My uncle showed me a trick for checking a square without a square, and I finally tried it last month

Mila White · 2026-09-18T04:10:02.933619+00:00

My uncle ran a cabinet shop in Bakersfield for 30 years before he retired, and he always said a tape measure and a pencil beat a fancy square any day. Last month I was framing a small shed and my little speed square fell behind the wall cavity, so I remembered what he showed me. You measure 3 feet down one side and 4 feet across the other, then check if the gap between the marks lands at 5 feet. Mine came out at 5 and a quarter on the first corner, which told me I was out of whack by more than I wanted. I nudged it in with a dead blow and got it dead on at 5. I know it is just the 3-4-5 thing everyone learns once, but doing it by feel in a pinch stuck with me. Do you guys keep a chalk line handy for corners, or just eyeball it when the square walks off?

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My uncle showed me a trick for checking a square without a square, and I finally tried it last month | Carpenters - Babble Community