Is "Measure Twice, Cut Once" Enough?

Most of us who have made things from wood have used the adage, "Measure twice, cut once". Once in a while, I have forgotten and had to redo the work. Most recently, I did measure twice and cut once, and still had to redo the work. (Sat in my 'crying chair')...

That was when I created a new adage that included the building step I missed... be it boats, models, furniture, hanging pictures, whatever.

Here's the four-step process I now use... It's called "4M".

• Measure; using metric, Imperial, or two tick marks on a stick.
• Mark; use a sharp pencil, or if absolute accuracy is needed, I use a small utility knife (pictured below) to make the mark.
• Mock-up; this is the new step I added. Mock-up means put the pieces together as best I can (for example, using tape to hold them together) to make sure that the result will really work. When I was making a folding table for my son, I discovered in the mock-up that the legs would not fold properly. My drawing didn't show the problem. Mock-up saved the day.
• Machine; this is when I finally put drill, or saw, or chisel to wood.

My 'marking' knife

Since using 4M, I use my crying chair much less.