A simple way to make ovals for doors, doorways, furniture, entrance porticos, ceilings, and more.

Build an eight-sided gazebo with precise post placement using a simple layout template.

Whenever I install door or window casings, I use the jig shown here to make sure that I get an accurate 1/4-in. reveal. It's made of two square pieces of…

Here is a no-math way to lay out an ellipse. It works especially well if you need to draw the curve on the working material. Peter Wells, Glendale, WI Edited…

Accurately reproduce skirtboards for an existing staircase using a technique borrowed from countertop installers.

Seasoned carpenters know that the best way to measure things is not to measure them at all. Instead of using a tape, a protractor, or some other measuring device, simply…

I work alone, so I often have to come up with jigs as extra “hands.” If I find my cabinet-opening diagonals aren’t equal, here’s what I do to square and…

Dividing complicated fractions can be easy if you just tilt your tape measure.

Any piece of mitered trim has two points on its end. The acute angle at the very tip of the workpiece is called the long point; the short point is…

I like the idea of using story poles (or sticks) when I’m building face frames, trimming windows, and making other tedious cuts that require exact dimensions. But the sticks can…

Cutting large curves or compound curves with a high degree of accuracy can be time-consuming. The task typically involves first creating a template that will guide either a jigsaw or…

In his article Inlaying a floor medallion, Charles Peterson showed a technique using double-face foam tape to hold a template in place for routing. I use a similar method to…

While building and trimming staircases, I often run into odd angles that must have mitered trim applied. I find them simply by using a bevel gauge and a piece of…

Engineered joists and rafters, which have a cross section akin to an I-beam, present a wrinkle to the carpenter crosscutting them with a circular saw. Because the plane of the…

An easier way to remove and secure a tape measure.

When making an angled cut across a sheet of plywood or OSB, such as for a valley or a gable-end wall, I used to drive a nail into the sheet,…

Here’s a variation on the common scribing technique of transferring the contours of a wall to the edge of a countertop with a pencil. As shown in the drawing below,…

When I take measurements and then walk to another room to cut material to size, I keep track of my measurements by writing them on my tape measure’s case. The…

I work alone, so I often have to come up with jigs as extra “hands.” If I find my cabinet-opening diagonals aren’t equal, here’s what I do to square and…

The writing instrument shown in the drawing eliminates fumbling around in your tool pouch for a pencil or a lumber crayon and always coming up with the wrong one. It…

This quick jig for picket fences will help ensure consistent height adjustments, even on varying terrains.

The drawing shows the tool I use to align the edge of a window apron with the casing above the sill. I take a scrap of 1x (in this case,…

Learn an easy method for cutting rafters using a small pattern for accurate, efficient cuts.

On straightforward roofs with rectangular shapes, snapping chalklines on the sheathing is easy because chalkline hooks are designed to grab at 90°. When a roof becomes more complicated, with hexagonal…

This handy homemade tool takes the guesswork out of shimming doors and windows.

"Mark your work in place whenever possible" is just one of several tips seasoned carpenter Scott McBride offers in this guide to measuring more efficiently and accurately on the job site.

As do many other carpenters, I hope that the person who invented the triangle square ended up a rich man. In the past 20 years or so, these squares have…

I do plenty of trim work, and I often have to measure from the short point of a miter. I've come up with an easy way to get accurate measurements…

An accurate circle with a diameter less than 14 in. can be drawn quickly with a common framing square. First, draw a straight line longer than your circle's diameter. Mark…