find center of board

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:15 pm

Another link that offers several options for center finding rules or tape measures.

http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/search ... ng%20ruler

forrestb · Post by **forrestb** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:16 pm

I have one of these for years. don't know if they sell anymore but there was one on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bulls-Eye-Cente ... 0828468187

Forrest

oldc6 · Post by **oldc6** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 9:36 pm

Forrestb has what i was trying to think of. Somewhere i have seen a plan to make one like that. You set it on the board and twist so the pins touch each side of board. Then the middle pin will be in the center and make your mark.

Thanks for all the replies......................

joedw00 · Post by **joedw00** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:14 pm

Is this what you are looking for.Board Center Finder It looks pretty simple. I might make one of those.

forrestb · Post by **forrestb** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 10:58 pm

Simple to make but I think that I would make one for narrow and one for wide boards.

And instead of measuring and using a hand drill, I would make the center hole first (on a drill press - or, even on a SS!) and put a dowel in it. Make a jig board that holds that dowel and allows you to rotate the board about the dowel to make the end drills. That way you don't have to worry about measuring accuracy since the outer holes will necessarily be the same distance from the center.

Forrest

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:59 pm

Actually you can get pretty close to the center by eye. Look and practice and soon you will get to the point you can spot the center just by looking at it, well close enough for a lot of things.

About fractions..... some of you are making it way harder then it is.
half of 17/32 = 17/64
half of 13/16 = 13/32
half of 7/8 = 7/16
half of 23/32 = 23/64
are you noticing a pattern here? Finding half is a no brainier up to an inch, even beyond is quite do able for most people.

In addition to my 12" and 18" center finding rules I have a tape measure that is good for up to 25'.

[ATTACH]19692[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]19693[/ATTACH]

If you have a point-2-point it will also work to find a center.

[ATTACH]19694[/ATTACH]

And then you can always use a ruler like shown. In this case the zero is on one edge and the 4" mark is on the other edge, the center will be at 2"....

[ATTACH]19695[/ATTACH]

More ways then you can throw a stick at eh?

Ed

joedw00 · Post by **joedw00** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:56 am

reible wrote: And then you can always use a ruler like shown. In this case the zero is on one edge and the 4" mark is on the other edge, the center will be at 2"....

[ATTACH]19695[/ATTACH]

Ed

I had forgot about this one.

saminmn · Post by **saminmn** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:30 am

forrestb wrote:Simple to make but I think that I would make one for narrow and one for wide boards.

And instead of measuring and using a hand drill, I would make the center hole first (on a drill press - or, even on a SS!) and put a dowel in it. Make a jig board that holds that dowel and allows you to rotate the board about the dowel to make the end drills. That way you don't have to worry about measuring accuracy since the outer holes will necessarily be the same distance from the center.

Forrest

Yea, I was thinking the same thing. A scrap with 2 holes swinging around a center hole/peg seems a lot more reliable than measuring several sets of holes

forrestb · Post by **forrestb** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:03 pm

Thought I would try to make a couple of center finders ala the Eagle design. A couple of hours later a wide and a narrow finder. Haven't decided yet how to finish them.

I found that one wrap of tape around the pencil held it tight enough to mark yet loose enough to pull out and sharpen. I think next time I will use a thicker board to better align the pencil vertically. And a round pencil would be great, but had none in the shop.

Forrest

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:26 pm

forrestb wrote:Thought I would try to make a couple of center finders ala the Eagle design. A couple of hours later a wide and a narrow finder. Haven't decided yet how to finish them.

I found that one wrap of tape around the pencil held it tight enough to mark yet loose enough to pull out and sharpen. I think next time I will use a thicker board to better align the pencil vertically. And a round pencil would be great, but had none in the shop.

Forrest

I need to make 3 or 4 of these. I have seen them before both homemade and commercial and thought they would be very useful. What I had not seen before was your tip about drilling the center hole first for a pivot to avoid any measuring to get the end holes right. The actual distance only needs to be somewhat close as long as they are exactly the same... Thanks. I like to tell myself that I would have thought of that on my own but I would probably be lying to myself...

.

Shopsmith Forums

find center of board

bulls eye center finder

we have a winner

that's it

while waiting for wood to dry...