On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:01:37 -0400, Robert Green wrote:
I'd make a template out of two slats from old window shades or other long,
thin pieces of wood and a binder clip. Hold them together, extend them till
they both touch and then clip in place. From what I see of old timers
working, they'll make a template as often as they'll make measurements for a
lot of "cut in place" sort of things.

Yeah, it's good advice. For any home project my time often seems to be
about evenly split between making the actual item and making
templates/jigs/tools to make the final thing better...

In the Paleozoic era, when people
still used linoleum, I remember seeing a pro make a paper template with
two sticks and a square so fast I was "floored." g

Ha, I did that in our bathroom as a temporary floor until we get around
to tiling it (and/or relocating the bathroom and turning that one into a
rear hallway / cloakroom*) - anything was better than the green carpet the
previous owners had!

* feature-creep is great. :-)

cheers

Jules