old framer call a chalk line "the poor man's laser" once. Made me laugh but he was right, that string and powder never lies. Smart name for a simple tool.

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