After final sanding with 220 grit, I was ready for finish. I used Chris Schwarz workbench finish. Equal parts oil based varnish (I use satin) boiled linseed oil, and odorless mineral spirits. I wiped on two coats with a piece of old tee-shirt. I let the first coat dry overnight and the second coat dry for two days.
The beech takes on a nice color with the first coat of finish. The original color was almost as white as the pine sticks I have the parts sitting on.
The final step of the finish was to clean up the parts with 0000 steel wool and apply a coat of paste wax.
The last part I needed was the steel marking pin. I made these from music wire that measured .078 inch diameter. I cut them 1-1/8 inches long. I filed the flat and used a bench grinder with an 80 grit wheel to round the back side. It ends up being kind of a football shaped.
I heated these to bright red and quenched in water then tempered them to straw color. OK, some of them may have been more blue than straw. You have to be very careful when heating something this small. Either way, then are harder than when I started.
I refined them on my sharpening stones until I had a nice sharp edge.
I laid out the hole location 3/8 inch from the end of the beam. Then used my drill press with a #48 drill bit which measures .076 inch diameter. This proved to be a little too tight so I ran the same drill through again using a cordless drill and it took out just enough to make the pin fit. It's still pretty tight, I tapped them in with a small hammer. I think that's the kind of fit you want so it won't slip.
This was a fun project and I'm very pleased with the way these turned out.
You may be wondering why I need six marking gauges. I plan to keep three and give the rest to friends who also enjoy woodworking.
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