Drawing up and marking out

[Derek Cohen]

The topic was raised elsewhere about the desirability of an Incra T-rule (the one with the million little holes to guide a 0.2 pencil - link below). I looked at this square and recalled that I've had one of these on my shelf for over 10 years, and that I had used it once or twice only ever. It looks a great idea, but in practice is too fiddly for me.


It occurred to me that perhaps I look at drawing differently to others, and so I thought that I would throw this out here for viewpoints ...


In practice, also, I do not use a scale to measure much (after drawing up to life scale, which acts as a story board). Usually, I transfer dimensions with a divider, and then run them off with a cutting gauge - which is why I have so many gauges (I'm sticking to that story! ).


Here is my current project, an apothecary chest - making a template for laying out the vertical and horizontal dividers. The apothecary chest is complicated by having a curved front ...








This is the curved front (but not the template, which was made with a trammel to achieve a true curve) ...





Each one of these points was marked with two dividers (no rulers) ...





I draw onto 6mm MDF sheets. It is cheapish, and it durable - It will take being scraped if needed (to remove marks), a divider can leave pin marks (to which to draw), and a cutting gauge will leave clean lines. Later, the templates may be stored for another day.


Regards from Perth


Derek

Edit for Link: https://www.incra.com/measuring_marking-trules.html

[Frederick Skelly]

I often build mockups in inexpensive materials to practice a technique, see proportions or work out a detail. I usually transfer measurements from drawing to mockup with a rule - and then do it again with the "real" project. I hadnt thought of using dividers. I should have.

Derek, am I following your design correctly? Are you going to make a curved front on all 24 of those drawers? That sounds like quite an undertaking. I'd very much like to learn your approach to doing that that consistently and efficiently. I'm sure to learn something new!

Fred

[Derek Cohen]

Are you going to make a curved front on all 24 of those drawers?

Yes. It seemed a good idea at the time

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Matt Lau]

This might be a bit presumptive of me to say, but---@#$%, I love Australians!

I look forward to seeing your work.
Also, I admire your can-do attitude, resourcefulness, and attention to detail.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Matt

Regards from Crazy Derek

[Andrey Kharitonkin]

I use Incra T-rule a lot, 150 mm version. Bigger 300 mm for big distances is more tricky to use.

Mainly to mark out a cross where to drill a hole, sometimes to draw guides on parts to align other parts. In both cases pencil line is removed later on by smoothing with a plane before assembly. But I also suspect that I use pencil more often than I should...

And I use Metric system, perhaps that can play a difference too here. "Metric" person tends to measure more, I think. That is what I grew up with and it also feels more "detailed" to me or more fine grained, compared to inch or 1/4" or 1/8" or 1/16" graduation. Final dimensions are usually not as planned, but I tend to make them close millimeters or half of it (like 1/32" but decimal). Somehow, when I see finished things on youtube or in woodworking magazines that were planned in Imerial, they seems to me subjectively "chunky" and less elegant sometimes. (Also for copying classical furniture metric plans I find more useful). Easier to comprehend if one likes to calculate and measure, of course.

And I use SketchUp to model and see how it looks for every project. I can only transfer numbers and have to measure with something. I learned to use story sticks or story boards or templates too, but mostly when making multiples.

I haven't built so many beautiful things as Derek and a have lot to learn still... but since the question was who would use T-rule, I think that beginners like myself would.

[James Pallas]

I tend to use story poles. I will use a rule to do the story or one leg and one horizontal element. When those are done I use dividers or an adjustable square to take off and transfer to other elements. It has been a very long time since I felt that I would need plans or drawings to repeat something that I have made before. If I involve a ruler or tape that old adage of measure twice cut once hangs me up something terrible. I get like a broken record I keep checking again and again and again and again. See what I mean it's awful.
Jim