Thread: Marking mortices (Part II)

Hi Ian

I just received their email as well. There is a metric version to go will the imperial gauge.

I can see where this gauge can be handy if one was using a power thicknesser. In such case, however, I would grab a spanner, which is what I would do when sizing a tenon on the lathe.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I hope I'm not just a knee-jerk reactionary, but these sorts of tools strike me as the products of ideas desperately in search of an application. As an amateur who tackles many different things in the course of any given year, I would much rather own tools that are versatile, than clutter my toolbox with single-purpose things.
On the (rare) occasions I need to work to a degree of precision above that afforded by a good ruler, a set of calipers is my choice. These take up about the same amount of space in the toolbox, are precise enough (+/- 0.01mm) for all practical woodworking purposes, and have a myriad other uses around the workshop. And they cost not much more than the above tool - less, if you add postage from the US.

When making a single piece of furniture, accuracy is usually far more important than precision. In fact, it seems rather pointless to me to fuss about the precise thickness of stock to anything more than +/- a mm or so, since it will be a little different tomorrow from what it is today. If a plan calls for 19mm stock, and you machine it to 18 or 20mm, it usually won't make an iota of difference, aesthetically or structurally. Being consistent, whatever the precise dimensions are is more helpful, because (as Ian has alluded to), logical setting out will usually render precise dimensions irrelevant.....

Cheers,

I agree, I looked at the emails I received from three different suppliers for the new one time tool, and decided that I already had a set of calipers. When making boxes I would often want a size that is between the ones on the gauge anyway. This time, I cant see any reason for even a beginner to want one of these. It's not even "buying a skill". It is actually limiting you to the thicknesses that are on the gauge. Where's the thumbs-down smiley?

Cheers

Doug

I'm with IanW and Doug here but then I was brought up in a period when square all round was a luxury that had to be paid for. Going for accuracy in everything can be very wasteful in time and timber. One thing that makes me laugh are the plans that are obviously converted from imperial to metric (or vv) by the use of a calculator without any thought for the reader who will be trying to get vanishing small measurements.
As Derek said, if you have a handy size spanner it can make repetitive lathe work easier.

This is not to comment on the Woodpeckers line of tools but marketing in general. Let me say upfront I have bought some and laughed at others, the thickness gauge being in that category. When I was a kid (1950's) we did not have supermarkets simply because there was nothing to sell in them, the products did not exist. Woodworking has gone this way, new products are being introduced and in the years to come those things we see as unnecessary due to us never needing them will become an accepted product to every woodworker.

HI its a cool looking gadget, but personally wouldn't 150 bucks for it
Theres not much improvement over a tradition marking or mortice guage in my opinion.
I rarely centre my tenons anway and I havent hand cut a mortice and tenon since I was at school.

I was pretty hopeless at getting all the shoulders level so recently moved over to loose tenons after I made my own horizontal borer and can cut the mortices in a few seconds using a good carbide spiral upcut bit.

Originally Posted by jimbur

..... I was brought up in a period when square all round was a luxury that had to be paid for. Going for accuracy in everything can be very wasteful in time and timber. One thing that makes me laugh are the plans that are obviously converted from imperial to metric (or vv) by the use of a calculator without any thought for the reader who will be trying to get vanishing small measurements.

Jim, that's what I was driving at. I use calipers for consistency more than precision when working wood - like an adjustable spanner, if you will. When working with metal, it's quite feasible to work to fractions of a tenth of a millimetre, but with wood I think it is impractical & quite unnecessary. Maybe patternmakers are required to work to the 2nd decimal place in mm, but it would be a slightly pointless ambition in cabinetmaking!

Originally Posted by mark david

HI its a cool looking gadget, but personally wouldn't 150 bucks for it.....

Particularly not when the asking price in the catalogue I looked up is $29.99. Our dollar has fallen a bit against the greenback but not that far, I hope!!

Cheers,

Ian, we could get in on the ground floor of a new range of tools here. The last thing you need when working to these tolerances is breath that has a different moisture content to the wood. Just think of the distortions this creates. So that needs to be measured and a mask for adding or replacing moisture needs to be worn. Only then can fine woodworking be achieved.

Originally Posted by Sam

New Inventors: Latch Mate
Looks pretty clever - $99 on his website.
I agree that the price of one time tools reflects the cost of R & D.

As far as this tool goes, however ... for a tradesman who has to perform this task often ... (would they?)

It looks like it would do the job well, and over and over. "Spring steel" he says ... is it resharpenable??

And aussie too ... good on 'im.

Just hope they don't change the plate dimensions

Cheers,
Paul