No respect for for the line...

[loutent]

Hi all,

This has always bothered me (anal as I am).

Whenever I trace/draw a pencil line on a piece to be cut, I never have confidence in it. If I am doing (say) crown moulding, I will hold a piece up there and mark a line. I never/seldom actually believe in the line I just marked - I will allow an extra 1/4. It is never correct. Then I step down off of the 8 ft ladder and cut again. Now it's only 3/32 off. Down again, back to the MS to trim "a hair".

Still doesn't fit right.

OK, another hair...then another....

It's kind of funny every time I think about it.

Next time, I use a sharper pencil.

I "mark" the line, but I don't "respect" the line (I know it's a Seinfeld thing).

I've been a hobbyist for near 20 years now.

Still no respect for the line.

Maybe its time for a marking knife...but will I respect that any more?

Thank the Lord I don't have to do this for a living!

Lou

[Morris Dovey]

| Still no respect for the line. | | Maybe its time for a marking knife...but will | I respect that any more?

Well, if you use a knife you might as well cut to the mark since it can't be erased. Challenge yourself to make every saw kerf remove just the waste side of the mark - it's possible, but not as easy as it sounds (pencil lines and laser guides will suddenly look fat and crude).

Don't buy one of the Lee Valley French-made ebony-handled marking knives! I bought one and it's absolutely useless. It's so beautiful that I just can't bring myself to actually use it - I use my old pocket knife instead.

FWIW, being AR might be an asset when your goal is a fine, exact fit.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[bridger]

....snip....

you'll have to. the knife has already started the cut for you....

[Chris]

Lou, Your sage is not uncommon for someone who does it for a living. I used to do finish work for a living and understand exactly what you are going through.

Even more so with crown moldings as they are expensive and joints should not be a option if you cut short. As of late I have been using a carbide pointed pen. Little harder to see, but a lot thinner line. Learned this from the metal workers, who deal in a lot higher precession. If not that, a mechanical pencil will work just as well. Lot easier to sharpen too.

[AL]

Well at least you don't cut too much off.

[bridger]

3 entries found for precession. 1. The act or state of preceding; precedence. 2. Physics. The motion of the axis of a spinning body, such as the wobble of a spinning top, when there is an external force acting on the axis. 3. Astronomy. 1. Precession of the equinoxes. 2. A slow gyration of the earth's axis around the pole of the ecliptic, caused mainly by the gravitational pull of the sun, moon, and other planets on the earth's equatorial bulge.

4 entries found for precision. 1. The state or quality of being precise; exactness. 2. 1. The ability of a measurement to be consistently reproduced. 2. The number of significant digits to which a value has been reliably measured.

adj.

1. Used or intended for accurate or exact measurement: a precision tool. 2. Made so as to vary minimally from a set standard: precision components. 3. Of or characterized by accurate action: precision bombing.

[Robatoy]

I'm always game for a new toy, but other than a rotating laser level to install a counter, cabinets or wainscoting, I have found lasers on mitre saws a complete waste of time. The lighter the colour of the wood, the fatter the line. Useless. I always have a proper Staedtler pencil sharpener in my pocket. I use 2H pencils to mark my line and I get good results. I only go up and down that ladder 2 or 3 times, as opposed to the usual 6 or 7.

When the weather cools off, I sometimes use a mechanical pencil as I then have a pocket for it. In summer, the lighter wooden pencil lives on my ear. So much so, that when I'm on the phone, and somebody wants to leave me a number, I reach for my ear...even though there may not be a pencil there...much to the entertainment of my daughter.

[marks542004]

Be bold. Be daring.

Next time you have some cheap little trim piece to cut mark a pencil line and learn to split the line with the saw blade. Cut on the waste side for best results.

Once you have been successful once , the next time it is easier.

[nailshooter41]

I'm with Robatoy. I use #2 pencils all the time for just about everything. They are so cheap at the dollar store and when the back to school sales go on that I stock up.

They have to be wood; NO plastic or composite. Must be #2, and I like the round ones when I can find them but 'ol yeller works fine.

I keep a small pen knife that is razor sharp (aka: splinter removal tool) for sharpening my pencils. If I need something hair fine, I put that point on the pencil and usually get two marks out of it before resharpening. Who cares if you burn a pencil or two a day?

I sounds like you just need more consistent practice and you will be fine cutting your marks.

Robert

[Chris]

Anything useful to contribute? Or do you get your rocks off finding typos / spell checking errors?

[tom_murphy]

I'm sympathetic to the esthetic appeal of using a real wood pencil, but I've become quite fond of using a cheap (few dollars for a dozen) .5 mm mechanical pencil. It stays sharp all the time and marks a fairly fine line. Yes, you'll break the lead frequently, but you can feed more out with one hand and keep going.

I use a .7mm when I don't need the precision. It doesn't break as easily.

The downside, I can't get one to stay on my ear!

Tom

[Robatoy]

Got to hate it when looking up to mark a small piece of crown moulding and have the damn pencil slide off you ear, eh?

I believe God gave us ears for safety-glasses, cool shades..and pencils..NOT to listen to rap.

[Dave Hall]

Yeah, I believe the same about rap... and every time I think about it or say it, I suddenly hear my dad saying "That ain't music, it's just noise" when I was a teen listening to CCR or Buffalo Springfield, etc., etc. Dave Hall

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- G.B. Shaw

[Doug Payne]

Actually, God gave us nearsightedness so that we'd have to wear glasses behind which we could stick a pencil. It must be my ears, but I find that the glasses work *way* better.

[bridgerfafc]

...snip definitions of precession and precision....

well, considering your sig line, I couldn't pass it up. and considerion that precision and precession both have relevance to metalworkers, it is relevant to your post.

do I have anything useful to contribute? do you?

[Dave Hall]

Not really other than to ask what "considerion" means. Neither

nor my F&W lists it ;-)

Dave Hall

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- G.B. Shaw

[nospambob]

[Robatoy]

[schnippered]

Actually, it must be very difficult to spew that much bullshit in 3 minutes and have people actually buy it.

Buffalo Springfield was way up on my list in those days. Their music still appeals to me. CCR, on the other hand, is a different story. Not their fault. But so many really bad bar-bands butchered Proud Mary etc., that I couldn't even stand the opening chord of any CCR after a while. A total burn-out. Besides, my head made a left turn in there somewhere and started listening to The Doors, Hendrix, Who.... that kinda stuff.

Now back to our regular programming.

[jo4hn]

Robatoy wrote:[snip]> Buffalo Springfield was way up on my list in those days. Their music

Clapton is god.

[Dave Hinz]

No, Yngwie is God. Clapton is just really, really, really good.