Fixing a marking gauge

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I always thought to myself that an old pencil sharpener blade would be great for marking gauges (if you filed and sharpened the other edges of the blade too). But I have not tried it.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
 
Masonry nails make good gauge pins, too. They're fileable (just about), and work well with a sort of rounded-end knife shape to the tip. If all you can find are galvanised ones, the zinc can be taken off by soaking in half a cupful of vinegar for a day or two. A small packet from a DIY shed would give you several lifetime's supply.

In a pinch, panel pins or small nails work, too. May have to touch up the tip for sharpness a bit more often, but that's not exactly an onerous job!
 
Cheshirechappie":1s9wuh0n said:
Masonry nails make good gauge pins, too.
They're great for marking gauges; I made some a while back and replaced the ordinary pins with masonry nails. The best thing I found for re-profiling the point to a 'slicing action' cutter was a Proxxon mini drill with a small grinding wheel. A bit tricky to do and also tough on the MK1 eyeballs! :lol: - Rob
 
Yes - holding very small parts (metal or wood) to work on them is always tricky - unless you're a watchmaker and equipped for it!

I held mine right at the corner of the jaws of a small metalworking vice, on a slope (as it were) with the point end proud of the jaws in such a way that I could hold the file horizontal and work on the tip shape. A pair of pliers braced against a bench edge would serve, too.
 
To put a tapered point on a pin, just chuck it in your battery drill and spin it at a comfortable speed whilst applying the file. Takes aboout 20 seconds to make a good point. If the material is too hard for a regular file, you can use a diamond file, but slow the drill down so you don't generate too much heat or you'll wreck your diamond file quicksmart (DAMHIK).

When I were a lad, we were taught to put a small "chisel point" on out gauge pins. The edge was sloped a bit off-parallel with the stock, so that as you ran the gauge the pin pulled the stock against the work piece.

Nowadays I prefer to have separate pin & cutting gauges & like Orraloon, I make my own. There are 5 or 6 ways to lock your stock to the beam - one of the simplest & most effective being the cross-pin he showed. Possibly the worst way is to tap into the wood end-grain like on the OP's example. That is the dumbest thing to do, such threads are bound to strip, as adequately demonstrated. If you want to tap the wood, do it across the grain, that produces quite servicable threads in most woods. But using a brass or alloy insert is a better approach.

I make pins & cutters from (annealed) O1 steel rod of an appropriate diameter. Just file the shape you like, then harden it. As someone has said, you don't really need to harden pins & cutters, just touch them up occasionally, but if you want to use your gauge as a veneer cutter or something like that, it's best to harden it.
Pin & cutters.jpg


I think I've got at least a dozen gauges, all different sizes & lengths. Over the years I've been making them I've evolved a version that has a turned & flattened beam & the pin/cutter/ pencil or whatever held in a brass tip by a grubscrew (or thumbscrew in teh case of pencil gauges), which makes them easy to remove & sharpen or adjust, etc.
Casaurina set.jpg


Cheers,
Ian
 

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adrspach":s8njx1kp said:
Just today I was cleaning 2 marking gauges and when I took them apart there was square plate inside with the thread in it. I did not know about is until the piece fell out when I dropped it on the floor. Once I got the pieces together is was easy to reassemble.

Yes, do be careful taking gauges apart. As well as a concealed nut, there may be a small loose brass disk or similar to prevent the end of the screw marring the stem, or influencing the setting when tightened.
 
Sheffield Tony":2hbdwrpt said:
.....Yes, do be careful taking gauges apart. As well as a concealed nut, there may be a small loose brass disk or similar to prevent the end of the screw marring the stem, or influencing the setting when tightened.

Good point, Tony. Some sort of 'shoe' is pretty much essential under a metal locking screw or you will damage the beam. You can get away with direct contact with large diameter wood or plastic thumbscrews, but I've seen plenty of the simple type old Beech gauges with very deep wear grooves in their beam.

When I first made some gauges for myself I just copied the ubiquitous everyday simple gauges. I used "Bull-oak" (Allocasuarina leuhmanii), which is reputedly one of the hardest woods of the world. I didn't have any problems with marking the beams, but occasionally the screw would move the beam slightly & alter the setting when tightening down.
1.jpg


The advent of a small metal lathe allowed me to make brass thumbscrews, and I went through a few versions before arriving at my present preference.
2.jpg


The round beam, besides making it a bit easier to fit to the stock, has the unexpected (by me, at any rate) effect of making the thing "season proof". Where I live we have huge relative humidity swings and square beams often either wobble in the dry season or bind in 'the wet'. The round beam can be made a bit looser, so it always slides easily, but still locks very firmly with no wobble. Cutting the slot for the shoe is a fiddly job, but the end result is a very efficient (& comfy) tool...

Cheers,
 

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Sheffield Tony":3vm4h0jr said:
..... Do you use them, or put them on the mantelpiece to appreciate ? .....

The ones I make for myself are definitely all users, Tony, but I have traded or sold a few and I know of a couple that sit on a display shelf. That wasn't my intention, they were meant to be used...

I made my first gauges about 40 years ago. At that time my tool budget was very tight and I wanted a coupe of extra gauges so I could leave them set during complicated projects, which often dragged on for many a weekend. It's a bit of a silly reason, really, it's not that hard to re-set a gauge but it is handy at times to have a couple of gauges going on a job, and even handier to be able to choose a gauge that fits the job in hand.

I've been "improving" the breed ever since - after all, what else do you do with nice scrapsof precious wood if you're not a pen-turner? :)

As I said above, I acquired a small metal lathe a few years ago & that has given me endless opportunities to play about. The latest addition to the stable is a panel gauge that can take a pencil, pin or cutter:
1 Pencil mode.jpg

3 Double ended insert.jpg

4 Cutter mode.jpg

[Edit: that's not a panel gauge, it has no 'step' on the stock. It's a very large gauge I made for someone else which demonstrates the principle.]

As you might guess, I have a drawer-full of them, everything from panel gauges to teeny ones (handy for setting out small stuff like marking-gauge stocks :roll: )
Gauges b.jpg


Cheers,
Ian
 

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Steve Maskery":1mky882o said:
....... and I was very happy with mine until I saw yours! :mrgreen:

Steve, my first few efforts were very basic. What you there here is 40 years worth of slowly getting better at it.....
:)
Cheers,
Ian
 
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