# I Now Know How to Make a Center Line Marking JiG!



## NedG (Jan 24, 2012)

... with a little help from you guys. Thanks for your responses!

After several attempts of making a pencil-marking center line jig (like what's needed for marking the centers of mortises and tenons), I posted yesterday a request for help. Thanks for those that responded! With their help, I figured out the secrets for making a center line marking pencil jig, and here they are:

Use only a round pencil; a hexagon sided pencil can not be held in place (centered) properly.

A 3/4" think piece of wood for a jig is not deep enough; 3/4" will not hold a pencil in place; the round pencil needs at least about 1 1/2" to 2" of hole depth to hold it steady and centered; I used a 3/4" board (about 7" x 3" x 3/4" with a 2" x 2" x 2" cube glued on top, and the pencil is therefor held in place by a 2 3/4" deep hole. This does in deed hold the pencil securely and centered.

The accuracy trick is to center the pencil hole right on the center line between the two pegs. Not an easy task. Tt may well take more than one effort. To get it right, glue in place the two pegs. Remove the scale from a combination square and place it diagonally between the pegs, one way then the other, to produce a "X" between the pegs. Did you follow that? This "X" will be on the center line of the two pegs and half way between the two pegs. Drill you pencil hole there. I drilled a hole in the 3/4" wood and the 2" cube separately, then inserted a pencil thru them both to line them up and then glued them together.

So this is how I did it, and it works well. Give it a try.

Thanks again for the help. You know who you are.

Ned


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