Make:

• Craftsman tool Halloween ad
• Painting assistants
• Prototype This - Joe'sTool kit... Oscilloscope
• Typewriter repair shop
• Patrick from buildyourcnc.com at Maker Faire
• Sustainable Building Sourcebook

They make grease pens specifically for this purpose. They cost less and are usually easier to remove extra if you accidentally mark something you don't want to. As an added bonus, I don't have to explain why I have lipstick in my toolbox or tool belt to my friends. Cheapest route to go is get some colored kids sidewalk chalk, that doesn't mark as well, but is even easier to remove and the cheapest. One big chunk will last years in your toolbox. Or kids watercolor paints. A couple drops of water in it so it's kind of sludgy and use your finger to transfer it.
You also only have to make a small mark at the four corners, no need to outline the whole thing.

I understand the idea and it's not a bad one, but there are better ways to go.

Posted by: RocketGuy on June 5, 2008 at 8:15 AM

Don't use your wife's lipstick.

Particularly, don't use your wife's *incredibly expensive* Lipstick.

And above all, don't put the incredibly expensive lipstick back afterwards.

Not that I did.

Hi honey.

This is the old-school way to do it. It works, but requires you to hold sheet of drywall up and get it back against the boxes. Fairly easy for outlet boxes in big sheets, far harder for higher boxes.

The cool way is to take some basic measurements where the boxes are and write them on the floor (you only need within the nearest inch). Then you put the sheet up lightly over the boxes with a few screws (it needs to contact the boxes but not be tight), and then you take your drywall router, plunge the bit into the middle of the box, move it till you hit the box, pull it out slightly and re-plunge on the outside and then rout around the box.

Way faster and easier than the mark-and-cut method, and you can use it on ceilings with recessed lights as well.

Plus, it gives you an excuse to buy a drywall router...

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