Marking guages with no locking mechanism

[ED65]

Come across a few of these over the years and thought I was missing something but it did eventually dawn on me that there wasn't anything missing and they were made to rely on a tight fit between fence and stem. Obviously this could lead to a problem come a change of season and almost all I've handled were stuck fast from the damp conditions they were now stored in.

I've always passed on them as I didn't want to pay really anything for something that might turn out to be too loose for half the year or too tight for the other half, but I had the chance to pick up the below one recently from a seller I buy from regularly and I knew it would be cheap as chips so I'd be all right with it becoming a decorative piece for the workshop if it turned out to be hopelessly jammed.

I have always assumed these are user-made but does anyone know if there were commercial versions?

If this is homemade then respect to R.McMullan, he did a super job shaping the stem and chiselling the mortise to match. I was surprised however with that level of skill that there was tearout on multiple surfaces. But apparently that could be much more acceptable in the past than it is generally now.

 

[D_W]

How were these made. Were they made with the stem dry and the head only partially dry so that the fit would be tight?

Or were they just made in the machine era when it would be easier to match the stem to the mortise?

 

[AndyT]

I don't have a copy by me at the moment, but iirc, the description in Moxon's Mechanic Exercises is of a gauge like that. So it used to be a standard pattern, whether commercially made or not.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Moxon does indeed describe marking gauges with friction-fit heads. However, in his commentary on Moxon's text, Chris Schwarz goes on to say that we know from the 1545 wreck of the Mary Rose that gauges with locking mechanisms existed before Moxon.

Speculating - some craftsmen were called upon to do a fair bit of repetition work, and for those, a set of 'fixed' gauges made up for that task would help efficiency. It may be that the OP's example is such a gauge, perhaps? Or maybe made as a test of skill - such 'trade tests' were common at one time among fitters and toolmakers.

 

[ED65]

How were these made. Were they made with the stem dry and the head only partially dry so that the fit would be tight?

I don't think it's possible to tell, but after a couple of weeks of drying indoors I could just about get the stem to move... with mallet blows.

Or were they just made in the machine era when it would be easier to match the stem to the mortise?

Well this one I pegged as handmade and judging by some of the rougher aspects, user-made.

The photos I took don't show it well but the curved surfaces on the fence still had facets from the paring. That, the tearout and some of the original pencil layout lines strongly suggested to me that this wasn't a commercial tool.

 

[bugbear]

How were these made. Were they made with the stem dry and the head only partially dry so that the fit would be tight?

I don't think it's possible to tell, but after a couple of weeks of drying indoors I could just about get the stem to move... with mallet blows.

Give it more time - I once dried a gauge indoors for 3-4 weeks, and it was still VERY stiff. So I carefully sandpapered it to a full length, perfect "piston fit".

6 months later it was slacker than <insert rude metaphor here>.

BugBear

 

[ED65]

How were these made. Were they made with the stem dry and the head only partially dry so that the fit would be tight?

I don't think it's possible to tell, but after a couple of weeks of drying indoors I could just about get the stem to move... with mallet blows.

Give it more time - I once dried a gauge indoors for 3-4 weeks, and it was still VERY stiff. So I carefully sandpapered it to a full length, perfect "piston fit".

6 months later it was slacker than <insert rude metaphor here>.

BugBear

Oh pineapples #-o Ah well, can't turn back the clock now!

Hopefully the minimal sanding I've done so far as part of the cosmetic cleanup won't result in it being too lose. I will be shellacking in due course which will help a bit if I have removed a smidge too much but worst comes to worst I can always retrofit it with a simple dowel lock.