Introduction: Tracing Long Crooked Lines Made Easy

By www.facebook.com/jared.thornburg
About: Husband, Father, Mechanical Engineer. Why pay anyone to do something you can do for yourself.

This Instructable shares how I transcribed the crooked profile of my ceiling onto a beam for little to no cost.

Supplies

  1. Pencil - ( you could also substitute a marker, crayon, colored pencil, mechanical pencil, pen, quill, awl, you get the idea )
  2. Tape - ( I recommend using electrical tape )

Step 1: Accept the Fact You Did a Bad Job

My dad once told me that the difference between a good Carpenter and a bad Carpenter is how well they hide their mistakes. Most of us don't have the quality tools we would like and manage the best we can.

Step 2: Measure Your Error

I like my little digital calipers for measurements like these. Find the largest gap or error.

Step 3: Wrap Your Pencil With Tape

Keep wrapping until the distance from the center of your pencil to the edge of the tape matches the gap of your largest error. I used 2" masking tape which was a mistake. Wrap it tight with a higher density tape. Next time I plan to use electrical at both ends of the pencil. Like two wheels and an axle.

I've seen others use a fender washer to accomplish the same task. But as I sorted thru my bin of washers I couldn't find one with the right width. (OD-ID)/2

Good luck hiding your mistakes.