Online Tips Index / Layout / Layout Tool
Layout Tool
The idea for this layout tool came up as the Woodsmith shop
foreman, Steve Curtis, was preparing to install a plywood back in a cabinet.
The plans called for a large number of woodscrews to be placed evenly around
the edge of the plywood. That was a lot of screws to lay out, so Steve
decided to make the job easier.
To mark all the screw holes the same distance in from the edge of the plywood back, he mounted a ruler on a piece of scrap wood, see photo. This eliminated the need for a tape measure.
First, Steve cut the piece of scrap 3½″ wide and to match the length of his ruler (12″). Then he cut a shallow rabbet along one edge to hold the rule in position.
But Steve cut the width of the rabbet narrower than his rule. That way, it overhung the edge of the scrap. And the amount of overhang equaled the inset he wanted for the position of the screw holes.
After we saw Steve's clever lay-out tool, we though it could be made even more useful by cutting a rabbet on the other three edges of the tool, too, see photo. This way, the tool can be used to lay out screw holes that require different inset.
