My old way of measuring for drawers was a total mess

For years, I'd just eyeball the space, cut a piece of scrap wood as a story stick, and hope for the best. I once built a whole set of kitchen drawers for a client in Portland where every single one was a slightly different size, maybe by an eighth of an inch. It drove me nuts trying to get the slides to line up. The change came about six months ago when I was helping a friend in his shop and saw him use a simple digital caliper for everything. I bought one for thirty bucks and now I measure the opening in three places, write down the exact numbers, and cut to that. No more guessing, no more 'close enough' gaps. It saves me so much time fixing my own mistakes. What's one small tool that changed your workflow for the better?

2 comments

2 Comments

sammurray8d ago

Oh man, this reminds me of my buddy's disaster. He was putting in shelves and just used his tape measure, but he kept getting the hook caught on different spots. Everything was off by like a sixteenth here and there. He finally got one of those little laser measures on a whim. Tbh, it seemed like a gimmick at first. But now he can get the exact same number every time from the same corner, no wobble. It completely saved him from his own sloppy measuring habits.

wren_rodriguez8d ago

Totally get what you mean about the laser measure seeming like a gimmick! I had the same thought. But that "off by a sixteenth" thing is exactly why they're worth it. It just takes all the guesswork out. My old tape measure habits were terrible too, always pressing the hook in a different way. Now I don't even second guess my numbers.