Marking gauge variant

[bugbear]

Long ago, woodbloke posted this:

post185108.html?hilit=laminated#p185108

It's a marking gauge where the head is fixed by a transverse wedge bearing on a saddle. The saddle is held in place by "cleats" top and bottom which project above the reference face of the head.

Edit; Paul Chapman was inspired by it here:
post631242.html?hilit=%20old%20marking%20gauge%20#p631242

I saw a variant on eBay:

It looks a bit odd, because I think it's a patternmaker's "grass hopper" gauge, which has an extra deep head. But what interested me was the wedge and saddle design, which is slightly different to Rob's.

The saddle must be dado'd for the wedge, so the wedge holds the saddle in place. No cleats, and a nice clean face top and bottom of the fence. Brilliant. It also means that there no difficulty having a round stem, since the saddle provides an interface between the flat sliding face of the wedge, and the roundness of the stem, so the point can be rotated (important with such a non
symmetric fence).

BugBear

 

[Paul Chapman]

That's interesting, BB, thanks for posting. Some of these old designs really are worth looking at. That marking gauge I made, based on Rob's, which in turn was based on an old one he saw in Pennyfarthing Tools when it was in Salisbury, is by far the easiest marking gauge to adjust. Must get my backside in gear and make a few more :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul