Establishing Depth Reference A recent project required making a series of small wooden panels with shallow concave faces. For efficiency and accuracy, I decided to make a series of preliminary [...]
Woodworkers are both cursed and blessed with our hopelessly archaic system of measuring. When it comes time to divide any distance in half, like marking the center of a board’s edge for resawing, [...]
When I first started teaching the 8th-grade stool-making class, I needed to find an easy method for my students to mark the leg length accurately before trimming them to a parallel surface with [...]
Sometimes it’s fun to build a gadget just because it’s a neat idea. There are many ways to draw a centerline, for example, but this method is very clever. It doesn’t require any measuring or [...]
From the PW archives: Megan Fitzpatrick covers the essential measuring tools for beginners, and shows you how to choose ones that will provide accurate results. For Basics Week we’re [...]
The awl is one of the most useful tools in woodworking and perhaps the most basic of them all. Awls help to initiate indentations into which screws, nails, and drill bits will bore. We use them [...]
Tool: FitFinder 1/2 Gauge Shop Now Manufacturer: MicroJig MSRP: $34.99 Dialing in a saw blade, router bit, or other cutting tool to make a cut exactly half the depth of stock seems like a [...]
To mark the exact center of a board, I measure an equal distance from both ends and make two marks. This distance is just an approximation—it doesn’t matter if it’s longer or shorter than exactly [...]
To conclude this series of entries about lapping/flattening the soles of metal planes (read them here #1, #2, #3, #4), I wish to share some information about the precision tools I use. The [...]
Every woodworker knows not to rely on inside measurements made with a tape measure. Instead, I use two steel rules with dimensions that run to the edges. I butt one rule at each end, so the [...]
Tool: 3-In-1 Digital Laser Measurer Shop Now Manufacturer: Dremel MSRP: $79 Dremel recently released a new 3-in-1 digital measurer that would be a great addition to a carpenter’s [...]