Marking gauge buying/building advice

[tibi]

Hello,

I would like to buy a universal marking gauge that works equally well across and with the grain. It will be my first one.

I have ruled out a pin marking gauge as it does not work very well across the grain. My budget is up to 40 pounds + shipping costs.

I am interested either in wheel marking gauge or cutting gauge (if it can work reasonably well with the grain and does not get pulled to the grain direction).

Can you give me some recommendations within my price range?

At the same time, I have decided to build a cutting gauge from ash (I have either ash or red oak at home at the moment).

Can you please advise me what are the important things when building my own marking gauge, besides having a flat fence? And if it is better to use a wedge or a screw to tighten it up.

e.g. Does the stem must be perfectly perpendicular to the fence in both directions ( I can get it out of square either with forward-backward tilt or up and down tilt). If I manage to build it too tight, humid weather can render it unusable. I have already broken one that I have bought (made out of beech) when it was humid weather.

Thank you very much.

 

[Fidget]

Paul Sellars has a rather long video on making gauges which I started watching yesterday. I haven't watched all of it yet, might help though

 

[tibi]

Paul Sellars has a rather long video on making gauges which I started watching yesterday. I haven't watched all of it yet, might help though

Thank you very much, I will give it a look.

 

[Ollie78]

I have many different marking guages but the one I always end up using is the Veritas one with a round wheel, can`t recall what I paid but at this point it doesn`t matter, I remember thinking it was a bit expensive at the time but now I wouldn`t be without it.
There are many similar designs out there.

The reason its better than all the others I have is the fact it is easy to set, has a sort of micro adjust for sneaking up on stuff or "just a hair more" type things. The round blade doesn`t snag or catch and it makes a good mark.

For the cutting guage I would say the number one thing is the blade. You should use a single bevel blade with the bevel set so it "pulls" the guage into the work, this is similar to the veritas wheel which is made like this.

Ollie

 

[Jacob]

Best marking gauges without a shadow of doubt are the old wooden ones. Only a fiver or so new - not worth making one.
They mark across the grain too but you can buy or adapt for a cutting version with a little blade, ideal for DT shoulders etc.
They need to be cheap because its handy to have several on the go if you have a biggish job on.
Mortice gauges ditto except slighty more expensive

 

[Just4Fun]

I made a few gauges of various sorts a couple of years ago. A pin gauge, a cutting gauge, a couple of mortice gauges, a pencil gauge, I'm sure there were a couple of others but I don't recall. When I make tools I aim for "functional" and ignore "pretty" so mine are nothing to look at. A fun little project even so. I intended to make any fence fit any beam but in reality I ended up fettling the fit on all of them, so now each beam must use its own dedicated fence. Not an issue in reality.

I used a wedge to hold the blade in a cutting gauge. With hindsight I think a screw might have been better but I haven't tried that. The wedge works OK.

I made a couple of mortice gauges but rather than make them with 2 adjustments as is traditional I just set two pins in each one at fixed spacings. These suit the two chisels I typically use for mortices. If I ever decide to do a mortice of a different width than either of those two I will just have to use two marking gauges.

I don't have a wheel marking gauge but I would like one. Most people seem to say they are better, although I have seen a couple of comments online to suggest not everyone agrees. I cannot say.

 

[tibi]

I made a few gauges of various sorts a couple of years ago. A pin gauge, a cutting gauge, a couple of mortice gauges, a pencil gauge, I'm sure there were a couple of others but I don't recall. When I make tools I aim for "functional" and ignore "pretty" so mine are nothing to look at. A fun little project even so. I intended to make any fence fit any beam but in reality I ended up fettling the fit on all of them, so now each beam must use its own dedicated fence. Not an issue in reality.

I used a wedge to hold the blade in a cutting gauge. With hindsight I think a screw might have been better but I haven't tried that. The wedge works OK.

I made a couple of mortice gauges but rather than make them with 2 adjustments as is traditional I just set two pins in each one at fixed spacings. These suit the two chisels I typically use for mortices. If I ever decide to do a mortice of a different width than either of those two I will just have to use two marking gauges.

I don't have a wheel marking gauge but I would like one. Most people seem to say they are better, although I have seen a couple of comments online to suggest not everyone agrees. I cannot say.

Thank you very much. Finally, I have purchased the new Veritas wheel marking gauge with the offset fence. And I will make a few cutting gauges myself as a good exercise. Then I will have both types.

 

[Darrenp]

Let us know how you get on with the Veritas

 

[tibi]

Let us know how you get on with the Veritas

Sure I will. I have chosen Veritas, because they have reputable quality as a company and I hope I will be able to get replacement wheels in the years to come.

 

[Jacob]

Sure I will. I have chosen Veritas, because they have reputable quality as a company and I hope I will be able to get replacement wheels in the years to come.

Woodies have had a reputation for quality over 100s of years and you will never need a new pin or knife!

 

[tibi]

Woodies have had a reputation for quality over 100s of years and you will never need a new pin or knife!

Jacob,

I have finally decided that would like to build cutting gauges myself. I have seen Derek Cohen's shop-made marking gauge on his site and I like the idea of making the knife from HSS jigsaw blade. I have some of them and they are cheap stuff for prototyping. I would like to make a functional prototype, see how it works and maybe later build something nicer with brass stripes and bolts. It is easier for me to build a cutting gauge then wheel marking gauge.

I also would like to make a marking knife and dovetail template, too.

 

[Just4Fun]

I also would like to make a marking knife and dovetail template, too.

Dovetail templates are easy enough to make. I have attempted a couple of marking knives but have yet to produce anthing I am happy to use in preference to almost any alternative.

 

[grumpycorn]

Let us know how you get on with the Veritas

I’ve got the basic Veritas gauge, plus a £5 mortice/ marking one as well. The veritas one is very good, and feels comfortable in the hand. It does cut better across the grain. The only downside is mine rolls very easily so you have to be careful you don’t set it down too near the end of the bench.

That being said, I use both about the same as, as per Jacob’s comment, I find you always need more than one as you want to leave it set till you’ve finished your project.

I don’t regret buying the wheel gauge, but given how easy it is to fettle a cheap wooden one, I’d spend half the money and buy 4 or 5 of them instead with hindsight.

 

[davedevelopment]

My wife got me one of the AUKTools Marking Gauges from Wood Workers Workshop and I'm really pleased with it. It's the first one I've had though, so no basis for comparison.

 

[tibi]

My wife got me one of the AUKTools Marking Gauges from Wood Workers Workshop and I'm really pleased with it. It's the first one I've had though, so no basis for comparison.

AukTools marking gauge was my runner-up in the decision making. I have finally decided on Veritas, because I have found it only on one site in the UK and there is not much information about it from other sources, other than the seller. It is similar to Taytools marking gauge from US (both are a knock-off of the Tite-Mark marking gauge - the original one is out of my budget). I was not sure about the quality, because it has only two reviews on the page of the seller (both 5 stars).