Old timer taught me a trick about scribing cabinets I still use today

I was on a kitchen job last spring up in Portland and this 70 year old finish carpenter walked over while I was fighting with a scribe tool. He just watched for a minute then said "you're working too hard, kid" and pulled out a simple pencil and a piece of cardboard. He showed me how to hold the pencil at an angle and use the cardboard as a spacer to mark the gap in one pass instead of messing around with compasses. Saved me like 20 minutes per cabinet after that. Has anyone else picked up a simple trick from an old timer that made you feel kind of dumb?

2 comments

2 Comments

davis.noah10d ago

Buddy of mine runs a framing crew and he told me about this old concrete guy who showed him a trick for setting anchor bolts. Instead of measuring and marking each one, the guy would cut a scrap 2x4 to the right length and use it as a gauge. Just set the board down, drop the bolt in, done. Saved him hours on a slab job. He still uses that same piece of wood ten years later, says it's got coffee stains and concrete dust ground into it like a trophy.

king.stella10d ago

My granddad had a similar trick with a busted tape measure he kept in his truck for setting post holes. He'd snap it off at 3 feet and just lay it next to the auger every time. Thing was held together with duct tape and looked like a dog chewed it, but he swore by it.