C.H. Hanson 3' x 4' x 5' / 90° Folding Layout A Square |
When it came time to build a walk first of this year (pics below) my stone buddy Matt - Stone Soup Blog told me about this tool. As I waited on the cell phone as he went hunting in his hot shed to find the product name - C.H. Hanson 3 x 4 x 5. At first I didn't understand. But if he suggested it I figured he knows whats best for me! So I got on line and bought one that night!. Once I got it - it all made sense. All of my work up until now had been full of curves and or had square area's to get proper measurements. ie house or a cement patio...4 years of drafting can sure help a little but not as much as this tool does.
This is a very simple tool. For example above photo - I have taken the 3/4/5 A Square and put it up against the garage in order to determine my straight line away from the home. I set that line up then I came down to bottom end as seen in photo and place my square against the line to get my corner line set up. Now my build is square. Work made easy through friends and tools. Thanks Matt! Don't give up on me now and throw in the towel on that Blog of yours!!!
C.H. Hanson 3' x 4' x 5' / 90° Folding Layout A Square - Folded down. |
What makes this tool so amazing is that you can easily fold it up. In return it takes up no room at all. Some of the features from C.H. Hanson's website are as followed:
- Only true 3' x 4' x 5' square
- Collapsing triangle guarantees precision layout
- Easy to use, faster, more accurate, folds to store
- Uses: Carpentry, layout, angle layout, squaring, framing timber, masonry, pavers and much more
- Accurate to within 1/32"
- Made in USA
C.H. Hanson 12" Polymer 45° Folding Layout A Square |
What was even better I found this on Amazon when I did my first search. So of course I ordered it up from Amazon with seller C. H. Hanson for only $58 and it came with a bonus C.H. Hanson 12" Polymer 45° Folding Layout A Square. This was also a very handy tool to have when I was marking all my small filler bricks all being 45° cuts with the herringbone brick pattern. Thanks C. H. Hanson for the bonus gift!
With this job I set my string lines with the 3/4/5 A Square down (top photo) at porch Right side (cement pad). Because I knew this was build off the house and correct for square. The porch steps were not square. If you notice my stone step at the bottom and then look at the step above (bottom of photo with black phone sitting on it) Notice how off it is?! So in order to think about what a human see's as they walk down the steps having the walk go straight visually with the direction was the key goal. The path you walk needs to be straight.
Getting back to the set up of the strings. I started with the square down at the bottom to determine the right string line. Once I did that I was able to come to the on other end (bottom photo) To help set the string line for the step. I could either measure off this first line to get correct measurements for the left side or simply flip the square around down at the step line to determine my run going back to the cement porch. Either way you come up with the same solution. Key was getting the first line and then the step figured out.
So if you do not have one of these in your tool box - you might want to think about it. I'm already finding it handy for so many other jobs now I have it. Just like my Mini excavator. The right tools for the right job makes it easy.
To check out all the product C.H. Hason makes check them out on their website. www.chhanson.com