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Tips & Techniques

Snapping diagonal chalklines

Issue 97

If you’ve ever tried to snap a diagonal chalkline across a piece of plywood, you know how frustrating it can be. Past a certain angle, the line’s hook just won’t hang onto the edge of the plywood. The drawing above shows how I deal with the problem. I use a utility knife to make a small nick in the edge of the plywood. Then I slip the string into the resulting slot. Now the string hangs on while I snap my line.

Phillip Carpendale, Nelson, None

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