Story poles are a method of measuring kitchen cabinets accurately for a master cutting list without relying on a tape measure or ruler. Carpenters have been laying out entire homes on these long, narrow sticks of wood for centuries, and this tried-and-true method offers several advantages over standard measuring techniques. For one, all measurements are marked out full-size, making an error-free cutting list easier to calculate than from scale drawings.Visit the Woodworking Plans Website pages for more woodworking articles.

Story poles also allow you to visualize construction details more easily. By marking the measurements for each cabinet on the sticks you have an exact picture of each cabinet; lengths, widths, and positions of joints can all be marked later on the stock directly, without a tape measure introducing error. For ease of handling, make your story poles from wood 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch thick and about 1.5 inches wide. To see the oencil marks better, use light-colored wood.

When laying out a kitchen, site story poles are first completed for each wall of the kitchen. On the horizontal story pole, the location of everything along that wall is marked: the appliances and cabinets in the run, doors, windows, and any electrical or plumbing fixtures such as outlets or sink pipes. The vertical story pole shows the height of the kickplate, lower cabinet, countertop, backsplash, upper cabinet, and ceiling molding, as well as any windows and electricalor plumbing fixtures. A depth story pole provides the depth of kickplate, cabinet, and countertop overhang.

Once the kitchen has been laid out on story poles, individual story poles are created for each cabinet. For maximum accuracy, each cabinet should have three smaller story poles: height, width, and depth, each ieferenced to the respective site story pole. These shorter story poles willtellyou the dimensions of your cabinets when it comes time to compile the master cutting list. Learn How to Lay Out Story Poles articles please go to woodworkingplans.tv website.