A better measuring and marking system?

[Chris J Dixon]

I guess it doesn't quite have a printer's aversion to substitute inks. ;-)

Chris

[Adrian]

Ah.

Then the 1mW laser on the sliding mitre saw I got the other day does the job admirably...

[harryagain]

Only amateurs use a pencil. The correct tool to use for marking wood accurately is a Stanley knife or similar along with a square. For marking parallel lines a joiners guage should be used To transferr the dimension, dividers can be used along with a steel rule. To made an accurate saw cut, the wood is chiseled away up to the knife cut on the waste side. This provides a "groove for the saw to sit in.

[Nightjar]

On 06/05/2014 17:27, harryagain wrote: ...

That will give the joiner who has a factory unit next to one of mine a good laugh.

Colin Bignell

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A Stanley knife? Not so. A proper marking knife has a smooth side to bear up against the straight edge, the bevel to provide the sharp edge on one side only.

[Brian Gaff]

Why reinvent the wheel? I have a talking tape measure here if that is any good? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Actually Lasers are getting to be quite a problem near airports of late. I'd say one gets reported each week at least, though there could be more, I do not listen all night! Brian

[MM]

I use a traditional steel rule and sharpened pencil for marking off wood, but I did wonder whether there isn't a modern replacement for ruler and pencil?

For example, a "measuring rod" like a giant vernier than one sets to the required length, then marks the cut line with a laser beam.

Any ideas?

Had a quick Google, but nothing jumped out.

MM

[pcb1962]

There's an improvement on the rule that I cam across recently. This one has 0.5mm holes every 0.25mm (not all in one line obviously!) making accurate marking much less hit and miss for those of us without perfect eyesight:

(or if that link breaks)

There are some variations too, including this one that allows marking round 2 sides of a corner

[John Rumm]

It must be nice to live in such a black and white world...

Marking knives usually only have a bevel on one side, so you can mark right against the rule...

A normal knife will work, but you need to take care to tilt it so that the bevel on the rule side is vertical

and for those working in this century, to make an accurate saw cut: use a ruler to set the fence to blade edge distance, and then whack it through the saw - no need to mark the wood at all. ;-)

(however as a technique for hand work, its good practice. Check out how Paul Sellers uses "knife walls" in most of his work if you really want to see and expert at work with hand tools:

[Andy Burns]

If you're using e.g. a chop-saw with a well adjusted laser marker, a pencil line works very well as a target for the laser light which can sometimes get washed out by bright daylight.

[harryagain]

Do you know the difference between a joiner and a carpenter?

[Vidcapper]

Or one that just cuts it with a laser beam - that'd be cool. :)

(Yes, I do know this was a repost)

[Norman Wells]

Wouldn't it actually be rather hot?

[Nightjar]

Yes. Do you, without referring to Wikipedia?

Colin Bignell

[meow2222]

Die grinder cant cut the welds?

Re ink availability, you can always get printer's ink, if you can get it into the inking container.

NT

[dennis]

You can always glue a pencil to a tape, and cut the offset from the end if you can't do the maths in your head.

[fred]

Been using those for years. Beware that it uses a thinner than normal propelling pencil lead. They are very accurate and useful

[David D S]

Whatever turns you on, Norman...

[dennis]

They are a bit precise for wood working, if you breath in the same room wood will move that much.

A bit like me using a digital vernier gauge on wood (which I do as I can see the digits).