Thanks all...
Must admit that I use the laser and a lot of MDF trees to make alignment jigs whenever I can... looks like I performed a few mortal sins by omitting similar in many of my past projects.
Problem is that most are a 1 off and I toss them after the task as they kept building up and I never remembered what they were for... and when I write "the purpose" on it, I seldom remember "the method"... and you guys wonder why I write long crappy blogs and make videos... not for my audience, but for me if needed again in the future.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD