Thread: New marking out tool.

Don't keep us in suspense, how much $? and from who, please

I bought it from JKTools via AliExpress.

Cost including delivery and tax was $82

You've got me stumped, Lappa. I can see it's an accurate measuring device, but what advantage does it offer over a mortise gauge??

Cheers,

I'm also a little confused as to what makes this so special. The jaws on yours can obviously be used to measure the thickness of a plank and then directly transfer that thickness onto another piece, but again a modern wheel marking gauge can as well. About the only thing a marking gauge can't do is give you a face to run a pencil along. Please don't take this as criticism of your purchase; I'm genuinely curious as to what features prompted you to track it down.
I-gaging.jpg
My I-Gaging cutting gauge measures in mm, inches and fractional inches.... and I don't have wear my cheaters to read it!

It’s nothing special - it’s just another tool to help me mark out and like a number of items I own - it just works for me so I thought I’d share.
It really gives no advantage over a digital mortise gauge but I prefer non digital - just the way I have worked for years.
Beside that, I’ve had a number digital items that have been less than impressive including a couple of Igaging digital items that have been sent back due to inaccuracies - even had discussions with the USA manufacturers. Maybe it was just bad luck on my side.
Re a standard mortise gauge and ruler, I believe it gives me more accuracy than using a standard rule ( order of accuracy of a rule is generally 0.5mm - this is O.05mm) - I also bought it to help mark out metal.

So all in all, no real advantage, I just like non digital

As you say, we all develop our own little ways of doing things, and it's safer to stick with what you know works. I use calipers a lot when turning on the wood or metal lathe, but rarely for general cabinetry. In fact, I use rulers very infrequently too, it's far safer for me to take measurements directly off parts to be joined, or use marking-gauges, etc. Too many of my blunders come from mis-reading rulers (after I find where I last put the damned thing down!) Marking gauges & trammels rule in my shed.

This is the method for setting a mortise gauge that I was taught as a 12 yr old, which I think is pretty universal:
The points of the gauge are first matched to the chisel size that's to be used. This is where a gauge with a screw mechanism for the travelling point is so handy - you don't need three hands! They come in a variety of styles, the one I like best has the screw retained within the beam, it doesn't wind out as you open the points (the top one in pic): pic 3.jpg

To centre the mortise on the work:
First eyeball it to close, & clamp stock.
Press the gauge points into the surface from each side. With luck, you'll have two sets of marks pretty close to each other.
Re-set the stock so that the points fall precisely between the two marks thus made, & voila, your gauge will scribe a perfectly centered mortise.

Use the same setting (from the face side) to mark the tenon.

If I need to place the tenons off-centre as you occasionally need to, I guess I might need to measure something (if I can just find that ruler - I saw it here somewhere, a few minutes ago.....)

Cheers,