Thread: YouTube helps make new marking gauge

You're banging out new tools like there's no tomorrow, MA! You've done an excellent job on it, but I wonder about your wedge configuration? It's usual to fit the wedge the opposite way, so that when you push the gauge stock against the edge of the board, it tends to tighten the wedge rather than loosen it. The way you've configured yours, & particularly with the relatively steep wedge angle, it might have a tendency to come loose in mid stroke. Also, if you put it on the side of the shaft facing you, it's easier to lock the wedge with your thumb when setting. Just minor points that can improve ergonomics a little...
Cheers,

Cheers,

Hi Ian. Whoops! That does make sense. I think I may not be the only one to do this based on the images I gathered from the internet I have also seen the captive type wedge (thin end has horn). Using the gauge this morning I managed to tap the wedge halfway across the workshop when adjusting. Angle is 10° just chosen at random, although probably influenced by my moulding plane making. However...using the gauge I realised how comfortable the stock is to hold in ones hand. Thumb naturally rests on fat end of wedge and fingers wrap around stock. Maybe a east vs west thing. And of course the wedge is so well made that it fits its mortise perfectly !!

Interesting, MA.

One little question: What is the purpose of the rebate on the body of your and Rex's cutting gauges?

And the reason for extra shed time (and therefore extra tool making) is that my kids basketball compettitions have not restarted. At the beginning of the lockdown I was coaching 4 domestic teams and 1 representative team. I am missing the sport but enjoying the me time.

Hi Graeme. The rebate comes in real handy to engage the edge of the board before the cutter, keep the knife parallel and square to the edge and make sure the line doesn't run out as you finish. I have never liked the traditional marking gauges with a pin, I find it easy to wobble and the line can follow the grain. Buying a Veritas marking gauge with the circular blade some time ago was a bit of a revelation. And I had been looking for a design to copy that had the advantages of being timber, easy to make, used a knife and registered well against an edge. Hopefully this one ticks all boxes but I will use it a little more before I decide.

I have not used a Western style marking gauge since buying a cheap Japanese one years ago. I like the way they sit in the hand and the control that gives. Doubt that I'll ever use a Western style again.

The 'step' is, as MA says, to provide a firm registration for the stock. "Panel gauges" typically have them, and it certainly helps when you are marking a wide panel, with the beam fully extended, it makes it much easier to keep the stock registered & the beam perpendicular to the edge. Here is one of my panel gauges beside a 'regular' gauge. It's a fairly modest one by panel gauge standards, with a beam only 450mm long (they go up to 600mm and beyond) but you can see how the long step helps you control the point or cutter when it's extended out to mark a 350mm wide panel: panel & regular Gs cf.jpg


I can see steps being similarly useful on a cutting gauge used for heavy cutting (slitting veneer, for e..g.), where there is a fair bit of force on the pointy end, but it's not really necessary for an ordinary marking gauge.

Judging by the number of times the topic is raised on the different forums, keeping the point or cutter running true in coarse-grained wood is a very common problem for many people. Ordinary gauges don't have a step and there's a very good reason for that - it would make them much more difficult to use in most situations.

The most common 'fault' I see with novice users is they they hold the gauge 'straight', with the point vertical to the work - this is almost guaranteed to cause 'wander'. Always rotate the gauge so that the point 'trails' as you mark, applying just enough downward pressure on the point or cutter to make a light mark. (This is why I say a 'stepped' gauge is not desirable for most marking). If a single pass doesn't leave a sufficiently visible mark, just do it again, keeping light pressure on the point, and holding the stock firmly against the edge. It doesn't matter if you like to pull or push the gauge, just rotate it so the the point is always trailing as you mark. It becomes such second-narure after a while you'll wonder why you ever experienced problems.

Quite a few folks take a disliking to points early in their careers, I know one woodwork teacher who despises them & refuses to allow them in his classes. But that's throwing the baby out with the bathwater - both point & cutting gauges have their places, I use both about equally. Cutting points are far better marking cross-grain, of course, but often leave a too-faint line along the grain (especially for aged eyes! ). Points are very handy for marking out "points", e.g. for a row of holes. They are also good when marking up to a set point on your work - press the point into the wood where you want to stop, then mark up to it. The point will 'click' into the indentation & tell you when to stop.

Cheers,

I have also seen that video and thought I might do that too. Just too many projects in my mind. Nice work.

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Hi Ian. I always look forward to your responses. I also like your photo's - a bit better than my "tool on bench" style. One thing I omitted but was included by Rex Krueger (the YouTuber) was a curved rebate (convex obviously). This allowed for the trailing style of marking, rotating in at the start and out at the end. TBH it was easier to cut a straight rebate and I thought that with a blade it would work out okay. I was also taught to trail with pin (and I am a puller) but I like the nice line that a blade leaves. Maybe pins are better suited to Hardwoods?

Hi CK. It only took me an afternoon. The hardest bit was cutting the slot for the blade. I drilled a hole at both ends of the slot and used a coping saw blade with one end cut off (to remove pins). Eventually I was able to make decent strokes but you have to start with lots of little back and forths

Originally Posted by Mountain Ash

...... I like the nice line that a blade leaves. Maybe pins are better suited to Hardwoods?

More likely, to younger, better-functioning eyes!

I guess a curved step would allow you to rotate the gauge, but it wouldn't be as good at registering the stock when it's needed for that purpose, I'd think. Really, it's not something I see as necessary on a daily user gauge, I'd find it more of a nuisance than a help,tbh.
I'll admit I still have a point or blade run off occasionally, when they hit a crack or deep grain-line & I'm not paying attention, but it's pretty rare, & fortunately, by the nature of gauging, any run-off is virtually always in the waste, so involves nothing more than a muttered "damn" and re-marking with a bit more care....

Cheers,

Thanks Ian, MA and Aldav.

I also have scarcely used a western style marking gauge since I bought a cheap Japanese mortise gauge about ten years ago, and a second a year later. Occasionally I use a Veritas wheel gauge when the other two are pre-set.

Photo: Dieter Schmidt.

I like the longer registration of the Japanese gauges, that they have blades rather than pins, and I have the choice of using one or two blades. What you say makes a lot of sense; I could improve the fuctionality of my gauges by adding a rebate or even a "registration dowel" - it would align the blade angle perfectly.

I just finished making the $30 work bench (much more than $30 here but it was a fun first project), next is a mallet, then the tenon saw mod and then finally this.
It was Rex that really gave me the push to jump in to all of this, and I'm enjoying myself immensely.
But it's great to find other people who enjoy his videos too!

Hi SW. Even though I am a fully qualified carpenter, as a modern tradesman, most hand tools were quite foreign to me. YouTube was and still is a great resource. Rex Krueger is one of many down to earth woodworkers who have much to share. Just yesterday I learnt about how useful methylated spirits was to clean up wooden hand planes, from an Aussie guy Steve Hart? from Woodworking Masterclass. Brilliant advice and worked as quickly for me as it did for him. There is also much to learn from this forum. Ask and someone will know the answer.