Five ways to draw circles
Matt runs through the standard ways of drawing circles: compass, bigger compass, beam compass, trammel beam compass, stick, and stick with a notch—before he gets to a groovy little tape measure that makes it easy.
And then he draws a circle with a framing square.
Wait, what?
"This method is limited to the size of the smallest leg of the square, or 14 inches for a framing square" Notes Matt...
Step by step:
- Drive nails at a distance equal to the circumference of the circle.
- Rest the short leg of the square against both nails.
- Put the pencil tip into the square's corner
- Rotate the square around the nails, keeping each leg against a nail until the second leg is in contact with both nails.
- Voilà: a semicircle.
- Repeat.
—Matt Jackson is a master carpenter, remodeler, SketchUp Wiz, YouTuber, and contributing editor to ProTradeCraft. He lives and works in Rapid City, South Dakota.
