A new model of marking gauge.

[deema]

I like the points about aluminium wearing poorly against an abrasive like wood as it never ceases to amaze me that most modern machines have aluminium fences, sliding tabes etc. A very poor choice of material for the applications in my humble opinion, but very cheap to produce as an extrusion die to very cheap these days.

 

[MikeG.]

.......The diameter of the wheel in your diagram is double or more the diameter of the stem. But that's not accurate, in truth the wheel is only slightly wider than the stem. If the wheel is sharp (and they're a breeze to keep sharp) it's virtually fully engaged in the work piece from the get go, so the stem does ride on the workpiece.........

Blimey, mine doesn't. Nowhere near. I've got this one: https://www.workshopheaven.com/quangsheng-marking-gauge.html

 

[Jacob]

With a normal pin gauge you can gently make a very fine line, or a deeper one, go back and enlarge a mark, scoot around arrises and so on - everything which a wheel gauge can do, at a fraction of the price and easier on the hands.
When I was really busy I'd be marking for most of the day several days in a row. A poky little metal one would be really uncomfortable.
And wooden ones last forever.

 

[Bm101]

This is what I meant. With the wheeled gauge, the idea is to keep the gauge in the position shown in the upper diagram, but there is nothing at all to prevent it slipping down to that shown in the lower diagram, pulling the marking wheel closer to the edge of the board:

This doesn't happen with a wooden gauge as the stem sits on the top face of the wood you are marking. Oh, and I generally pull the gauge towards me. It works for me.

Just a beginner so I don't want to upset anyone but I started out using the QS one so maybe it's just what you are used to using? Originally I found that it could 'rock' as in the pic above but if you roll it through your fingers while maintaining parallel pressure on the fence wheel it seems to work for me and cuts a nice line. Sorry! I really don't want to be seem to try to teach Grandma to suck eggs so apologies if it comes across like that. Maybe it's just a matter of habit for a tried and tested user of a pin gauge. Bit like going from a manual gearbox to an automatic. (An automatic without flappy paddles).
I always pull the qs one towards me. I can't manage to push it true and I wouldn't have a clue which type is better overall if indeed there actually is a better ot it is as Custard says, horses for courses. I wouldn't pretend to know.
If I knew what I know now when starting out, I wouldn't buy one now as my first gauge but I didn't so I have one so I get along with it as well as I can. I quite like it tbh. :roll:

 

[MikeG.]

........Just a beginner so I don't want to upset anyone

Don't worry about that. It's only woodwork trivia.

but I started out using the QS one so maybe it's just what you are used to using? Originally I found that it could 'rock' as in the pic above but if you roll it through your fingers while maintaining parallel pressure on the fence wheel it seems to work for me and cuts a nice line......

Oh it's perfectly possible to get the thing to work. It's just that it takes an unnecessary amount of skill. Skill which isn't needed to get a pin gauge to work.

 

[Beau]

I just drilled a hole to take a pencil in the other end of my wooden marking gauge. Think the gauge cost about £4

 

[AndyT]

Every few months I think we've got this subject sorted, but it soon rolls round again.

To be fair to the OP, he wasn't asking about wheel gauges in general, but there's no reason to let that get in the way.

 

[MikeG.]

Every few months I think we've got this subject sorted, but it soon rolls round again.......

Does it. Sorry. I've been away for about 6 or 8 years.....

 

[AndyT]

Does it. Sorry. I've been away for about 6 or 8 years.....

Nice to have you back. Perhaps we were just keeping the subject warm for you?

 

[Andy Kev.]

There's clearly some sort of fever doing the rounds of marking gauge manufacturers at the moment. Have a look at these - and the prices:

https://www.fine-tools.com/anreisshilfe.html

Caution: you should not be holding a cup of hot tea or a sharp object when you clock the prices!

 

[AndyT]

Hmm, these gauges are calibrated from a fence.
In use, the fence rubs along the work, so it will wear, making the markings inaccurate.
Conclusion: they will only remain accurate if they are not used. I think that's what I will do with them!

 

[Jacob]

There's clearly some sort of fever doing the rounds of marking gauge manufacturers at the moment. Have a look at these - and the prices:

https://www.fine-tools.com/anreisshilfe.html

Caution: you should not be holding a cup of hot tea or a sharp object when you clock the prices!

Wouldn't happy without the full set I need all three. Only £500 ish. Currently out of stock unfortunately.
I love that heavy clunk you get when a new gadget gets thrust through my letter box - very sexy!

 

[Jacob]

........I've never used a metal gauge - they seem pointless to me............

=D> =D> =D> Very good Jacob. Very good.

:lol: I hadn't seen the obvious pun so I can't take the credit for it! But I'll use it again at the first opportunity.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

There's clearly some sort of fever doing the rounds of marking gauge manufacturers at the moment. Have a look at these - and the prices:

https://www.fine-tools.com/anreisshilfe.html

They probably haven't had any made yet.

 

[katellwood]

There's clearly some sort of fever doing the rounds of marking gauge manufacturers at the moment. Have a look at these - and the prices:

https://www.fine-tools.com/anreisshilfe.html

Caution: you should not be holding a cup of hot tea or a sharp object when you clock the prices!

If you are looking for something along these lines. I was on site one day hanging half a dozen doors, but unfortunately went without a square.

Fortunately Axminster, Sittingbourne was closer than the workshop.

Popped along to pickup another of their 6" combi square's, however, ended up buying one of these.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-st ... are-900043

Very similar to the above, extremely accurate, can be used as a square and a pencil gauge

 

[Andy Kev.]

There's clearly some sort of fever doing the rounds of marking gauge manufacturers at the moment. Have a look at these - and the prices:

https://www.fine-tools.com/anreisshilfe.html

Caution: you should not be holding a cup of hot tea or a sharp object when you clock the prices!

If you are looking for something along these lines. I was on site one day hanging half a dozen doors, but unfortunately went without a square.

Fortunately Axminster, Sittingbourne was closer than the workshop.

Popped along to pickup another of their 6" combi square's, however, ended up buying one of these.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-st ... are-900043

I've actually got one of those but since I've had a combination square (imperial), I've hardly used it. In itself it's good kit though.
Very similar to the above, extremely accurate, can be used as a square and a pencil gauge.

I haven't the foggiest idea how I got my post inside your quote!!! Mod Edit:- I have

 

[Andy Kev.]

Hmm, these gauges are calibrated from a fence.
In use, the fence rubs along the work, so it will wear, making the markings inaccurate.
Conclusion: they will only remain accurate if they are not used. I think that's what I will do with them!

That's a very subtle condemnation. Here's a less subtle one: you've got the gadget which is no doubt accurate to the nth degree but then you put a pencil alongside it which means that only the near side of the mark is accurate but there's a fair chance that the grain has taken it off line in a couple of places. So the gadget should really have a cutter or other marker built into it i.e. back from the end, in order to get the benefit of the engineering.

 

[Racers]

Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk and cut it with an axe.

:wink:

Pete

 

[Andy Kev.]

I stumbled on this this morning while wandering about in the internet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuckBFDUdMg

It doesn't do anything new of course but it does look as if it might do it well. Mind you at US $99 for the marking gauge, it wants to do it well!

I have to admit that I like the look of the panel gauge variant because if there's one tool I really have difficulty with, it is my traditional wooden panel gauge - obviously down to me and not the gauge but there it is.

Do you reckon this will be popular or is it just too dear/too complex or a solution looking for a problem?

Put the money towards a decent 24"/600mm combination square, that's a tool for life.

Use it as a panel gauge as per the photo (ignore the brass weight, it's just there to keep the blade of the combi square flat on the workpiece), you hold the stock of the combi square firmly against the workpiece, then slide it along with a pencil against the tip of the blade.



It's re-settable to a smidgeon better than 0.5mm. Pretty much every cabinet maker I've ever met does it this way, you'll make a wiggly mess the first few times but practise makes perfect. If you're making the same thing over and over (like say a standard kitchen cab) you'd have two pieces of ply screwed together that does the same job but to a fixed distance. For shorter distances use a 12"/300mm combi square or show you're a proper craftsman by making up half a dozen top quality gauges like Pete's, but with holes sized for the pencil that lives behind your ear. Why half a dozen? Because once set you don't change it until the job's finished and out the door, so you need a separate one for each measurement.

If anyone produced that Woodpecker thing in a proper cabinet making workshop there'd be much sniggering and chortling.

As luck would have it, the local monthly flea market was on yesterday. Now this is famous - at least in my flat - for never having useable tools for sale, yet there was a bloke selling steel rulers with a groove on one side, obviously designed for a combination square. They were flawless and only needed the storage grease removed from them. They had a weird length of 50 cm (there's no accounting for Johnny Foreigner) but they also had twenty glorious imperial inches marked on the other side and divided in 32nds. The groove looked a bit narrow but at €4 a go they were worth a bash and wonder of wonders, it fits my combination square fence! Given that a 2' Starrett rule costs around 80 quid and given that I've only ever had one plank wider than 16", it looks like I'm sorted.

 

[MikeG.]

...........or you could just buy yourself a cheap roofer's square.