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You will need a Framing Square. Decide what pitch roof you want or need. Steeper the roof, the more weight it will carry. 3 x 12 is minimum, 5 or 6 by 12 is better. Take a rafter, the top board of the roof frame, long enough to cover the distance you need. Lay the rafter flat with one end in front of you and the length of it towards your right. Lay the square on the rafter, corner pointing between your feet, long side on your left, short side on right and pointing away from you. On the bottom edge, the side closest to you, set the square on 12 inches. On the short, right hand side, set it on 3, 4, 5, whatever slope you have chosen. With the square in place, mark the back side closest to you on the rafter. This will give you the end angle of the rafter. Where you will put the fascia when trimming.
You will need to figure how long a rafter you need to meet in the center. This will vary depending on angle of the roof, Steeper the pitch, the longer the rafter will be.
On the end where you started, you will need to allow for the overhang where the soffit will be. This is a variable also. To allow for a 12 inch overhang, use the square again after you have cut the end of the rafter.
Using the inside of the square this time with the point facing away from you, put the short side on the cut end of the rafter and on the long side mark the bottom of the rafter at 12 inches. At this point using the same angle as the end of the rafter, you will need to make a notch up of 1 1/2 inches using the square on the side away from you with the point away from you. The notch should be 1 1/2 high and maybe 2 1/2 long depending on angle of rafter.
This only gets you the rafter for the left hand side. Generally the same on right hand also, still will need to figure cross bracing. That depends on width of roof and pitch. Steeper the pitch, the less bracing needed. All roofs are different.
Rafters are easy to do, just takes a bit to describe and try to make sure all steps are covered and clear. Hope this helps.

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16y ago
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Q: How do you figure the angle to cut trusses?
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