Friday, January 10, 2025
Framing Square Basics: Octagon Layout
JLC Online: Not too many octagonal—or eight-sided—houses are built these days, but for a brief period of time between 1850 and 1870, this was a popular architectural style; early Quakers in southeastern Pennsylvania are known to have built octagonal stone school buildings as early as 1760. Nowadays, if you are asked to frame an octagonal structure, it will most likely be a gazebo or a cupola, or perhaps a turret-style addition. You may also be asked to install an octagonal window and so would need to know how to frame the rough opening.
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5 comments:
This was a very informative guide to octagonal layouts in construction. I never realized the octagon scale’s presence on a traditional framing square, but now I can recognize its significance. The geometry behind the process makes sense to me, and reminds me of applying geometric proofs to construction iterations in high school. I was able to recreate each step with a square and a compass. The process is a very satisfying one and left me with a clean six inch wide octagon. The logic is also applicable to other polygons, though the exact steps and tools vary, as there are only so many scales on a framing square. This layout process isn’t just useful in carpentry, but also in the planning and drawing stages of a product. I’m glad I went through this website, because it led me to many other similarly useful articles in the ‘How To’ section - many of which harken back to Production Science.
I wonder why this principle only works until octagons 67 inches wide without any math. I also thought it was odd that the writer mentioned the dots and marking of the octagon scale bewildering carpenters for generations. It seems like something that carpenters should know about. Furthermore, if people weren't sure what these dots were for, how come they kept getting printed onto the scales? I also wish this article had explained briefly how you would use math to lay out an octagon. Math has never been my strongest inclination, but I find things like this interesting and useful. Perhaps because they are applicable to the real world, it appeals to me more than something more abstract. I found the comment about the 'poor man's circle' funny and interesting, because I don't believe a circle to be superior to an octagon necessarily. Regardless of how much money you have, sometimes an octagon looks better than a circle and vice versa. I think which one you choose should be based on the aesthetics of the build (assuming money is available)
I had not thought much of octagons other than I had thought it was a rather pleasing shape to look at. This article has brought the creation of any octagon to a higher level of respect now that I understand what actually goes into making an octagon. This article definitely helped me know what was going on with octagons. Making use of the suggested scale seems like it would be so helpful and so timesaving rather than having to do a bunch of equations on the spot as well. Such a tool makes sense for the fact that it was popular to build octagonal buildings in the 1850-60’s, which I wish would come back a little, at least for a room, octagons are very fun and that seems like it would be very fun to have the different sections of wall all themed with each theme meeting in the middle.
I love octagons! I think that living in an octagonal house would be a lot of fun, and I’ve heard that Y2K is back in, but I think we should bring back 1850s - 1870s octagonal architecture. Regardless, I’ve never actually thought much about how to lay out an octagon, and had I ever been faced with that situation, I can definitely imagine that I would be incredibly confused, not know what to do, and get stuck doing way more math than needed. I never would have guessed that there was a specific scale for octagons, or any sort of math-free life hack for them, and it’s honestly reassuring that I know there’s a faster way to generate octagons, as long as they’re not too big. I really wish this article explained why it is that the math-free technique only works for octagons up to 67 inches, because honestly, once I read that in the beginning, it made it difficult to focus on the rest of the article because I couldn’t stop thinking about that.
I love the idea that building octagonal shaped things used to be such a large part of architecture that there is a built in calculator on modern day squares, despite the fact that it is not often used. Though I am partial to hexagons myself (hexagons are the best-agons), I do enjoy getting to see some geometry in action with this trick. I also appreciate the foresight of whoever decided to give half the length of one side to make inscribing the octagon within a square more streamline. I do think it's a little funny though that this tool exists because it really does not feel like something that would come up all that much, especially today when we all carry calculators around in our pocket. Nevertheless, I will be spouting this fun fact out then next time I pick up a square and spot the octagonal scale nestled between the inches.
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