Shop-Made Tools

Shopmade Saddle Square (cherry)

(useful for transferring measurement marks from one face of wood stock to another face - can be made easily to the dimensions you need and save the $10-$15 for a commercially made saddle square - cut the ends after glueing and clamping so that you're sure they're square)

Shopmade Inside Measurement Tool

(very useful for making precise inside measurements where access with a ruler or tape is difficult - this one is about 17" long and has a slide the same length for coverage to 34" plus an extra-long slide for large dimension ... I plan to make one about 9" long to cover the range from 9" to 18".  Long dado in red oak, cut the piece in two and glue the two sides of the square hole together, chamfer the corners for easy handling, plane the slide to fit, and add a knurled knob on a pointed machine screw through a threaded insert to lock the slide in place)

In use to measure the width of my Kreg drawer:

In use to measure the height of a shop window - use it a lot for precise installation of window casing actually (not on this window obviously!)

Center Marking Tools (padauk scraps)

Easy to make and quite useful for marking the centerline of stock - just make sure that the hole for the pencil lead is EXACTLY half-way between the two dowel pins or pegs

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