Riley Toolworks Marking gauge - Passaround?

[rileytoolworks]

Hello fellow woodies.
I have had a few messages from people lately asking how I've been getting on with my marking gauges.
Well they're still 'prototypes', but they're nearly at a stage where I can produce a batch.

Here are a couple of shots (minus the actual marking wheel :roll: :wink: )

It all looks a little rough in the picture as it's a working prototype (no finishing at this stage)
The profile allows the gauge to nest in the hand, and the large locking wheel affords one handed tightening (about a quarter turn from 'loose' to fully tight.
The hole for the stock is reamed to be .2mm oversize, and there is, internally, a 'banjo' which the stock passes through. Tightening the wheel on top pulls this banjo upwards, forcing the stock tight against the top of the hole in the fence.
The reason for using a banjo, as opposed to the locking wheel tightening onto the stock is to prevent marring of the stainless stock.
The stock is 8mm stainless with a 9.5mm wheel (not in the pictures). The distance from the edge of the wheel to the base of the fence 13mm, meaning this can be used to mark thin(ish) stock flat on the bench.

I'll post proper pictures when they're done.

And to those people waiting patiently for gauges which I said would be ready 'soon', please accept my apologies.

Adam.

Edited for spelling.

 

[bugbear]

Probably late in the day to suggest this, but have you seen/considered/rejected the ingenious concept used by the Preston #22 mini router, and inherited by the Record #722 mini router?

http://web.archive.org/web/200812241552 ... d.html#722

BugBear

 

[rileytoolworks]

Here are a few more pictures.
Hope this clears up the 'banjo' mystery.

As I said earlier, these are prototpyes and as such have been rough handled with oily hands, hence their grubby appearance.

I have had a few messages regarding the choice of leaving the stock round. I have the gauge in front of me now, and with the 'nut' tightened, I cannot move the fence. Not even by placing the end of the stock on the floor and bearing down on the fence.
Less than a quarter turn to loosen it and it adjusts freely (well, with just the right amount of friction to stop it being loose).
Thanks for looking.

Adam.

 

[L2wis]

These look cool Adam great work! i made my own marking guage recently but struggled to find a decent blade... I used a sharpened 2p and brought some scalpel blades but was unable to drill a hole in them without busting them .

 

[pedder]

[/quote]


Hi Adam,
that looks plenty strong!

Great desgin, my friend.

Cheers
Pedder

 

[adidat]

i like it, very simple maybe a steel plate for the face that touches the wood??

I used a sharpened 2p

how well did that work??

adidat

 

[Jelly]

i like it, very simple maybe a steel plate for the face that touches the wood??

I used a sharpened 2p

how well did that work??

adidat

Its a steel core with a cupronickle coating in most new 2p's, so I presume quite well... I guess you could harden them if you so desired!

 

[L2wis]

It worked better than I expected. Looked and felt quite blunt but still marked wood okay. I used a hacksaw to cut the center out then attemted to sharpen on my grinding wheel which was tricky vecuse it absorbed the heat very quickly. I didn't harden it neither so it doesn't stay sharp for long... still works okay though!

 

[rileytoolworks]

i like it, very simple maybe a steel plate for the face that touches the wood??

I used a sharpened 2p

how well did that work??

adidat

One of the many iterations before this version (no.7 :roll: ) had a stainless face. In fact, there were two versions. A full stainless face and a half face. Of the two I preferred the full stainless face.
It's something that can be visited again if my customers feel it necessary.

All the best.

Adam.

 

[Anima]

All together now...

Passaround, passaround passaround

 

[adidat]

i think that will be a no-no, and rightly so, after Adam was let down before! poor show!

adidat

 

[L2wis]

Pass arounds are asking for trouble (unfortunately)... only way they could work is if a mod received the item inbetween each person, that would be completely unpratical though.

No more passarounds.

 

[bugbear]

Here are a few more pictures.
Hope this clears up the 'banjo' mystery.

I'm not sure it was a mystery - I was just pointing out a (hopefully interesting) other way to skin the cat.

Your banjo is very nicely made.

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

Less than a quarter turn to loosen it and it adjusts freely (well, with just the right amount of friction to stop it being loose).

That's quite similar to the Veritas Small Router.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.a ... at=1,41182

They say:

"Pressure from a wave washer steadies the blade during height adjustments."

Which sounds like a neat (and cheap) technique.

BugBear

 

[L2wis]

a wave washer would be perfect indeed

 

[ColeyS1]

i think that will be a no-no, and rightly so, after Adam was let down before! poor show!

adidat

I might have missed that what happened ? Nice work adam.Any ideas on pricing, or is it too early to say yet ?

 

[rileytoolworks]

Thanks for the comments.
The fence and stock interface provides enough stiction to render a wave washer unecessary.
As for a passaround, I'm open to the idea. I already have 3 professional cabinetmakers lined up to test them.
If there's enough interest to warrant one then I'm happy to do one.
Hopefully this wouldn't go missing!
Maybe send out some more stuff for folks to try.

I'll leave it up to you guys. As I said, if there's enough interest then it'll happen.

All the best.
Adam.

 

[DTR]

Very nice =D>

Silly question, but how do you fine adjust it? I adjust my (wooden) gauges by tapping them on the bench...

 

[rileytoolworks]

Very nice =D>

Silly question, but how do you fine adjust it? I adjust my (wooden) gauges by tapping them on the bench...

There's no such thing as a silly question Dave. I've been setting them the same way you/I do with a wooden gauge. One just has to be a little more careful when tapping on the cutter end.

As to a price, I'm not quite sure yet, but rest assured they will be competitive. Do bear in mind though that these are hand made tools.

I should be ready to take orders in two weeks, and will be offering a small discount for the first two weeks they're available.

All the best.

Adam.

 

[jimi43]

Love the design Adam...sorry I came late in the day with this.

There was a huge debate about cutter designs and wheels when I made mine a while back and there wasn't any resolution really but the wheel design was not well liked if I recall.

You can make or buy spare Veritas wheels I believe but I would be interested to hear your views on how you are going to do this.

As you know...there are a huge number of designs for locking the stem...some work better than others and I ended up putting a plug in the bottom which is encapsulated and made of a bronze/copper cold rivet. To replace this you unscrew the adjuster knob and tap it out backwards. This prevents screw marking the stem.

Your banjo design doesn't need this of course. Excellent.

During testing Douglas and I did we found that a knife design worked the best across all grains for the cutter:

This was the test across the grain...

I think the sad incident with the awl passaround might have been a one off (I would like to think it was)....and could probably be prevented by the use of a moderator (Dodge?) who would monitor the progress of the send/receive part preventing the flow of the tool being stuck or lost. If postage was mandated as being "signed for" at each stage then mishaps should not occur. It just needs some up-front rules people have to accept to take part...and be a little less informal.

Jim