Measure Twice, Cut Once

Measure Twice, Cut Once: Simple Steps to Measure, Scale, Draw and Make the Perfect Cut-Every Time. (Popular Woodworking) This is the most important book in your shop. I finally purchased this book after having checked a copy out of my local library and renewing it time after time after time. This is a vital necessity for anyone with less than Master skills in woodworking and cabinetry. This book is the cheapest yet best tool in your shop.

I confess to being a Jim Tolpin fan. He writes like he enjoys teaching and really wants the reader to understand. This book will have tips helpful to all levels of woodworking experience. While you can find the same topics covered in other books, Tolpin explains things clearly. If you follow his instructions, you can duplicate his results. This book is in my stack to be read again soon to see what I missed the first time through.

This book really surprised me. I was hopeful that it didn't simply tell you how to read a tape measure. And I was right. Just about any experience level will learn something from this book but the person new to woodworking will learn the most. I'm somewhat in between beginner and moderate experience and I was impressed. You learn some really nifty tricks for getting accurate angles, finding bisecting angles, working with arcs and more.You also learn how to lay out a project to save material (and make your work easier).Believe me, you will enjoy reading this book. Well written, informative and lots of clear color photos and other illustrations. No sloppy, halfhearted drawings in this one.

This book bills itself as a course in shop math and measurement. With a few extra chapters, it could be an excellent introduction to woodworking. Tolpin takes us through the entire process from project design and layout to developing a list of materials and cut list. He then introduces a number of layout and marking tools to transfer the measurements accurately to the wood. Next, he talks about a number of cutting techniques, followed by a chapter on preventing and fixing mistakes.The author raises an interesting point: if you can cut the work to the proper size, it doesn't matter if you have a numeric value for the dimension. There are a number of techniques such as story poles and marking devices which do not rely on numeric values, and which can be more accurate than conventional measurements. More common measuring tools are considered as well; he shows that there is more than meets the eye even with the common tape measure.In the section on cutting to the lines, he shows a number of basic techniques on both hand tools and power tools. There is some interesting discussion here about tradeoffs between different tool choices. He also presents some simple jigs, which I am looking forward to building. The jigs here are much simpler than the ones he describes in Table Saw Magic. For a very small book, there is a wealth of information here which will take some time to digest. I heartily recommend the book.

I have not yet completed reading every page of this book, but it won't take me long to do so. I have only been a woodworker for a few years, but I should have read this book on day one. I've made some very common mistakes that could have been avoided had I learned the tips herein early on. VERY insightful and intuitive advice! I especially like the use of simple-to-craft jigs for simple tasks (tasks that take 3-4 times as long if you DON'T have such a jig to use). I'm buying a few copies as gifts for other woodworker friends. I heartily recommend the book.Also - just noticed a Norm Abram book with almost the same name - haven't checked it out yet, but am buying it today to compare.