Here's Another Story

[Jim Koepke]

Story stick that is...

It is time to make more potting benches for the farmers market. After having made a few the dimensions are pretty well determined with only a few to be worked out.

So a story stick with a locking head was made just for the layout of potting benches. The longest piece is 60" so the stick was made just a little longer than that.

Today cutting the slats for the top and lower shelf when rather well. No hassles with the measuring and the pieces came out more uniform in size than has ever been done before.

Here is the stick being used on the shelf slats:

Setting the Gauge.jpg

The head is against the end of the stock to be cut. The try square is butted up against the end of the story stick. A marking knife can also be used against the end of the story stick to mark the piece if so desired.

Here is the pile of 47 finished pieces:

Ready to Go.jpg

It is an odd number (and a prime number) due to a few pieces of scrap being used.

The pieces to the left are to be the legs.

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Hi Jim,

Your posts on story sticks has been helpful. I have read a little about them but never used one in for a project, at least not for anything very complex at all. It has been enlightening. I have a lot to learn about using story sticks though, and the picture and note is one more technique that I have learned.

Thanks for the posts.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

I have a lot to learn about using story sticks though,

Same for me. Before making the sliding/locking head for the stick a piece of wood would be set in the vise as a fence. The stick and the piece would be pressed up against the fence and marks transferred. There can be a problem if the workpiece isn't square cut or two the fence. It also seems the method used in today's post left less room for error.

The stick has four sides. Different parts of an item being build can be on different faces.

The base of the stick may not show well in the picture. It is shot smooth, chamfered all around and then marked with a black Sharpie. This helps find the reference end without mistakes.

jtk

[Mike Brady]

I happen to be building a potting bench also. I hope you will post yours when finished. I'll do the same. Mine is a version of one I saw in the Japanese Garden at Riverbank, a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Geneva, IL. It's straight forward in design, and has small wheels at one end and a handle at the other to make it mobile. I'm making it with cedar that a friend had left over from a deck project. The cedar will do fine here in the midwest if it is kept coated with a finish like Australian Timber Oil, which I have used on other cedar furniture.

The story stick is a good idea for uniformly cutting the planking that forms the bulk of the bench surfaces. I'll incorporate that in my build as I am now at that stage of construction.