# Attempt at marking gauge, or how I ruined a nice piece of wood



## Eric13 (Jan 15, 2012)

For some reason this morning I had the urge to try and make one of these. I have a Made in India piece of junk from Harbor Freight and the beam part isn't even square to the body and is a very loose fit. I figured I could use the hardware pieces from it and do a better job of making one. (I've learned how my figuring was slightly askew.) Rather than drag table saw out and uncover it etc., I decided to use hand tools to cut and square my pieces. 

I have a piece of 8/4 Jatoba in the shed and instantly realized that using some lumber that's harder than the hobs of hell is perfect for this first attempt. So I hand ripped a piece about 1 1/4" wide and 12" long. I planed it up all nice and square and ran my No. 4 smoother over it giving it a smooth as glass finish. It was beautiful! I should have stopped here and posted a picture of a nice piece of 1 1/8 x 2 1/8 Jatoba. There is no picture of it so it never existed. I can still see it in my mind though, brings a tear to my eye.

I decided that making the hole for the beam piece first would be wise. So drilled a hole for it with a 3/4" spade bit. I rotated my drill press table 90 degrees and clamped the piece to it to drill the hole in the top end grain for the tightening screw. Lined it up, drilled out perfectly centered! Now to drill the hole for the metal dowel with the threads in it. (I can't think of what this is called??) Just as I was lowering the bit to start drilling, my four-legged shop pal decides that all of this fine carpentry nonsense has gone on long enough. So he comes from behind, sticks his head between my shins and barks at me. So my hole ended up being 1/16" off center. To add further insult the dowel piece is not 1/2" diamter as I thought, but something just slightly less. The hole I drilled is 1/2".

I quickly recovered from this small bump and worked on squaring the hole for the beam to slide in. Tap tap tap, careful hand paring, this is actually quite fun. Who needs a mortising attachment for a drill press when there are manly sharp chisels and hammers to hit them with?? I do.

Trying to get the beam to fit this oddly shaped hole was a frustrating time, so I found a little trick to make it easier: Plane the beam so it's too small and it'll slide easy every time. It never dawned on me that using a 3/4" dowel would have worked until I reached this point.

So here is my partially completed, hand made in Florida, marking gauge. This is why people like me should not be allowed to possess tools. I think I heard the people in India laughing.

On a more serious note, I am going to start again tomorrow. This time I will use my table saw. I think I'll use a dowel for the beam as well.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

That's very nice. I was going to make one. But I bought one instead. Yours is nicer.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

It looks pretty dang good, I think. After making my first hand plane with cocobolo wood (still ain't finished it yet) I realized that I need to start building mock-ups with cheaper softer wood the first time around. 

I made this marking gauge as a mock up for a cocobolo marking gauge that I haven't built yet. Just lime you, I learned a lot from the process. Build n burn, live n learn.

~tom "Ignorance is not a lack of intelligence - it's a lack of know-how"


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## Eric13 (Jan 15, 2012)

Thankyou for your kind words chaps. It is very bad though lol. Having learned my lessons today, I shall make a better one tomorrow! (If it doesn't rain.)

That one you made looks very nice there Tom! How did you make the hole for the beam?


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Eric13 said:


> That one you made looks very nice there Tom! How did you make the hole for the beam?


Drilled the hole offset to match the round over on the beam. Then coping saw and cleaned up with a chisel. Worked pretty well. 

The biggest thing I learned is that roller cutters and beveled blades work far better than pins. I find the pins wander really bad.

~tom "Ignorance is not a lack of intelligence - it's a lack of know-how"


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

That gauge looks good to me. If you don't hand cut a lot of mortises, it just take practice. Do you have any handscrew clamp? If you do, you can clamp them along your mortise line and use it to guide your chisel straight down so you have a nice square walled mortise. Then use your saw and cut your beam just a tad big and plane it a little and check the fit. Plane a little and check the fit. It's not a big project so the time spent here will pay off in spades in no time. I think if you are unhappy with this one, just redo the mortise a tad larger. Lay it out carfully and pare to the lines again and then re-cut a beam and carefull fit it. This isn't a loss if you are unhappy with the beam's fit, just need to mod it a bit. It looks good by the way, I like your choice of hardware. Those cross pin dowel thingy's are great for these builds.


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## Eric13 (Jan 15, 2012)

Thanks again! The hardware is from the India gauge, I figured it would be at least usable for mine.

I don't have handscrew clamps, but I clamped a piece of angle iron to the piece and my table to keep the chisel square. I think I was just getting frustrated, especially by the off center hole for the dowel! I have given up for now, I learned a long time ago that working when I'm frustrated or angry just ends up causing more problems.

If there is one thing that was joyous it was the cleaning up of the rough Jatoba. I bought a wheeled sharpening jig at Woodcraft a few weeks ago for my chisels and plane irons and I was looking forward to seeing how my sharpening turned out. It was fantastic! Nice shavings, although the grain is very prone to chipping, so very light cuts and even lighter with the smoothing plane.

I really do appreciate you guys looking in and supporting, sorry for this one being a bust. The next project I post will be finished honest! :thumbsup:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

For starters, this was an enjoyable read. Made me laugh several times and that can't be a bad thing. Secondly, this is a great looking marking gauge and if I were you, I would keep it. Personally, I think it looks great.. Keep up the fine work.


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## joesbucketorust (Dec 13, 2011)

I think that's a pretty good start for a gauge. You can buy a corner chisel that helps in making square holes, I've got a crown one that came in a gift set - they're a bit too expensive for my taste. 
I've also got this one that I made myself from a spare chisel handle and the chisel part of one of those cheap mortising bits that you can find on flea-bay for under $10. It came in a box of junk I bought and didn't have the drill bit that goes inside. The build was real difficult - took at least two minutes to find the handle and another 10 seconds to pound it in to the hole up top, but I think the results were worth it for a "free" tool.


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## Eric13 (Jan 15, 2012)

Thankyou chaps! 

I'm glad there was some humour found in my post, I was trying to make the best of a frustrating day lol. 
I like the home made mortising chisel, an excellent idea.

I'm just going to have to go back and work on making the mortise a bit larger like you've all suggested, working even more slowly and carefully this time. (Rehone of the chisels might be in order too lol).

It is very nice to have good support from you guys, Thanks once again!


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