Thread: A gallery of gauges

Quite the pile, Ian. They sure look swell all polished up like that.

Was that the first time you had done an internal sliding mechanism like that on the mortise gauge? Looks to me like a beaut. How does she work?

Cheers,
Luke

Very nice.

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

......Was that the first time you had done an internal sliding mechanism like that on the mortise gauge? Looks to me like a beaut. How does she work? ....

Nope, Luke, that's the second (and likely the last!). I made one from She-oak a few years ago, and because I had to make up a crude jig to cut the slider & end-pieces from a piece of brass bar, I made enough for two gauges, intending to use some Ebony I had kicking around for a 'magnum opus' gauge. However, the bit of Ebony I had put aside to make the beam turned out to be full of cracks & unusable, so I substituted with the RG.

I thought I'd learned all the pitfalls on the first build, but still managed to have a few anxious moments with this one. My biggest problem was the unpredictable fragility of the Gidgee (something you can attest to! ). I had to make a new piece when one of the sides of the beam split whilst I was rivetting it. It was only a small split, ( I debated (briefly) whether I would just epoxy it & try to ignore it, but it would've bugged me no end if I'd done that. Luckily, I had just enough left from the same bit of wood, so I gritted my teeth & started over.

How does it work? Quite nicely, thankyou. For #1, I drilled the screw-hole in the slider on the drill-press, & despite extreme care in setting up, I got it ever so slightly off-centre, which causes the thumbscrew to be a bit stiff to turn at the maximum opening (which is very rarely needed, fortunately). This time, I had my little metal lathe and a 4-jaw chuck, so I was able to drill the slider far more easily, and it screws smoothly over the full range. Unlike the old 77, the outside pin on this gauge is locked in by a grubscrew, which means it is easily removed or replaced, but more importantly, easy to adjust to be the same height as the pin on the slider. Getting both pins marking evenly on a mortise gauge can sometimes be a frustrating & fiddly business, I've found.....

Cheers,

Ian, did you machine the screws as well or bought them in? The gauges look wonderful.

Originally Posted by Kidbee

Ian, did you machine the screws as well or bought them in? ...

I made them on my little 'toy' metal lathe, Kidbee. Actually, it's a bit better than a toy, it's an older model of this one. I haven't tackled ferrous metals a lot with it, but it handles brass very comfortably. The knurling is done with a knurling tool that cost the princely sum of $18 at the time, but does a pretty good job (once I learned how to use it properly), though it's starting to show signs of wear, and won't last a whole lot longer, I think.

Cheers,

Very nice little production run you have going there Ian.
You should bring some down to Melbourne to sell off in a few weeks.
I can organise a captive market group if you like[emoji6].
Or do you think you need that many your self [emoji3]
Fantastic work tho
Matt

Nice work Ian. How did you do the finish on them?

Originally Posted by Simplicity

......You should bring some down to Melbourne to sell off in a few weeks....
......Or do you think you need that many your self.....

Hi Matt, some of these gauges are spoken-for already, but I could bring a few along if you think anyone might be interested. The 'spares' are destined for the "Market Place", eventually, but they may as well find home sooner rather than later.

No, I don't need quite that many for myself, but I probably do have a couple more gauges in my tool kit than the average bloke...

Cheers,

Originally Posted by rob streeper

Nice work Ian. How did you do the finish on them?

Hi Rob, thanks. The finish is "Shellawax", which is a friction polish for finishing lathe work (made by the sponsor of this Forum). It needs to be warmed to make it flow & 'set', so I rub in a coat or two with a bit of cloth, then buff it with a cloth wheel - I reasoned it made little difference whether you spin the object or the polishing pad. Works quite well on hard woods, particularly. For such an easy, quick finish, it's remarkably durable, I have gauges that were made 20 years ago that still look pretty good....

Cheers,

If you have the room Ian, I can't see it hurting .
We're only a small group tho.
But if you go home a few gauges lighter
That would be fantastic .
And all puns included you get to gauge your market.
(Sorry that was to good to pass up)

Matt

Originally Posted by IanW

... but I could bring a few along if you think anyone might be interested. The 'spares' are destined for the "Market Place", eventually, but they may as well find home sooner rather than later.

Not sure how I feel about being included in "a captive market group" but if you have some at the sharpening weekend an any of them appeal to me, I might be tempted...

Cheers

Doug

Don't we have a different gauge to Queensland in Victoria?? Will they work here??

There's a conversion app !!

Maybe a gauge making class is in order during the big upcoming weekend. I'm still not sure I can make it, but we will see how it goes.

Ray