35 years of scribing walls with a compass and now I just tape a pencil to a scrap block

Switched after watching a old timer on a job in Charlotte do a whole kitchen in half the time with no gaps, has anyone else found a trick that just makes you feel dumb for not trying it sooner?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicehernandez24d ago

What makes you so sure that old timer wasn't just lucky or working with a forgiving material? Seems like a lot of faith to put in one dude's hack when a compass and steady hand have never failed me, lol.

craig.john24d ago

The old timer in my shop, Frank, he's been doing this 40 years and can tell you the grain direction just by looking at a board from across the room. That trick with marking your start and end points, then checking halfway through, saved me more times than I can count on curly maple. A compass is great but it's just a tool, same as any other, and wood doesn't care about your steady hand when the grain takes a turn. I've seen guys with all the fancy gear still end up with a wavy cut because they trusted the tool more than the wood itself.

emery_black24d ago

Your compass won't help when the wood grain changes direction on you mid-cut...