Marking Materials
Notes and resources for measuring and marking materials.
Last updated
Notes and resources for measuring and marking materials.
Last updated
Even though he's working with a piece of wood, and we wouldn't usually be using a circular saw or table saw, the concepts presented in this short video are a powerful set of techniques for taking measurements and making marks with a speed square:
Pick a side of the sheet to be your straight side.
Make sure to mark it and don't cut away that edge until you have established another viable straight side based off of the first.
Using your speed square, drafting triangles, and ruler, mark a point along your line, close to the straight side if possible.
If the straight side is perpendicular to the line you need to make, use your straight edge and your speed square to draw the line out from the point you marked.
You can use clamps to make keeping things square easier to manage and to secure the straight edge so that both it and the foam will not move while you are making your mark.
If it is not perpendicular, either mark another point along the line or use the same combination of speed square, drafting triangles, ruler, and clamps to get the edge of a straight edge resting against the marked point and at the angle of the eventual line and secured in place.
Make the relevant mark along the straight edge.
If the line needs to be longer than the straight edge can provide for, move the straight edge down the length of the mark you just made till half of it is "sticking out" and is past the end of the current mark, using the existing mark to keep it lined up properly and secure it in place.
Extend the existing mark and repeat this process as many times as necessary.
For anything where exact dimensions are critical, it can never hurt to confirm that things are at the correct angle in as many ways as possible.
Use tape. Masking tape, painters tape, gaffer tape, duct tape, etc., it doesn't matter. Anything that is easy to remove afterwards and provides high contrast is fine. A bonus for some kinds of tape, especially wider masking tape, is that it can also help facilitate marking straight lines, in a pinch.