Thread: YouTube helps make new marking gauge

Hi P. And his workshop appears to have a reasonable amount of tools and machines. Not even 2 tablesaws, one just for dadoes!!

Hey Mountain Ash

I have been meaning to make a panel gauge but I have been putting it off. Sort of and sort of not. I have been looking for a while to find some brass knurled thumb screws + threaded inserts to use. But i probably have to import them from overseas and all that which would make the panel gauge more expensive. I somehow was 'against' the wedge for no reason but I decided to jump in and make it.

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I started off by milling and dimensioning the timber. This was defs the trickiest bit imo. I wanted the rod to be the same size along the whole length. The face piece was an offcut from a table top from a timber yard. I split it open and squared everything up
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I layed out the lines for the hole for the started mortising
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got it fit snugly
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I think worked out the angle of the taper for the wedge and created a guide thingo to use as a guide to smack the chisel thru. The veritas shooting board attachment works mad and helped me find the angle for the wedge. I think it was 14 degrees off the top of my head. The rectangle was 21mm wide on one side and it went to 14mm wide on the other side. The guide was amazing because i managed to get the marking line bang on from one side thru to the other side
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Got the rod square to the body. used same plywood angle to make the wedge on the shooting board
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planned a rebate out of the bottom area and figured out where to put the brass

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docked the face and then gave it a bit of oil. I will put a cutting knife on one end and pencil on the other end. I will use it for a bit before i decide how to shape it. So far it feels cumfy and its not too heavy.

Thanks mountain ash for your inspiration!!

Cheers, Bernard

Well done Bernard - nothing like using tools you've made for yourself, especially when they work well!

Just a tip - making a 'captured' wedge is a very useful idea - it can't fall out in the shavings while you are adjusting it. Also you blokes persist in following that video, but I reckon he put his wedge in backwards. If you fit the wedge so it tightens from back to front, you can easily tighten it with your thumb when setting. Also, when you push the stock against the workpiece, it tends to tighten it. By putting it in from the front, you risk it coming loose during use. This is a gauge made for a left-hander, so the wedge is on the 'wrong' side of the beam for a right-hander like me, but it illustrates what I'm yakking about: Wedged g a.jpg

You could easily make a new wedge, and another tip, while you're about it, I suggest you make the wedge angle much less acute than you have it at present - it would be better if it was half that angle. This makes it much easier to tighten firmly with thumb pressure. The wedge in this case is maybe a bit too shallow-angled, you do need a bit of reserve for wear over time: Wedged g b.jpg

Cheers,

Thank you Ian!

Nice nice nice. Noted about the capture wedge and shallower angle. What angle would you recommend?

Regards,

Bernard

Originally Posted by Bernard Zhang

.....Noted about the capture wedge and shallower angle. What angle would you recommend? ...

It's not super-critical, Bernard, I'd try halving what you have now, which looks like close to 30 degrees in the pics. You could go as low as 5 degrees, if you want a number, but I think you'll find anywhere between 5 & 10 works ok. You haven't cut a huge slot in the stock for your current wedge, which means you have room to straighten it out a bit to lower the angle without making the wedge too deep. A bit of experimenting with some scrap pieces (any old thing will do), will soon show you how much you could alter what's there already, and just how much slope you need for an easy lock that is also reasonably easy to un-lock. Mucking about with the parts like this gives you a better understanding of the principles and adds to the fun, imo....

Cheers,

Noted. Thank you!!!

Nice work Bernard! And I like the brass. Hi Ian, sounds like a good enough reason to make another one It's funny how more and more hand tools are working their way back into my professional life. Yesterday I was hanging french doors and using a marking knife that I rehandled to set out the mortise lock. It was a bit clumsy to rest against the end of the combination square blade and I thought, "Gee my marking gauge would come in handy". Reason #2 to make another.

Time for a little warning, Bernard & MA: CAUTION, making marking gauges (or most tools, come to that), is potentially addictive!

You may end up in the deplorable condition I have descended to, where tool making absorbs my energies & interests to the point I haven't got time to make anything "useful" (so says LOML).

But just to throw a bit of temptation in your path - have either of you thought about making a mortising gauge yet? They don't have to be elaborate to do a good job for you. I showed a few gauges illustrating my own 'journey' in making them here. The only drawback with the simplest type is that it's a bit fiddly to set, but works just as well as the most elaborate gauges.

Cheers,