Half-Pencil Marks Exact Copies

Family Handyman

Marking Shortcut

While trying to trace an exact copy of the throat plate for my table saw, I came up with this nifty technique using an ordinary pencil. I just shaved my pencil into a half-pencil by carefully grinding it on my belt sander. The flat edge enables my modified pencil to ride straight up along the edge of the template. It also works great for marking and then shaping inlays for my woodworking projects. — Tim Reese

How to cut circles with a band saw.