Popular Woodworking 2009-02 № 174, страница 18

-• The Wood Whisperer ■-

BY MARC SPAGNUOLO

Th row Away You r Tape Measu re

Sometimes it's best to let your project supply the answers.

lou're at work on your latest masterpiece and every thing seems to be going great. After days of planning, measuring and cutting, you are finally ready to do the glue-up. Just as you start putting the pieces together, you come to the painful realization that some parts just don't fit perfectly. Maybe a stile is too short or a panel is too loose.

How could this happen? You followed the plan to the letter! But somehow, for some reason, the fit is less than optimal. Well don't despair my friends. What many folks don't realize is that there is acertain amount of error naturally built into measuring, marking and cutting. That error is something I like to call "being human." And until we can all get a bionic-eye transplant, we have to figure out ways to work around the error.

If we forget about the tape measure and let the work itself dictate the locations and relative part sizes, we are able to build with a level of confidence and accuracy that we previously thought was the stuff of dreams.

A Path to Success

Many people start their woodworkingjourney by following commercial plans. Unfortunately, plans tend to reinforce the misconception that you are supposed to mill a bunch of separate parts ahead of time, and at the final step everything will come together just as planned.

The truth is, furniture parts are not mutually exclusive. At some point in the building process, it is more accurate to take your mea-

^)nline EXTRAS

To watch video of Marc's procedure to transfer and install hinges without the use of a tape measure or steel rule, go to: popularwoodworking.com/feb09

surements directly from the workpiece itself instead of relying on numbers in your plan. So instead of cutting all my parts ahead of time, I cut most of them after some physical restriction exists that dictates what those sizes are supposed to be.

A simple example would be a bookcase. If you cut all the parts ahead of time, there is a very good possibility that your shelves will either be too long or too short. The depth of the shelf dados, the width of the back panel and the thickness of the side stock are all variables that may change the actual dimensions of the shelves. So it is critical that you do a dry fit before cutting the shelf stock, and take the shelf measurement directly from the work-piece itself.

Tools from Scraps

One of the most eye-opening moments in my woodworking career occurred when 1

learned how to make and use a story stick. A story stick is nothing more than a piece of scrap wood used for marking physical "events" in a project.

Here's an example that illustrates this concept: Several years ago, 1 was commissioned to build a large entertainment center facade in front ofa set of decorative dry wall display cubbies. The challenge was accurately marking the locations of the many vertical and horizontal dividers. Of course, none of these compartments was evenly spaced and the dividers between them were all different widths.

To make matters worse, the jobsite was two hours from my shop, and I had only one opportunity to take measurements. There was no room for error.

I could have used a tape measure, but that would have been incredibly tedious. With so many measurements to take and record, I am sure I would have made a mistake somewhere.

28 ■ Popular Woodworking February 2009