"Nick Bozovich" wrote in message
...
|
| What does everyone else use?

For an inch or less, vernier calipers. For 1-24 inches, a steel rule. For
24 inches or more, a Stanley tape measure. I own several tapes, but I tend
to use the same one for any particular project. And I tend to intentionally
err on the side of leaving material so that I can deal with long cuts
instead of short cuts.

When I can, I "cut to fit," meaning I build the project on the bench and
just concentrate on making it square/flush without paying a lot of attention
to exact measures according to the tape. I'd much rather scribe the actual
piece in place than to measure where it's supposed to go and then measure
the stock. That's two measurements that both have to go right.

But at work I have to deal with metal and plastic, and we farm out parts of
the designs to fab shops and do the rest of the fabrication in house. You
need to work off actual measurements in that case. If I specify in a
drawing a feature with a thickness of 0.500 inch and it comes back from the
fab subcontractor as 0.501 or 0.498 inch, there'll be a phone call. And so
I have to make sure we both have tools that will tell the actual dimension
so I don't embarrass myself in that phone call. He and I have to be on the
same page.

At home, in the shop, is where I get to cut to fit. The organ-builders I
know use story sticks for their standard windchests.

--Jay