This picture inludes the lower right hand corner of a rod I drew recently
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For this coffer chest
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Seen here complete and painted up
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Here is a picture of a complete rod I drew a fortnight or so ago for a 3 legged cricket table
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And the complete table, painted and waxed (the smaller one on the left-I ommitted the lower rails in the end
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The beauty of this method is that you dont really need to do any “measuring” as such. I tend to have an idea of a form-developed through sketches and study of existing forms-then use wood laths or offcuts to mock up proportions and dimensions on the white board. When I am happy with the arrangement, I then firm it up putting in pencil lines accurately with a straight edge, framing square, sliding bevel, dividers etc. I then get my face side/face edge orientations, dimensions for planing the stock, and positions of joints/rebates etc directly from the rod, and can refer back to the rod whenever I need to. It vastly reduces the chance of error.
Cheers Jonathan

I guess the ultimate version of the joiners (or carpenters) rod is in the French Scribe timber framing tradition where they literally draw a full 1:1 scale drawing of the structure (eg a roof truss, or gable wall for a building) on the floor, and use it to position the beams for marking out the joints. If they need say 5 trusses, they simply use the same drawing 5 times. Another fascinating feature of that type of joinery is that it works with timber that is wany, bowed, twisted, or rough hewn with an axe etc. Despite those defects, the joints still come out solid, with tight shoulders, and the beams end up with a good flat face to the outside of the building.
http://www.traditionaltimberframe.com/V1_0/index.php?mod=galerie&action=img&id_gal=41&id_img=783

Thats exactly it Steve, the same thing. Its kinda hard to go wrong when the drawing and the physical project are so closely related! Theres a direct link between the plan and the item being made. What I like also is that theres no real need to fuss about feet/inches or the dreadful (to me) metric alternative…its more like directly transferring dimension from the drawing, to the material, into a finished construction..I was taught, where possible transfer a dimension (eg with pinch rods)-which is a more accurate method than using a tape/ruler.
I use story sticks too sometimes, usually for things like fencing (setting rail positions from a datum level) or fixing horizontal wall cladding (useful to ensure the boards stay horzontal and parrallel) Or if I am making several of the same component such as rails or something. Sometimes simple rods are basically 2 or 3 story sticks (in correct structural relation to each other) on the same drawing.
At school I was taught engineering drawing (pre computer era) I find it very useful to see an object in front elevation/side/plan etc Maybe this is why rods appeal to me so much!
cheers Jonathan