Ran into a retired guy at the lumber yard who showed me a trick with a chalk line

I was picking up some oak boards in Tacoma last week and this older guy saw me struggling to mark a long cut. He walked over, took my chalk line, and snapped it twice about an inch apart. He said, 'That second line gives you a clear lane for your saw blade to ride in, no more wandering.' I've been doing it on every long rip cut since. Anyone else use that double-line trick for straight cuts?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.john12d ago

Wait, you were just buying oak in Tacoma and a random guy walked over to help? That's wild.

jenny_hall11d ago

It's the kind of thing that only happens at a proper lumberyard. The guy just saw me looking lost by the oak boards and started explaining grain patterns. @craig.john, is that sort of helpfulness common where you are? Around here, it's either total silence or a full-on woodworking seminar from a stranger. Makes you wonder how many experts are just hiding in plain sight at hardware stores.

drew_reed6211d ago

That "full-on woodworking seminar from a stranger" happened to me last month with a guy explaining dovetail jigs.