8408 Center Finder

Sometimes, the simplest, most inexpensive little tool can make the biggest impact. Never had one before, always measured center with a ruler. But this is a quick, fail-safe way to find center on boards. Used it to make a shelving unit, made life so much easier. Decent quality with a magnet on the bottom so it can be put on the site of a toolbox for quick access. Best fed dollars I have ever spent.

This works well as intended, easily scribing a line down the center of the thickness of a board; perfect for centering dowel pins. I practiced a bit with the offset measuring feature, and that also works as intended. I got this tool on sale for about $5, so I'm quite pleased with it.

First, this is a functional tool. I was disappointed that none of my mechanical pencil would fit. Only wooden pencils. Ok, that works, but it did not bring me joy. It’s about a solid 1/16 to 1/8 inch away from joy. I may be doing some mods, but it would be awesome if it had come with some limited adjustability.

This little center finder makes marking project centers simple. Just align using the various pre-set indicator lines or sharp point to precisely scribe. It's brightly colored so you won't misplace it and has strong magnets to affix to work. The easy turn knobs let you quickly adjust horizontal and vertical offsets to account for router bit widths. I use this constantly for initial layout of all my woodworking projects. Saves a ton of geometry calculations. Takes the guesswork out of centering and accurately aligning project spine lines.

The concept is clever and useful. There are some design flaws however that need to be addressed. Foremost is the opening to install the marking pencil. Even the included pencil is to large for the opening. The second flaw is the total width. If it were made just a little wider, one could also use it for marking the center of a 3 1/2" 2x4. As it is, it is only good for the narrow edge of a board. One other fact to be aware of is that it will not mark to the end of the board. As soon as one end of the center finder reaches the end of a board, it has no way to stay on center. That leaves a few inches at each end of the board unmarked. Also, it is only good for perfectly smooth boards. Any bumps, planer snipe, defects, etc., will move it off center.

Sold construction. Great little thing to have around for sure. I can’t wait till they figure out how to sneak a sharpener in there but it’s very compact so I couldn’t imagine how they could boy would that be a killer feature.

Does the job

Herramienta fácil de usar sencilla en su construcción pero te ayuda muchísimo para marcar líneas que queden completamente centradas en los listones de madera que utilizo para mis trabajos además también tiene una función para medir la altura que funciona súper bien. El soporte magnético que tiene uno de sus patitas te ayuda a dejarlo en una superficie metálica y que no se te pierda. La única pega que le encuentro es que el hueco debería de poder aceptar diferentes tipos de grosores de lápiz y lapiceros como algún tipo de adaptador.

Super

Good product

Herramienta muy útil para trazar el centro de las tablas, ahorras tiempo en ello. Solo pondría un lápiz de punta más dura.

Useful

genial einfache und stabile Konstruktion; Gut ist auch die Magnethalterung zum Aufbewahren !