Marking and Layout

Although, I am a furniture-maker, I am interested in what kind of layout techniques you use.

For example, do you use pencils, marking knives, sumisashi, and/or sumitsubo? I've seen both Frank Klausz and Isao Inomoto use pencils with great results.

Do you use layout rods? I'm experimenting with using a trammel with two or three heads on it to mark out my key dimensions. I only need two or three (say, for the drawer stretchers, top and bottom of leg) and the rest are a result of those key lines .

What techniques do you use that are universal and think can be applied to furniture or other woodworking? Since you are making large-scale furniture in a manner of speaking?

Regards,

Robert

Hi Robert,

did you also post this question on the Japanese tools forum? I've been a bit busy of late and have fallen behind on a number of things.

Layout..I use a sumitsubo, string line, and plumb bob to develop reference lines. If I want to be really fussy, i use the sting line and mark from it with a 5mm mech. pencil, and then connect the marks with a good straightedge.

I tend to lay out exclusively with a 5mm mech. pencil, save for my Starret compass, to which I have attached a 3mm mechanical pencil. I find 5mm to be a good combination of hardiness and fineness of line.

Once I have got my layout marks, and checked it (hopefully more than once!), I knife the cross grain sections and use a kama-kebiki marking gage to score lines parallel to grain (not always). For timber frame work, I will also make a story pole, kensao, and develop complex layout full scale on 3mm door skin panels - the gen-sun as it is called. I also use a trammel extensively if i am building furniture with repetitive modules at set distances from one another - the trammel is held at that setting for the duration of the project.

I use MDF extensively for templates.

I know some furniture makers use layout poles, but I don't. There's no reason why not - it's a good idea actually - just not my habit at this point.

I tend to scribble a lot of notes and calculations on sketch pads as well.

Chris,

I did ask the question on the Japanese Tools Forum but haven't been getting any answers there.

I will also be attending your seminar on timber framing at the Shizutani School next month and will no doubt be a thorn in your side asking all kinds of questions. Beware!

Using a story pole doesn't seem required when creating one-off furniture. I like the trammel idea because I find it a bit dangerous holding four legs of a table together and marking across them with a square. If one leg is out of parallel you may get wrong readings on the other three.

The board used to hold the trammel points can act as a crude story pole.

By using a trammel you can lay out some key lines which may not necessarily be marked. For instance you may mark the height of a stetcher but it isn't knifed. Therefore, you could be off the width of a pencil line. What would be knifed is the location of the mortise for example. However, the location of a drawer stretcher is really important. My feeling is that the only really crucial part of furniture layout would be the drawer heights and widths. Evertyhing else in furniture-making has built-in adjustments.

Sorry to digress from the purpose of this forum, I just wanted to stir up some kind of talk and hear what your forum member's views are.

Regards,

Robert Gurney