popularwoodworking.com: Whenever I leave town to teach a woodworking class, I make two stops to pick up a supply of two essential things for project layout. The first stop is the office supply store for a box of Bic .5mm mechanical pencils. Next stop is the “big box home center” for a dozen lumber crayons. The pencils are all for me, I need to be prepared in case someone has a question, and like many woodworkers I can’t discuss details without a pencil in my hand. The lumber crayons are for passing out to students. In the first class I taught, I started scrawling on the wood with mine and the questions started flying: “What is that?” followed by “Where can I get one?”
10 comments:
There is also a time when we need big red letters that say “HEY DUMMY! DON’T MESS THIS UP!”
I really think this is an idea that everyone should take to heart. It never hurts to have a reminder like this. I've never dealt with Lumber Crayons but it seems to me like it's a worthwhile piece of material to have in a shop. I've often been irritated when I can't find the markings I've made on lumber. It's always nice to find little things that could theoretically save you from making huge mistakes later on.
This sounds like such a great idea! I have always done this exact same thing with a chalk roller when doing sewing projects and it always makes my work much less frustrating. I'm not certain, but im pretty sure we don't do this in our shop but i think it would be a good thing to start doing. For one thing there seem to be many time times when maybe three or four different people work on the same project at different times and it would be nice to have a very clear marking system that everyone would understand and that would be challenging to overlook. Also our shop often has multiple projects going on at the same time and I think that would help to differentiate the wood of one project from another. I was talking with Jake and he said often times he had a problem with people accidentally using things that he had pre-cut on a previous day. HIs solution for insuring that didn't happen to some pipe we cut for Rivals was to paint it an obnoxious blue color, but since that wouldn't really work for wood lumber crayons seem like a good solution. The brightly colored crayon would also be helpful in ripping wood when we have to line up the saw blade with a measurement mark we made, especially on things like the panel saw.
Alright, Popular Woodworking. I don't like you and you don't like me but sometimes even you and I agree on how to do our work.
I don't think it matters what you're building [houses, furniture, scenery, or toothpick models] layout is the MOST important aspect of any build. And having a clear and concise method for doing that layout is also, I think, essential. For our scenery work, if your layout is precise your cuts can still be a little off and no real harm done. Aim for a 1/16" and when you're within an 1/8" it'll be great.
To a degree, as April pointed out, non-verbal communication in the shop is also a big deal (or should be). If more people marked their in-progress work more clearly there might not be so many mistaken uses of other peoples' work.
Point to you, Popular Woodworking. This time.
The strategy of keeping the pieces of lumber you are working with labeled is indispensable to me. Whether you use huge red labels or keep things small and annotated in pencil, keeping track of what goes where, what side of the mark to cut on or throw away, and where things line up saves so much time during the process. I am interested in trying out a lumber crayon, because of how easy to use it seems to be. I've always used a carpenter's pencil, but a bright red crayon might be easier for others to see.
So many people mistakenly invert the saying "Measure twice, cut once." I have occasionally done woodwork the "wrong" way the article says, and my projects ALWAYS turn out wrong when I do. However, when you look at your available lumber, spread all the cuts out, and cut everything too big for the project. DR spends a lot of time (a lot) teaching us carpentry people about how the position of the pencil line and the part of the line you need to cut on effect the final product. Also, any project involving crayons is a good one.
It is so hard, to write a comment on an article about a woodworking crayon. I read the article, and I enjoyed it as much as one can enjoy an article about a woodworking crayon. From the article, I have formulated a new opinion about woodworking. One would suspect that would be enough to constitute a comment, but all I've been able to come up with is this: woodworking crayons seem like pretty cool tool.
I don't know what else to say.
Basically, anything marked with a bright red line screams "Look at me, I'm important!" It makes sense then to use a large red lumber crayon to mark any inanimate object you'd like to give that voice too. Be it a piece of lumber or your egotistical classmate's forehead. Having a system of labeling is important, and this article presents one way to do it.
Is this new? Why would somebody NOT be making clear and consistent markings throughout their whole build process? It's especially important to practice this when ,as April mentioned, you are working with multiple people on the same (or multiple) jobs. It provides easy, clear, and quick references to help distinguish between different measurements on the material and even different projects.
This is my techy rant for the week. I agree with Mr. Lang that tiny labels on 1/8" edges of material are maddening. Especially when in our world, the scale of projects is roughly 10 times his, and no one will ever see the backside of it! But in the world of fine woodworking, a practitioner of which I am decidedly not (gave it up when I realized I was a hack), it seems to me Mr. Lang goes a little too far. Woodworking at it's finest is one of the most serene art forms I have been lucky enough to personally partake in and, even better, watch being practiced by a true master. The fact is, when you are as in tune with your medium as you should be to be a true craftsman, markings are not an issue. Remembering which piece goes where and making decisions about grain orientation and color matching are not difficult ones, they come from the material, and they don't require a pencil or crayon or anything else. They are as natural as the material itself.
It's so true what they say that ground work or lay out is the most important part of any project.Cool thing is, I've been quietly using this software for the past 2 months to build my outdoor woodworking projects!http://woodworking.hobbiesandcrafts.net Here's why its so cool: Over 16,000 Woodworking Plans ;With CAD/DWG software to view/edit plans;Step-by-step instructions with photos;High quality blueprints and schematics;Lifetime members area with woodworking video
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