Marking & Measuring

There are several hand tools that are used in basic carpentry to measure and mark your material for cutting and/or assembly. This article will discuss each tool and when and how it is used.

The tool most of us are familiar with is the standard tape measure. This is used to measure a range of distances. Tape measures can be purchased to measure various lengths up to 50 feet.

The key to being able to read a tape measure is learning and understanding all the subdivisions of an inch. Each inch is divided into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths (If math class was too many years ago or you're over 40 and those little lines tend to blur into each other look for some of the newer tape measures that indicate the different fractions for you right on the tape). In addition to feet and inches, a tape measure also has special marks at 16 inch intervals to indicate the layout of most floor joists. The end hook always appears to be loose and this is intentional. It's designed to slide a distance equal to its own thickness so both inside and outside measurements will be accurate.

Once you have made your measurement there are several ways to mark the cut line. When marking material or distances less than 12 inches (i.e. across a 2 x 4) you can use a speed square. This handy tool can be used to mark straight and square lines. It can also be used as a protractor to mark angled cuts. Speed Squares come in both 6 inch and 12 inch sizes. The speed square also has many other uses that are beyond the scope of this article.

For marking measurements over long distances on things such as plywood, roofing, flooring or walls, you will want to use a chalk line. This is essentially a string that is covered in chalk that is pulled taut between two marks and "snapped". The chalk marks a straight line between the two points.

To learn these and other basic carpentry skills come to
Workshop for Women
47 W Alameda Ave
Denver, CO 80223
www.workshopforwomen.com