The popular DIY website, Instructables, recently posted a great little article about measuring and marking. Just like Santa makes his list, and checks it twice – we also measure and mark, and check it at LEAST twice.
From Instructables.com
Measuring is the first step in wood-working. The second step is to make a mark on the measured point. The combination of the two processes—measuring and marking—forms the foundation of accurate work. If either is done incorrectly, much effort and material are wasted. Here are a few pointers that can improve the quality of your work by reducing the chance for error.
So here are the essential tools!
A wood folding ruler, a tape measure and a few steel bench rulers (6 in., 12 in. and 24 in.) meet most measuring needs (Photo 1). To mark from any one of these rulers, use a sharp 2H pencil, the best general marking device for woodworking. These pencils have a medium-hard lead and when properly sharpened leave a fine line that’s readily visible on most surfaces. When marking a line with a ruler, be sure to hold the pencil at an angle so that its point meets the workpiece at the same place the ruler does (Photo 2, left pencil). Holding the pencil perpendicular to the work surface results in the center of the pencil point being inaccurately positioned.
