A while back I made a center-finder to work on a few large projects. The body of that tool is about 11" long. It was designed for a range of workpiece widths. Realizing that most of my work now involves narrow workpieces, I made a smaller tool, as you can see here.
To make it, start with a hardwood blank cut to final size. Before cutting it to shape, I drilled the holes for the pencil and aluminum rods. Careful layout work ensures the three holes are in alignment. The pencil hole must also be centered between the pair of holes for the rods. Then you can cut the body to shape. I cut the aluminum pins to length and secured them in the holes with epoxy. The pencil is held in place with a screw eye.
