Veritas Wheel Marking gauge.

[Homeless Squirrel]

What's anyone's thoughts or own/have used them?
I see can have plain or inscribed imperial/metric plus they do a double one and others like model making etc.
Seen clone types out there often/mostly from our China types!.
Mind a few look interesting one where can see markings/measurements in an opening in slidey bit

 

[Jacob]

The old woodies are best of all and very cheap. Much nicer to use.
Also you often need several on the job so you can leave them set and not make mistakes by having to reset them as you go. Ebay is good
https://www.toolstation.com/hand-tools/marking-gauge/c1169

 

[Valhalla]

What's anyone's thoughts or own/have used them?
I see can have plain or inscribed imperial/metric plus they do a double one and others like model making etc.
Seen clone types out there often/mostly from our China types!.
Mind a few look interesting one where can see markings/measurements in an opening in slidey bit

I use them all the time. IMHO they produce a more accurate measurement than the old wooden marking guages. If the wooden ones have a pin that hasn't been filed to very fine point they can make a V which may result in sloppy joints. If you go with a wooden guage go for one with a marking blade rather than a pin.

 

[Homeless Squirrel]

The old woodies are best of all and very cheap. Much nicer to use.
Also you often need several on the job so you can leave them set and not make mistakes by having to reset them as you go. Ebay is good
https://www.toolstation.com/hand-tools/marking-gauge/c1169

Have a few inc an ancient Stanley metal one and like you say have a few set to various settings.
I do with sliding combi square when was setting up metal work to weld also with woodwork these day's

 

[Ttrees]

Pity Veritas don't make an offset gauge with a solid stem, as a fall would
damage the thin walled one, it's surprisingly thin.

Another feature would be twin locking screws, as the stem is a bit slippery,
so for jobs not intended for a gauge i.e routing to get a flat spot,
will move it if expecting a bit more from it.

With the fit of these, minute adjustment is easy, and the micro adjust is silly.
It's actually a pants design on the Veritas and one needs be sure it's permanently locked down
as the cutter goes all floppy otherwise.

Try finding a Titemark with an offset, which actually is made to fit, unlike the cheapies
which are very loose and sloppy, but have twin screw so still work well/better if locked compared,
but at the expense of needing a hint more care setting it up.

Veritas cutters for a quid or two, may not fit onto these cheapies, not mine anyway,
and notably the screw on the end of those/many is not countersunk and therefore cannot drop down
to get thickness unlike the spendier ones.

 

[Peter Sefton]

I have a range of the Veritas marking gauges, my favourite is the more recent micro adjust. It has an oval shaped head, the older versions were round and can roll off the bench.

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/veritas-micro-adjust-wheel-marking-gauge-fine-tune/
I find new woodworkers get much better results whit wheel marking gauges as opposed to traditional wooden ones, also wheel gauges can be used with or across the grain.

This video explains some of their uses and set. Our AUK is the only gauge I have used that can be set with one hand leaving the other free for the rule or timber.



Cheers

Peter

 

[Blackswanwood]

I wouldn’t be without mine.

The one that I use most is this one:

http://www.veritastools.com/products/Page.aspx?p=102
Although it has metric measurements on the rod I tend to set it using a rule or adjustable square. My only criticism is that it can role off the bench but I have developed the muscle memory to always put it down with the rod down a dog hole.

I also have the one with a double cutter which has the oval head.

Great piece of kit and far more versatile/easy to use than the traditional wooden gauges in my opinion.

 

[Jacob]

I use them all the time. IMHO they produce a more accurate measurement than the old wooden marking guages.

They are spot on of you set them carefully. Combi scale preferred option as one is usually on hand.

If the wooden ones have a pin that hasn't been filed to very fine point they can make a V which may result in sloppy joints.

Never filed one in 50 years. If you want a finer line you trail the point a little more. There is a bit of a knack in trailing the pin - people have been known to thrust forwards with the pin vertical; a struggle, but you soon get the idea.
The other trick is to mark the line in short forward passes from near the far end and working back, so that each mark runs into the previous one. If you try it in one pass from one end to the other you may go off line but the short passes self corrects.

If you go with a wooden gauge go for one with a marking blade rather than a pin.

Pins good along the grain - and across for fine lines but a deep cut as for DT shoulders needs a cutting gauge, either knife or a knife sharpened pin.
Mortice gauge also handy/essential.
That's three; pin, cutting, and mortice. Also handy to have a few more around so you can keep them set all the way through a job.
It can be worth ebaying for "marking gauges job lot" and you might get a box full life times supply for next to nothing. There's a lot them about as they are nearly indestructible.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I have a range of the Veritas marking gauges, my favourite is the more recent micro adjust. It has an oval shaped head, the older versions were round and can roll off the bench.

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/veritas-micro-adjust-wheel-marking-gauge-fine-tune/
I find new woodworkers get much better results whit wheel marking gauges as opposed to traditional wooden ones, also wheel gauges can be used with or across the grain.

This video explains some of their uses and set. Our AUK is the only gauge I have used that can be set with one hand leaving the other free for the rule or timber.



Cheers

Peter

Peter, that is an excellent video, capturing all the qualities of a wheel gauge.

The question I must ask is whether that is a Tite-Mark gauge or a copy? Tite-Mark designed and still sell that model.

I do have both Tite-Mark and Veritas wheel gauges. I would give the nod to TM, but the Veritas a excellent, and indeed better in some ways. Micro adjust is not a necessity, and sometime just intrusive. Like many things, it comes down to personal preference and price.

I rarely use one gauge at a time, more usually two, but sometimes more. This is relevant to know since one really should budget (over time) on purchasing or making enough.



It is horses for courses: wheel gauges excel at cutting a very fine line. But this is always going to be shallow. That can be an issue with harder woods. Deeper lines are where woodies with knives come in. My favourite are the Japanese knife gauges. But a pin gauge/mortice gauge is still the best for marking end grain (such as lines for a tenon). Do not even bother to try this with a wheel gauge.



All get used. Some I made.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Lefley]

Peter, that is an excellent video, capturing all the qualities of a wheel gauge.

The question I must ask is whether that is a Tite-Mark gauge or a copy? Tite-Mark designed and still sell that model.

I do have both Tite-Mark and Veritas wheel gauges. I would give the nod to TM, but the Veritas a excellent, and indeed better in some ways. Micro adjust is not a necessity, and sometime just intrusive. Like many things, it comes down to personal preference and price.

I rarely use one gauge at a time, more usually two, but sometimes more. This is relevant to know since one really should budget (over time) on purchasing or making enough.



It is horses for courses: wheel gauges excel at cutting a very fine line. But this is always going to be shallow. That can be an issue with harder woods. Deeper lines are where woodies with knives come in. My favourite are the Japanese knife gauges. But a pin gauge/mortice gauge is still the best for marking end grain (such as lines for a tenon). Do not even bother to try this with a wheel gauge.



All get used. Some I made.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Very good info. Thanks.

 

[clogs]

Derek,
rather like the bigger marker, 1'st photo.....
also that tool unit would not look out of place in a bedroom.......nice one.....

 

[Jacob]

They are spot on of you set them carefully. Combi scale preferred option as one is usually on hand.

Never filed one in 50 years. If you want a finer line you trail the point a little more. There is a bit of a knack in trailing the pin - people have been known to thrust forwards with the pin vertical; a struggle, but you soon get the idea.
The other trick is to mark the line in short forward passes from near the far end and working back, so that each mark runs into the previous one. If you try it in one pass from one end to the other you may go off line but the short passes self corrects.

Pins good along the grain - and across for fine lines but a deep cut as for DT shoulders needs a cutting gauge, either knife or a knife sharpened pin.
Mortice gauge also handy/essential.
That's three; pin, cutting, and mortice. Also handy to have a few more around so you can keep them set all the way through a job.
It can be worth ebaying for "marking gauges job lot" and you might get a box full life times supply for next to nothing. There's a lot them about as they are nearly indestructible.

And of course the big advantage of the pin gauge is that you can choose between a very fine line by tilting your wrist slightly and trailing the pin, or coarser (e.g. on a less than perfect surface) by holding it straighter, all done with the same gauge. Ditto with a cutting gauge.

 

[Hornbeam]

The Veritas gauge is excellent and acts more like a cutting gauge. I also have a cheap copy but the wheel is very poor and doesnt work well at all. Agree with Jacob that if you do a lot of marking having a couple of gauges set up is much better than resetting

 

[pe2dave]

I find 'em most useful marking 'along' the grain, where a pin based marking gauge might wander with the grain.

 

[Ollie78]

I have the Veritas single wheel version.
It's great, I much prefer it to the other gauges I have.
It makes a small but visible mark with no tearing.
I don't think the measurements on them are particularly critical, mostly you set the gauge to the actual work or a previous measured mark.

Ollie

 

[Fitzroy]

I find 'em most useful marking 'along' the grain, where a pin based marking gauge might wander with the grain.

This is the biggest advantage I find. Additionally I like the functionality of the dual marking gauge so you can mark both sides of a M/T at the same time.

I do however use both new and old style. My storage of them is not as salubrious as Mr Cohen!

I also have one of these which I love for the ease of setting a measurement and marking it. Always amazed at how accurate it is.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Igaging-Accumarking-Digital-Marking-Height/dp/B01M3P3K69
F.

 

[Jacob]

......, where a pin based marking gauge might wander with the grain.

it's something you soon learn to correct, and it helps if you use the working from the far end process I describe above.
Have to say though - my few goes with a wheel gauge showed very similar behaviour; going off line in the grain. Either way it's something you learn to correct and forget about.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Derek,
rather like the bigger marker, 1'st photo.....
also that tool unit would not look out of place in a bedroom.......nice one.....

I made that wheel gauge. I wanted one with a wider fence. The design was influenced by Japanese gauges, which I like a lot ...





I have since upgraded it with the micro adjuster from Veritas, which is available on their website.

One of the best known Japanese cutting gauge makers was Kinshiro. Sadly I believe that he has passed away. I have two of his gauges, and they have influenced a number of my builds. His is the one on the right (mortice gauge), with a single cutter on the left I designed ..





What I like with this style cutting gauge is that you can set up a specific depth by dropping this blade, thus ...



I also styled this mortice gauge after his gauges, also the concept is very different ..



This mortice gauge uses fixed cutters which are captured in a "cassette". I have several sizes to interchange ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Valhalla]

Never filed one in 50 years

I know - I've seen your work

 

[Jacob]

I know - I've seen your work

Oh good!
Here's one I did earlier. Mid winter sun and a frosty day.
Do you make things at all yourself?
PS I should say - I do use marking gauges a lot, in fact a set of sash windows can mean best part of a week just marking up, so the kit has to be good to use. Those little metal gadgets would be a pain in the, er, wrist.