How to question...

[John_M]

Just sitting here thinking....

When you are putting up a ledger board for resting beams on top (a la Mickey's place), when is the appropriate time to cut in the inset for the ledger board, so it is flush with the wall?

I would think that if you do it before the wall goes up, you run the risk of them not lining up?

However, it may be a challenge to cut them in after the wall is up?

What do you tihnk?

[peg_688]

 I'd do it after the wall was sheeted and stood up.  

I'd snap a line at the saw shoe line , below the cut line , witha skill Mod. 77 appror 5" or approx 1 1/2( depends on the side you decide to run to the ledger) from the cut line , check your saw they all vary  a bit.
 

Once this saw shoe line is snapped nail a 1x2 or 1x4 to the line , rest the saw shoe on the temp. ledger / saw guide ,cut the bottom of the "let in" . Now move the saw guide up , I'd cut the top cut at least 1/8" high to allow for difference in material width, very common , also you don't want to have to drive that ledger in with a sledge ,  this will give you a nice striaght line for the ledger to set/ sit on .  

 Now just cut relief kerfs between the top and bottom  , About 1/2 " to 3/8" between saw kerfs , knock out the chips with straight claw hammer , clean up the bottom with a sharp hammer claw / flat bar/ chisel etc .

 I'd also not bother to cut / let in the corner studs , I'd butt the ledger into them , and if the walls where 24 " OC , I'd cut a trimmer stud to fit under the ledgers at that point . If 16" OC I'd probably just let the ledger span that 14 1/2" distance.


 The risks , measure wrong / studs not lined up perfect / setup time / for pre cutting, etc. are to many , IMO , points of failure , KISS . Keep It Simple Supid, approach works best for me.

 And John "Don't just sit there , do something , even if it's wrong , we'll fix it tomorrow!"   One of my very early mentors used to say that, some times it does hold true.    Folks can become frozen / can't decide / when the clocks ticking ,/ meter is running it make sence to move.   That some / most times saves time as the answer will be revealed in the process

Good luck , PEG  

   

[Jimmy_Cason]

Because I have hundreds of hours using a porter cable 3-1/4 hp plunge router, I think I would do it like this..
Laying the 2x6 on its side I would make a jig that would give you the exact location of the let in.  
Then I would use a jig saw to square up the inside corners or use a round over bit to match the radius in the cut out. Of course this would assume the bottom plate is level.

[rdzone]

I like Jimmys router Idea.  I would stack all of the 2xs on edge, make sure all the bottoms are aligned, mark them, use a straight 2x as a guide and then route away.  The router would make quick work of it, and it would make the bottom of the notch nice and flat, not a lot of clean up after.

I have also read some articles on balloon framing where the old timers would basically do the same thing.  They would stack all the 2xs on edge and gang cut kerfs with a circular saw, then knock out the kerfs and clean up things with a chisel and plane.

Chuck

[Micky]

I cut mine per rdzone's "old timer method"

This worked petty well (other than the few studs I measured wrong).

I naild a couple of 2x4s to the floor to keep the studs square and even.