Veritas marking gauge looses its setting

[Dionysios]

I had the same problem mostly with my Quangsheng gauges and les so with the Veritas dual gauge (I supose because it has the extra shaft clamp that holds the two rods in the same relative position).

To solve the problem I have used a leather hole punch tool (the one with the revolving head that makes different sized holes) and a scrap of leather about 1.5 – 2.0mm thick.

I punched a hole at the same diameter of the brass screw and put the little round off-cut in the screw hole with swede side towards the rod. Then I’ve put the screw back in.

The small piece of leather increases drastically the friction and the rod stays put at the desired setting.

 

[pgrbff]

I have a rosewood Marples gauge and have never got on with it, I much prefer a similar Japanese gauge with a knife rather than a pin. I also have the Veritas gauge which is not micro adjustable and has a solid stem, I would use it over the Marples any day. Every time I see the Marples I think I must put that on ebay.

 

[tibi]

Like Andy said. Contact Lee Valley customer service and explain the situation to them. They are very good about standing behind their products even when well out of the warranty period. They have made price adjustments and refunded money when the suppliers dropped a price part way through the year. They have also offered and sent out improved parts for tools they make without being asked. I remember them sending an Aussie a free steel rule when by mistake he ordered an imperial scale instead of the metric one he wanted. I'm pretty sure they will take care of you.

Pete

Thank you very much Pete . In the meanwhile, I have rubbed the square end of the knob on the diamond stone and so far it holds. If it gets loose again, I will contact customer service.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

You're persistence with this tool is inspiring
I wonder if it may be possible to find a sleeve for it, to act as a gib,
if it were possible and feesable to source thin wall tubing to stuff into the body..


Perhaps @Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) can mention why he made a single thumbscrewed wheel cutter marking gauge, and whether it slips if used somewhat heavy handed,
or if graphite might be on ones hands?
IIRC he's made one of those before

I have several wheel gauges as well as wooden gauges with knives. Both can perform very well, and they have pros and cons.

The advantage of a wheel gauge is that the line scribed is thin, precise and light. These are excellent across the grain, such as marked dovetail baselines, especially when you want the face side to be lightly marked. The down side of wheel gauges is that the blades cut a light line and that this can be difficult to see in end grain. Concerns raised here about knobs loosening are across the board for all types of gauges, but more so with wheel gauges, and what I do is give them an extra tightening once set. I use plastic-jaws pliers ...

This is one I made which Tom referred to ..

I recognise that the little knob on the Veritas fine adjuster can get loose, but it is an excellent addition and allows for fine, precise adjustments. Just tighten it up afterwards to be safe.

Much easier are the knobs on a Japanese Kinshiro gauge. These gauges are superb. The knives can cut deeply. Their downside is only compared with a TiteMark, as they lack a fine adjuster.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Jacob]

I have several wheel gauges as well as wooden gauges with knives. Both can perform very well, and they have pros and cons.

The advantage of a wheel gauge is that the line scribed is thin, precise and light.

............

Pin gauge can do fine light line, or deep heavy line, just as required. The pin is trailed across the surface at an angle, not forced through vertically. No problem at all - just a twist of the wrist.
Pin gauge good for fine line across grain too, but knife gauge better for deeper ones such as for knife wall preceding a saw cut.

 

[Trafalgar]

"Contact customer service" just sounds so un-craftsman like. Like some woman having a problem with her dishwasher. Peeing and moaning on the phone about something. Sniveling about some $20 Chinese-made gauge that was a bad idea and poorly executed from the start. My suggestion would be to contact your garbage can and let it know that something is headed its way and then get back to basics with a few wooden gauges that won't let you down. Ever.

 

[Lefley]

I wouldn't waste much time on your Veritas gadget - traditional wooden marking gauges are more reliable, much nicer/easier to use, and cheap. It's useful to have several on hand as they tend to get referred back to as work progresses, so you can leave them on the same settings for the duration of the job.
I used to spend a lot of time marking up on big orders.

Can I ask a question Jacob. How come you always jump in and cut up people who have or do things that are against your beliefs. You seem to be a real piece of work. He asked a valid question. And when I fist saw the post the first thing that came to my mind was, wow Jacob is going to show up and spew some **** ! And low and behold next post you. Maybe with all the free time you seem to have you could make a constructive comment to a valid question, instead of trolling comments and answering with your narrisicistic comments, cutting down people for not doing things your way, which I'm assuming as you are a person that your way is the right way and there is no other way!
just my 2 cents.

 

[Jacob]

Can I ask a question Jacob. How come you always jump in and cut up people who have or do things that are against your beliefs.

"Beliefs" has nothing to do with it. I was offering practical advice based on my experience - having spent 100s of hours using marking gauges.
I'm very sceptical about many of the "new improved" offerings on so many fronts as they are often expensive, there's a lot of peer group and advertising pressure to buy, but in the end they may be inferior to the older ways and not a solution to any problem at all.

You seem to be a real piece of work.

Speak for yourself! What a miserable, bad tempered and unpleasant post. Putting you on ignore.

 

[Inspector]

....... Sniveling about some $20 Chinese-made gauge that was a bad idea and poorly executed from the start.......

This marking gauge and ALL Veritas tools are made in Canada.

Pete

 

[Trafalgar]

This marking gauge and ALL Veritas tools are made in Canada.

Pete

They might rather we believe otherwise in this instance.

 

[Inspector]

They might rather we believe otherwise in this instance.

 

[Trafalgar]

From the OP's first post: "...but it often loses its setting..."

I'll leave it at that.

 

[Jacob]

From the OP's first post: "...but it often loses its setting..."

I'll leave it at that.

Sounds like a very fundamental design fault. Ideally a marking gauge needs to stay set through the length of the job. I doubt these little metal ones would if you dropped one.

 

[Trafalgar]

Sounds like a very fundamental design fault. Ideally a marking gauge needs to stay set through the length of the job. I doubt these little metal ones would if you dropped one.

Other ones like it, from other manufacturers, slip as well. I imagine you could search just about any woodworking forum that's been around a while and there would be similar threads about the same style gauges.

Anything adjustable along a polished steel rod will have a tendency to slip. It's just common sense. Hence my comment earlier about those who wipe them down with an oily rag, if not apply oil directly -- big no-no. Fence arms on combination planes are often scuffed with sandpaper to stop the fence from slipping, in virtually the same phenomenon that is happening with the OP's gauge.

Otherwise, there will always be a subset of people who refuse to believe that something new isn't always an improvement on an old design or way of working. Sometimes it is. A lot of times it's not. Stanley made the same style gauge decades ago, but from the ones I've seen the arms were not polished to an extremely high sheen like the current ones made by others. That could be because of their age, I don't know for sure, but if it was by design then IMO it suggests they knew these gauges could slip under side pressure.

 

[Jacob]

Other ones like it, from other manufacturers, slip as well. I imagine you could search just about any woodworking forum that's been around a while and there would be similar threads about the same style gauges.

Anything adjustable along a polished steel rod will have a tendency to slip. It's just common sense. Hence my comment earlier about those who wipe them down with an oily rag, if not apply oil directly -- big no-no. Fence arms on combination planes are often scuffed with sandpaper to stop the fence from slipping, in virtually the same phenomenon that is happening with the OP's gauge.

Otherwise, there will always be a subset of people who refuse to believe that something new isn't always an improvement on an old design or way of working. Sometimes it is. A lot of times it's not. Stanley made the same style gauge decades ago, but from the ones I've seen the arms were not polished to an extremely high sheen like the current ones made by others. That could be because of their age, I don't know for sure, but if it was by design then IMO it suggests they knew these gauges could slip under side pressure.

Many new products (of all sorts and sizes) may be largely speculative, the makers not knowing for some time whether or not they will be taken up.
Which puts our new tool makers in a spot - no new ideas so they reintroduce old designs, which never went far first time around.
No surprise then that they still aren't rated second time around, but they will sell a few as it takes some time for it to become impossible to ignore.
Just think of all those new retro thick bladed planes with Norris adjusters - all duds!

 

[Jacob]

I had the same problem mostly with my Quangsheng gauges and les so with the Veritas dual gauge (I supose because it has the extra shaft clamp that holds the two rods in the same relative position).

To solve the problem I have used a leather hole punch tool (the one with the revolving head that makes different sized holes) and a scrap of leather about 1.5 – 2.0mm thick.

I punched a hole at the same diameter of the brass screw and put the little round off-cut in the screw hole with swede side towards the rod. Then I’ve put the screw back in.

The small piece of leather increases drastically the friction and the rod stays put at the desired setting.

The trad Marples mortice gauge does the same but with a metal button (like a washer without a hole) not leather.
They often get lost and the brass slide gets marked by the end of the screw. You can tell its missing by just looking at the slide, but if you didn't know you might not realise the cause.

 

[Ttrees]

Many new products (of all sorts and sizes) may be largely speculative, the makers not knowing for some time whether or not they will be taken up.
Which puts our new tool makers in a spot - no new ideas so they reintroduce old designs, which never went far first time around.
No surprise then that they still aren't rated second time around, but they will sell a few as it takes some time for it to become impossible to ignore.
Just think of all those new retro thick bladed planes with Norris adjusters - all duds!

Aye, folks buying low angle planes for regular work is a bit silly, isn't it?

It's almost like the folks who've gone that route believed those planes would be an improvement!
Likely because they failed to understand the fundamental design of the ubiquitous Bailey hand plane.
I guess they were simply conned into the suggestions that some dubious gurus were worth watching, and most other youtubers weren't.
That craic is on every forum, and I bet those premium tool makers are happy to coin in from such ignorance.

Kinda like what this thread has become, carpenters vs furniture makers talking about their preferred tools, and refusal to acknowledge the features what the other camp has to offer
....even if it didn't work!

That ain't a reason to call an idea shiete full stop, in this case..
as the issue could simply be down to a little bung of leather.

PS my Titemark knockoff doesn't budge, well it never has so far,
though I'll try to see if it moves before I use it again.

Tom

 

[thetyreman]

a tool can only perform as well as it was designed to perform, if a design is good it will stand the test of time like traditional cutting gauges, the bailey plane, e.t.c

 

[mwinfrance]

I"d scuff the carp out of the shiny tube so it didn't slide when it wasn't supposed to.
Strikes me as a design error, making it so smooth.

 

[Trafalgar]

I"d scuff the carp out of the shiny tube so it didn't slide when it wasn't supposed to.
Strikes me as a design error, making it so smooth.

It most definitely is.