Old timer showed me a trick with a pencil and a pack of gum

Back in 2009 I was doing trim in a house outside Austin. Old cabinet guy, must've been 70, watched me struggle fitting a scribe for like 10 minutes. He didn't say anything, just walked over, grabbed a #2 pencil, and marked the back of the piece by dragging it along the wall. Then he popped a piece of gum in his mouth and said, "The wall ain't straight, so your cut shouldn't be either." That one line stuck with me more than any class I took. Still scribe that way today. Anyone else have a moment like that where a stranger just dropped some knowledge on you mid-job?

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ninas673d ago

My uncle showed me that same trick back in 03 but with a sharpie and a piece of chewed up Big Red, said the gum keeps your hands busy while your brain does the math. I still think about that every time I grab a pencil on a job.