Two Times Please
Measure twice, cut once.
Last updated February 2019
This Twin Insight is short, sweet, and to the point. It sounds so simple, but why on earth do we never cut it right the first time? There could be multiple reasons why: 1) you need glasses but you keep telling yourself that you can see perfectly fine, 2) you were in a hurry, 3) your tape measure wasn’t exactly straight, 4) you didn’t account for the width of the cutting blade.
First of all, if you can’t see, I don’t think you should be cutting anything because you could lose more than a piece of wood or whatever it is that you’re cutting. Now that we have that cleared away, let’s go more in depth for reasons #2, #3, and #4.
2) You were in a hurry. This is a common occurrence. We as humans rush everything, not just cutting. We cut corners (literally and figuratively), rush to get home from work, rush an assignment because you were procrastinating. We’re all guilty of this, including me. The world we live in is fast-paced and leaves us thinking that we don’t want to get left behind. How do you go about slowing things down in life? Well, I’m not exactly sure, but you should start with your cuts since this is about how we can minimize recutting. Then, progress from there.
#3) Your tape measure wasn’t exactly straight. You ever close one eye, line up the edge of your tape measure with the edge of the wood, and check to make sure the distance between the two are exact? I do it all the time, but still can’t get the tape measure perfectly straight. If your tape measure is slightly crooked, you could be off by 1/16 of an inch or more. Let me give you an example. Say I want to measure 12″ on a piece of plywood. If my tape measure is perfectly straight, what will my true measurement be? 12″, see that wasn’t a hard question. But, what if my tape measure is angled 10 degrees from the perfectly straight line which is at 0 degrees? To solve this, we need to use trigonometry. Ever heard of SOHCAHTOA? We’ll use CAH which is cos = adjacent/hypotenuse so our equation becomes cos10 = a/12. Solving for a, we get 11.81 which is not 12. See, you’re off just a hair every time your tape measure isn’t straight.
#4 You didn’t account for the width of your cutting blade. Each blade has a different thickness. Why? You don’t want it to shatter into tons of pieces after getting hot, right? Right. So, blades or even drill bits have a certain thickness to prevent that. If you’re using a Miter saw and you bring the blade down directly on top of your line, your cut will be short. You want to keep the inside face of your blade on the outside edge of your line. It might be hard to visualize what I’m trying to say, so I took a picture of what I mean.
What did we learn?
- Don’t rush your cuts. Actually, don’t rush anything involving a power tool. It could spell disaster.
- Try to make your tape measure as straight as possible when you’re making a measurement.
- Account for the width of your blade or drill bit.