The "Measuring - Don't Be Oral Anal Retentive" introduced
the term "story stick", implyng that it's synonymous with
"slip sticks" It's not. They're two different things, intended
for two different purposes.

Slip Sticks are for get the distance between two parallel
parts you've already got and can be used to check inside
diagonals on a "box" to make sure it's square (assuming
the parallel sides are, in fact, the same length. They're
for Build As You Go and Check Diagonal For Square,.
They ARE NOT for recording dimensions and building
to those dimensions.
(see alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking Measuring - Use
Slip Sticks)

A Story Stick is a straight piece of wood, longer than the
longest length you want to record on it. Horizontal
distances are marked on one face, vertical distance on
another and "depth" on a third face. The reference end
is usually marked to identify it and notes are often
written on the "good side" of distance marks. The
Story Stick is often labeled to identify the project
in case you want to build another one later.

Unlike Slip Sticks which hold one distance at a time,
multiple dimensions can be recorded on a single
Story Stick. However, with a Story Stick, you've
got pencil marks to accurately place and you still
need to align the saw blade to a line, or transfer
a line from the Story Stick to the stock to be cut
- and a pencil line at that.

Just a clarification.

charlie b