Incra, how did I live without you?

Secrets, tips, tools, design considerations, materials, the "science" behind it all, and other topics related to building the cars and semi-trucks.
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Vitamin K
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Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by Vitamin K »

Grabbed one of these off of Amazon. Used it last night to help the kids mark axle holes.

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Oh my goodness, this thing is a dream. Makes marking itty bitty measurements a cakewalk. If you are working on small things (like Pinewood Derby cars), I'm gonna say that you need one of these.

Basically, it has all of these little slots that you can put a 0.5mm mechanical pencil tip into and make your marks without squinting or straining. So much easier. Especially for my kids.
Last edited by Vitamin K on Wed Nov 19, 2014 9:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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FatSebastian
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by FatSebastian »

Vitamin K wrote:Oh my goodness, this thing is a dream.
They can come in very handy. We picked up a "Tiny T" a few years ago after a recommendation by pwrd by tungsten. Yes, one needs a 0.5 mm pencil lead to fit through the holes - IIRC our 0.7 mm pencil didn't work very well!
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by Noskills »

Might need this as I refuse to get reading glasses. (Yet)
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birddog
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by birddog »

I've owned one of these for close to 15 years now. Love it. It gets tons of use. We lay out all our PWD cars with it.

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gpraceman
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by gpraceman »

I've got a 12" one that I use quite often.
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Noskills
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by Noskills »

Just bought one on Amazon. Thanks DT!
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

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Just came it the mail....I want to rush home and mark out some axle holes!
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by Topspin.D »

I have one of these... it's one of my favorite tools in my workshop. We've used it for years to mark out PWD cars.
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davet
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

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That looks like a tool I "need". How far up off bottom of car are you drilling the hole for canted axle?
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Vitamin K
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by Vitamin K »

davet wrote:That looks like a tool I "need". How far up off bottom of car are you drilling the hole for canted axle?
I put the middle of my axle holes 1/8th of an inch up. I drill the raised axle hole at 3/16" (and then put some negative camber on the axle to give it a little more lift.) That's just me, though, and not any sort of 'recipe for success' :)
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by MaxV »

Some of you may not have seen this review of one of the Incra Rules that was ran back in 2009.

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http://www.maximum-velocity.com/pinewoo ... imes-v9i4/
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

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MaxV wrote:Some of you may not have seen this review of one of the Incra Rules that was ran back in 2009.

Image

http://www.maximum-velocity.com/pinewoo ... imes-v9i4/
That's a must have tool for sure. I remember I misplaced mine once and nearly tore the shop apart mumbling "my precious".
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Re: Incra, how did I live without you?

Post by ah8tk »

The first time I saw the Incra Rule was at a woodworking show (probably 15+ years back). There was a good looking woman giving guys a chance to measure out, using a tape measure and a well-used carpenters pencil, a very accurate measurement. She would use the Incra Rule and show them how off their measurement was. I was there with a buddy so I took her up on her challenge.

I took the tape measure and the carpenters pencil and found the sharpest point I could find. She wanted me to measure out something like 2 13/16”. I did what anyone who is using a tape measure to measure super accurately I started using the 1” mark as a zero reference and made a perfect mark, testing with the Incra Rule. She thought she could still one up me so she asked for a 4 25/32” mark. Most tape measures only measure to 1/16” so I made a slight guess and she tested using the Incra. The measurement was right on, she told me I probably did not need these rules.

I saw the use in these rules and bought a set of 3 or 4 of them, I still use them all the time. My buddy also purchased a set. I was just trying to aggravate the carnies trying to sell their wares, at the show.
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