by Steven D. Johnson
Racine, Wisconsin
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A Challenging Fit - A Remodeler's Woodworking Project, Part 2
Click on any picture to see a larger version.
If you watched the first two installments of the
Bathroom Vanity video series
you have already seen how I addressed the fit of the cabinet into a space for which the final measurements were not yet available. That was just the first of several challenges in "fitting."
In the video coming in a couple of weeks you will see how I made a solid wood end panel that emulates the look of a maple and walnut frame and panel door over a walnut face frame. Fitting nine parts together to make a seamless rectangular solid piece was an exercise in precision measuring and marking.
Three tools contributed to the ability to obtain a perfect fit. A Digital Fractional Caliper is indispensable in assuring the grooves in the rails and stiles are dead center (measure each side wall and if they are equal, the groove is in the center) and for measuring the tenons cut in the adjoining pieces. Equally indispensible are a perfectly matched rule and tape measure. Neither one has to be perfect,
but they have to match
. Here is an easy way to make sure they do…
First, hook the end of your tape over the end of the rule, then spot check several dimensions, say 12, 18, and 22-inches. The marks on both the rule and the tape have to be absolutely perfectly aligned.
|
Figure 9 - Hook the tape over the end of the rule and compare measurements
at several points along the length... they have to match
|
Second, clamp a flat board to the bench, push the rule up to that board and push the end of the tape against the board at the same time. Check the readings on both and make sure they match at several different spots along the length.
|
Figure 10 - Push both the rule and tape measure up to a flat surface and
compare readings along the length... again, they must match
|
If the readings don't match, either the tape or rule should be replaced and not be used
together
on any project. My
Woodpeckers 24" Woodworking Rule
and
Starrett Tape Measure
matched up perfectly.
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