Equipment

What a mortise gauge marks A mortise gauge marks two parallel lines at once: the edges of the mortise on […]

The metal tab at the end of a tape measure is supposed to move. That small amount of play is

A marking knife should sever fibres cleanly, not pry them apart. Splitting usually comes from pushing too hard, using the

Repeated notches are easy to lay out badly. A small error in one measurement becomes obvious when the parts are

A framing square is a quick way to check whether a timber assembly has 90-degree corners. It is useful for

A steel rule slips for two common reasons: the work surface is slick or dusty, or the rule is being

A sliding bevel is one of the simplest ways to mark a mitre angle, and it is more useful than

Scribing timber to a wavy wall means transferring the wall’s actual shape onto the timber, then removing only the waste.

What a door reveal is A door reveal is the visible gap between the edge of a door and its

Rough-sawn timber makes a sharp pencil line look fuzzy. The surface is uneven, so the pencil skips over hollows, catches