Thread: Scraps from the tablesaw

Hi all,

I know this is a forum for Dark Siders but I know many of you will have a tablesaw or bandsaw. When making projects you may use the tablesaw to dimension the timber before giving the wood the treatment it deserves with your hand saws, chisels and planes.

One of the by-products of doing this is you usually end up with long skinny strips of timber that you can't find a use for, they have odd dimensions like 40mm x 3mm x 1500mm. To waste these is such a shame if you are using a exotic wood.

Here is a project I got from my friend in Canberra (John) that makes good use of these valuable scraps, make a making gauge for marking out large sheets, eg plywood.

There are two examples below of a large and small version I made.
The small one is about 400mm long and uses four pieces of the scrap sandwiched together to make the head.
The larger one is about 1000mm long with a fancy locking device and an inserted strip of measuring tape from Incra to provide a scale.

To use then you measure and mark the width you want with your tape measure then set the gauge to that width, stick a pencil in the cut out notch and simply run the gauge along the edge. The smaller one uses your thumb as a brake and the larger uses the locking lever.

I have been using the larger one lately to mark out Villaboard so it has taken off the varnish, I will sand this off and use shellac and a wax next time.

Regards from Geraldton,
Chris