Marking Gauges Part 1

I had seen this article and this tutorial on making traditional marking gauges which  inspired me to make some of my own.  I took some liberties with the process and the wedge orientation to come up with a method that is easy and fun using 'mostly' hand tools.

This article documents the construction of my second batch of gauges.  The first batch came out fine but I didn't get many pics and I learned some things in the process that made the second batch a little bit nicer.

This is my first batch made with bubinga that was left over from another project.

I placed my wedges under the beam rather than on top as in the original.




I had seen one online with the wedge oriented this way.  I think this makes it more comfortable to hold and use.

I decided to make the second batch of three from beech, since I had some quartersawn that I had bought a few years ago.  I had 2x2 inch stock and was able to resaw it on the bandsaw to get the beams and stocks from one 9-1/2 inch length.   I had to saw another 3-1/4 inch length to make the wedges.  That left me with plenty of extra wedge material if I decide to make more gauges.

This is my beech stock roughed into beams, stocks, and wedges.  The stocks or heads are resawn into two different thicknesses which will be glued back together during the build.

After planing away the bandsaw marks and squaring the stock, I marked out the mortise on both sides of the thicker piece of the head.  These are 2 x 3 inches and a bit more than 5/8 thick.

I used a 9/16 Forstner bit to remove most of the waste.  I roughly squared up the corners with a 1/4 inch chisel, then finished up with a 1/2 inch working from both sides.  The finished mortise is approximately 5/8 inch square.

I was aiming for a close, slightly snug fit.  It took some minor paring inside the mortise then planing the beam to fit.

I mortised all three before moving to the next step.










Stay tuned for part 2.