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I remember an interview with an archeologist that studied the Nazca Lines. She said one year she had a grad student who was a farm boy. He showed her how to draw a long straight line by setting up a stick a 1000 feet away and then just walking towards it while dragging a another stick behind him. It was perfectly straight.

It's basically the same as the old draftsman's trick for drawing a straight line.



What is that trick?


The trick is mark the end of the line and then draw towards it. With practice you can draw eyeball straight lines.


It’s quite accurate, somewhat hard to believe until you try it a few times. Good enough for many layout tasks if you’re drawing a reference line to cut to, for example.

Also works for cutting straight lines with an exacto knife.




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