21 Feb 2014 – Triangle Marking
“Triangle Marking” Efficient Way to Keep Track of Parts.
If you’ve ever had everything laid out perfectly only to lose track of that perfect alignment when you started working on the pieces, or even worse, you cut all the pieces perfectly until you set them back up and one piece is cut backward, then you understand the need for a reliable and easy marking system. As you improve your skills and start building more complicated projects the opportunities to mix-up pieces increase. Without a system to identify and orient all the parts to a project mistakes are bound to happen. To avoid these potential problems, I use a cabinet-makers’ triangle. There are many options for marking, and I’ve tried many of them. For me the simple triangle gives all the information I need to place and orient every part. Regardless of how complicated the project, the triangle is the simplest way to keep track of all the parts. Here’s how it works. Gang up the parts oriented properly and face up, then draw a triangle over the top of all of them with the base at the bottom and the point at the top. Fine Woodworking has an excellent article on this by Michael Pekovich in the Sep/Oct 2013 edition. If you are an online member you can get the article from Finewoodworking.com Good marking also helps with consistent joinery. When cutting joinery referencing from the marked face ensures a more consistent fit. Finally, when all the pieces are marked well, it makes glue-up less complicated and faster.