# Scribing thread.



## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

I'd like to hear how you guys solve the very specific problems related to scribing.
I got paid the other day to scribe some baseboard in a custom closet that had a wavy floor. Modern look, so there was no shoe. Had to be tight. I did it, like I always do, but it got me thinking that I'd love to see how other people skin this cat.

So please, if you don't mind, tell me exactly how you scribe.

For this base I just did, I cut the piece to length then laid it in place. Shimmed both ends of the board up to the height of my pencil point. Scribed.
Doing the cutting I always end up doing a "whatever works" combination of table saw to rough cut, then plane/belt sander/router/jigsaw to make it nice.
Another thing I run into is that I lean the wrong way when I'm leaning over a piece making a cut, so I always have to go back and really back cut the piece to get the leading edge to sit on the floor tight.

Is there a Festool ScribeMax or something that I can just leave in the room alone while I go drink coffee in the driveway?


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## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

I just do the same thing.. Set it to height /width, scribe, and then use whatever tool I think will do the best job. Might be a table saw, skilsaw, or jigsaw or sander. But if I really need to get the leading edge tight, I'll hit it with a rasp or a flap disk on a grinder. 
The only thing I've used to speed up the process is different scribing tools. 
Accuscribe for scribes against flat surfaces, compass for irregular. 


Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk


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## tjbnwi (Feb 24, 2009)

Razor or ink scribe. Masking tape on the piece being scribed.

Thing A Ma Jig

http://razorscribe.com

http://thingamejigtools.com

Tom


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Depends on if you want it to go with the flow of the floor or to be level. Level is always easiest because you have a line to scribe to. Going with the flow of the room can be a bit harder, because your start and finish may not meet.

I use the standard $3 scribe you can get at the hardware store. If you are going for level then you shim the boards out and scribe. If you are going with the flow of the room then you just balance it out so it looks like it parallels the floor and scribe to the largest space.

For large material removal I use a jigsaw. If it's a prefinished part I'll use tape on the surface the saw will ride on to prevent scratches. If it's a small material removal I'll use my PC 2 1/2"x14" belt sander. I'll finish the jigsawed edge with the belt sander too.


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## We Fix Houses (Aug 15, 2007)

I don't think I can get too much instruction on this subject. Don't do a lot, but need to be ready. 

Did 2 in the last 6 months. Both only 1 shot at it...

I'm paying attention.


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## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

I own one of these and only break it out for Log work or particularly tough situations.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?c=&p=41144&cat=1

Usually use the compass from a high school math set or just a pencil when I can't find the compass.
I like to masking tape the surface I am marking and typically use a belt sander. Add some back cut and work to the leading edge line on the tape.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Mike.
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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Lee Valley 


Mike.
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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Mike.
_______________


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

I do this a bunch of ways. Most common is a regular compass, assuming a pencil mark is going to be accurate anough. If a pencil mark isn't good enough, I'll use a blade for marking. 

Probably the most difficult scribing situation is replacing an old school simple shelf on cleats in an old under stair storage area with lumpy plaster walls on 3 sides. The existing side cleats stay in place to keep from causing plaster damage.

If it has to be a single board, it will be multiple scribe and cut operations to ease it in place, and the back edge gets scribed top edge and bottom edge, and angle cut from both the top and bottom faces.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

These are always fun.


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## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

bought the SimpleScribe tool a few months ago and waiting for a job to use it on. The LV scribe looks handy.


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

Excellent responses. Thanks, guys.

I love seeing this stuff. 

Leo, what was that for? I once got paid to do something extremely similar for a showroom display. They wanted me to cut out mdf to look like Martian mountains. Came out almost identical to that piece.


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## superseal (Feb 4, 2009)

Check out the profiler+ scribe from Britain...simplistically beautiful.

https://scribe-tool.com/


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Easy Gibson said:


> Excellent responses. Thanks, guys.
> 
> I love seeing this stuff.
> 
> Leo, what was that for? I once got paid to do something extremely similar for a showroom display. They wanted me to cut out mdf to look like Martian mountains. Came out almost identical to that piece.


It was a chimney made out of lots of roundish rocks.


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## Stilla (Sep 23, 2017)

Scribing is a skill learned over time. The more you do it the better you get. Starting level gives you the best results. Holding the scribe Square is going to help you the most.
I can scribe baseboard to a floor where it dies into a flooring nosing. 

I can scribe a cupola apron.

And scribe large sheet material to a sloped slab.

If you are scribbling trim into stone, and it's new construction, your site super sucks.


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## Lettusbee (May 8, 2010)

All you need is this.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=71708&cat=1,42935,42936,71708


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

Stilla said:


> Scribing is a skill learned over time. The more you do it the better you get.


Agreed. I find myself in the position maybe once a year. Twice max.

It always works. I mean, I wouldn't have gotten paid if it didn't, but I'm always left feeling like somebody better could definitely show up, do it 5 times as fast, and look a lot more confident while doing it. 
This last one I did was real weird, had a miter on either end, had to be dead on to go under the drawers of a built in, and over the gap to lap onto the bottom of the piece. No shoe either, so I had to swish it with just the base. The closet guy who hired me to do it is just standing there behind me. "What are you waiting for?" "I'm waiting for you to leave so I can stare at this thing for 20 minutes in peace to make sure I'm not screwing this up. Duh."


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## Jonbuild (Nov 18, 2013)

This coping requires a chainsaw to cope 





















For that I use a Veritas, (as mentioned prior) lot of good information here, I will be getting me some RazorScribes, they look like they would work good,

I also have contour gage I'll use in some situations


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## TheConstruct (Dec 8, 2017)

Accuscribe when I can find it or a block of wood, on flat surfaces. Stone and irregular surfaces are much more of a challange. I've had varying levels of success using a compass when I've needed to. 

Often find myself needing to scribe casing legs in renos that won't fit as doors are often too close to the corner.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Always fun to scribe large beams.


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## Jonbuild (Nov 18, 2013)

Lettusbee said:


> All you need is this.
> http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=71708&cat=1,42935,42936,71708


Dang that's one hell of a setup!!


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Leo G said:


> Always fun to scribe large beams.


Yup.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Not exactly what I meant. :jester:


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

I knew dat.


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## asevereid (Jan 30, 2012)

So , I don't have a good scribe come up very often (aside from the inevitable baseboard to cabinet scribe)... So I can't offer a lot for tips. 
But these two were fun... Cabinet bottoms for undermount lighting. 
The transformer and wire were already in place and I just had to drill out the holes for the lights, and place the bottom back on. Except they were against a stone wall. 
I used Jack Clamps to put the bottoms in position, proud of the face of the stone, keeping the thickness of the front rail in mind, plus the gap from the wall. The scribe was done with a Staedler compass and a 2h lead. The cut was done with a jigsaw and a down cut blade. Touched up with files and rasps. 
It didn't come out "perfect", but the fit was good. 
Only had these two pieces, so they were going in no matter what. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7cU3rGpBX51in4Sv1


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## Joe Wood (Sep 20, 2005)

I used to inlay a flat rock in to a lot of my decks, this one was in 1996 using the original Trex, I forget how I did it but it must have been fun!


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

That deck looks remarkably at home in 2017 for being over 20 years old. Nice design work, man. 
Ocean view is kind of cheating, but I'd use it if it were offered to me too.


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## Joe Wood (Sep 20, 2005)

Oh that pic is probably 15 years old, the trex did deteriorate after 10 years or so, you can see it if you look close
https://www.woodsshop.com/DESIGNS/Seaside Deck/SeasideDeck.htm


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Trex doesn't make any of the products they made prior to 2009. 

__________________


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

....









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## Joe Wood (Sep 20, 2005)

Yeah this is it after 12 years, really not that bad considering ..

a bleach solution took care of a lot of it on the steps except for those splotches. 

this was the original stuff, a little fuzzy, there were even wood flakes on the surface  Attached it with DBTs https://www.strongtie.com/deckties_decks/dbt_tie/p/dbt 

that was the most beautiful site I ever got to spend time in


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## Joe Wood (Sep 20, 2005)

...


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

Gotta hand it to the internet. 20 years ago there were a lot fewer ways to see what guys on the CA coast were scribing.


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## Calidecks (Nov 19, 2011)

Mike.
_______________


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

I someday also wish to be able to see the ocean from my hot tub.


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## Joe Wood (Sep 20, 2005)

we can only dream


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## Stilla (Sep 23, 2017)

Joe Wood said:


> we can only dream


Why is the miter in the foreground darker than the material around it?


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## tjbnwi (Feb 24, 2009)

Stilla said:


> Why is the miter in the foreground darker than the material around it?


I think he did pillow joints with inlays. 

Tom


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## Joe Wood (Sep 20, 2005)

We came back years later to do some repair and refinish. Some of the original splined joints had opened up a bit so we just plowed across the joint and inlaid a strip in there.


also replaced the cables, even stainless doesn't hold up right on the ocean!


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