I “apprencticed” under  an older carpenter - name of Joe Shingle! - who was born
in 1900 - this was 1972-74.  He actually gave me a few cool tools that I still
use - Stanley 95 corner plane, and a Stanley 65 low angle block plane.

He used a tape to lay out a whole wall, but he had his hammer handle cut off to
make the tool measure 14-1/2” from tip-to-toe so if he had to fit in an odd stud
he didn’t need to take his tape out.

Ed Minch





On Apr 17, 2014, at 9:32 AM, CheekyGeek  wrote:

> I have no specific knowledge or source (would love to see the real history)
> but I suspect that the 16" standard came about as a result of engineering,
> in combination with the standardization of the lumber production industry.