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Using only hand tools, I made a groove for a wedge and the wedge does not fit tight and perfect. How do I highlight where the exact point is that needs to be reworked? I've seen someone using carbon paper or some other compound but that cannot work with a wedge. In another words how do you mark gaps, to highlight tolerances and so on?

Another example, I have a curved piece of wood and I want to make another piece of wood fit to the curve perfectly. Again how to highlight any gap or wood excess? I know I can use light but there are certain cases where you cannot use light.

Graphus
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im7xs
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    Hi, welcome to StackExchange. It's not clear from this what the fit problem is with the wedge, can you post a photo? And why wouldn't pencil/chalk work? But possibly the main thing to realise with a wedge is that wood can be highly compressible..... "i have a curved piece of wood, i have to make another piece of wood that will fit perfectly in the curve," This is a very tough thing to do well, but the general method (after careful marking out obviously) would be to very carefully remove wood a little at a time until the fit is good. This is a very good situation to chalk one surface. – Graphus Sep 29 '21 at 07:47
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    Is this helpful with your problem? How to get better at fitting joints and "seeing" bruises? – Volfram K Sep 29 '21 at 09:14
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    Why would carbon paper (can you actually still find that stuff??) or "some other compound" not work with a wedge? Again, pics of your actual project will help people see your issue and come up with recommendations. – FreeMan Sep 29 '21 at 17:33
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    ...but that cannot work with a wedge This is like asking how to drill a hole and then declaring that drill bits cannot work. You'll need to provide more details if you want us to understand you. – Caleb Sep 29 '21 at 21:13
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    @FreeMan, "can you actually still find that stuff??" a Google search says it is! I would have presumed not because I thought the primary need (typewriter-related) was long gone, but apparently there are enough other applications that it's still being produced and is widely available from stationers and art-supply places. Who knew?! – Graphus Sep 30 '21 at 07:27
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    Please come back and update your question with the additional info we've asked for! We'd love to help you, there's just not enough here to work with. Help us help you. – FreeMan Oct 01 '21 at 15:46

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Have you tried using chalk? A light coating of chalk on the piece you want to fit, then try it out, make it snug so it 'rubs' on the other pieces. All the high points that need to be sanded down should show wear where they rub and the low spots would be untouched.

After 1 or 2 rounds, might need to clean up the chalk because it will tend to spread out over everything.

BTW I'd use white chalk, any bright colors might be hard to completely clean out of all the pores. Others who've used this method prefer colors to help visually, so what ever works for you!

bowlturner
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    +1, but white chalk may be very hard to see on light-coloured woods (I was thinking initially of common softwoods, but I was recently working with some oak sapwood that was a cream/oatmeal colour that white would be invisible on). White marks are perfect for ABW of course, and should work well with any species darker than a typical piece of red oak. FWIW the norm for chalk used for this purpose seems to be to use a highly visible contrasting colour (e.g. red!) which would leave zero doubt where you get even light touching. Plus we must remember these are hidden surfaces on the finished item! – Graphus Nov 22 '21 at 17:11
  • The chalk sold for use in chalk lines comes in all sorts of interesting colours. –  Nov 22 '21 at 19:50
  • I use blue, green + pink chalk for this purpose. – Volfram K Nov 23 '21 at 08:14
  • @Graphus well there we go, I assumed the colored chalk would stick in the pores, but I'll change my answer to include these great suggestions. – bowlturner Nov 23 '21 at 16:06