The Essential Woodworking Toolkit: Marking and measuring
- Andrew
- Aug 29
- 3 min read
The beginning of most projects is marking up and measuring all your components so this seems like a good place to start.
So let’s look at marking and measuring. I’ll let you into a little secret – I don’t really know the measurements of the things I produce. This has been a bit of a problem in the past when trying to sell items online as I need to input their dimensions to these flashy websites and I always try to be truthful as I can but a box that is 328.5mm wide looks a bit insane. I use measuring to help me divide a piece of wood up into its approximate sizes before refining and planning pieces to fit and match each other. This is so I can get the most out of the material I am using without too much waste but the actual measurement isn’t particularly relevant to me – if it looks right it is right. For instance, if I need to divide a board into three and it is and awkward number directly across the board, I will simply measure diagonally to the nearest whole number I can easily divide and mark the piece accordingly. Normally what happens is I have a board that is 227.5mm wide and I need to divide it into 3 pieces, rather than get a calculator out, I angle the tape measure till I get to the easiest whole number to divide into 3 which is normally 9 inches then mark off 3 and 6 inches across the board. The keen eyed among you will have seen I have callously switched from metric to imperial with abandon which I do all the time. I use whatever measurement is easier for the task in hand – they’re just numbers!
There is always an exception to the rule – for instance I had a commission to create a hand carved frame to surround a painted inscription in a converted chapel which had to fit exactly – then I measured, measured and measured again at every point to ensure it would fit as I worked on it in the workshop. But generally in my day to day woodwork however, I use a tape measure or a steel ruler sparingly. That said a good hardwearing tape measure (with both metric and imperial) and a 600mm steel rule are always close at hand should I need them.
For marking I use a pencil for marking at the beginning of the project (breaking stock down into components) and a marking knife for accurate joinery marking. I do have proper fancy marking knives which almost resemble mini chisels but I find them a bit awkward to hold and use. I prefer a long bladed scalpel type knife either a small Stanley folding pocket knife with a long blade or a nice thin Japanese marking knife.
Next for marking you need a good range of marking gauges for quickly marking parallel lines. I use a combination of wooden pin gauges and the metal wheel marking gauges. The pin gauges although tricky to master (as they like to wander and follow the lines of the grain rather than where you actually want them to go) are excellent for marking a clear line to follow especially when marking for rip cuts and I always use a pin marking gauge for ripping boards down. I use the metal wheel marking gauges more for joinery especially for base lines for dovetails or the shoulders of joints. The wheel blade on these acts like a knife makes marking with grain a bit difficult for my middle aged eyes to see but for marking across the grain they are excellent.
Lastly for marking a measuring you need a good square for marking right angles. I use two – a simple 9 inch square (Marples or the like) and a good quality combination square. A combination square is great for right angles and mitres as well as measuring the depth of things like mortices etc. and this is somewhere where the more money you spend on a good make the better as the accuracy of these simple tools can vary wildly.
And that’s it for marking and measuring – there are more tools you can get more methods you can use but for me a pencil, knife, square and tape measure are all I need to get started on a project.
If you want to learn how to use these simple tools and get to grips with other tools on the kit list, then why not book a beginners course and test them out for yourself! Click the button below for more information!
