# Review of the Lee Valley Japanese Style Ebony Mortise Gauges



## Purrmaster (Jul 19, 2012)

I haven't been fan of the pin mortise gauge I have so I decided to order one of these from Lee Valley along with a Veritas dovetail guide.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=50263&cat=1,42936

Please note: The mortise gauge is *not* a Veritas product.

I got the double stem mortise version.

My bottom line is: Keep the receipt.

The gauge I got is a bit of a disaster. The cutting knives friction fit into slots cut into the stems. The instructions for the guide do note that some sanding of the slots may be needed to get the right fit for the blade. So I expected the blades to be fit pretty tightly. Boy, was I ever right on that one.

The knives come pre installed in the slots. The knives weren't at the same height that was ok. I'd need to adjust them myself anyway.

So I gently tried to pull one of the knives out of the slot. It didn't budge. So I pulled harder. Still wouldn't budge. So I put some Johnson's paste wax on it to free things up. Still no joy.

So I figure it maybe needs some lubrication so I put a little butcher block mineral oil on the blade and slot and tried again. Still wouldn't move. And when I say it wouldn't move, I mean it wouldn't move a millimeter. 

So I start getting desperate. I get some pliers and try to pull the knife out that way. It wouldn't move. So I get bigger pliers and clamp on them hard and yank with all my might. No movement.

So I put some 3 in 1 oil on the thing and try to yank with the pliers. Still nothing. So I try some WD40. Still nothing.

Then I start poking around with my x-acto knife to see if I can scrape away a bit of the sides of the slots to loosen it. Didn't work.

So I tried whacking the blade side with a wooden mallet to drive it out. Still nothing.

I finally got it out by using a nailset and a hammer to bash the blade out and even then it took repeated, hard blows.

The problem with this is that, of course, this treatment totally destroyed the blade. The cutting edge is no more and the blade is bent. And it put some cracks into the wood of the stems. And that kind of punishment did who knows what to the overall alignment of the gauge.

The other knife came out without hammering but it did require WD40 and pliers.

Luckily I ordered a replacement blade along with the set and I have a backup for the blade I had to kill to remove.

Which leads me to the cutting knives themselves. They are very soft metal and appear to be very low quality. The knife that came out intact didn't even have the bevel ground into the wedge all the way. The very top and bottom of the knife was edge was rounded off.

Needless to say I am pretty pissed off about this gauge. And it makes me very wary of buying anything from Lee Valley again that doesn't have the Veritas name attached to it. And makes me want to make every effort to find Veritas stuff from a different source.

I'm debating whether to return it to Lee Valley or not. I may have to pay return shipping it would take at least 3 weeks to get a replacement gauge. Which might have the exact same problem.

The stupidest part is that this could easily have been avoided by not pre-installing the knives. Package them separately and allow the user to sand the knife slot for a good fit. Although the slot is to small that I could only fit a needle file in there.

Maybe I got a bum gauge. But my advice to others would be to stay far away from this gauge and its ilk.

I may end up getting the Veritas dual marking gauge which I can find at my local Woodcraft.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Lee Valley has an excellent "no questions asked" return policy. If you are not happy with the product, return it and get your money back. Thanks for the review and I'm sorry to hear that you have a bad experience with the guage. There's nothing more disappointing than being excited about a new tool only to have it cause you frustration. I hope you find a better gauge for use in your shop.
:thumbsup:


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## Purrmaster (Jul 19, 2012)

Thanks. Can anyone recommend a good mortise gauge that won't break the bank? After I installed the replacement blade in this gauge I tried using it and the blades didn't slide cleanly over the work. I *think* that's a result of the knives not being very sharp. I tried sharpening them on my Work Sharp but the metal being so soft made it very difficult, even on 1,000 grit sandpaper.

I was going to get the Veritas wheel mortise gauge but I read some negative reviews of it. I just want something that reliably lets me mark mortises and tenons.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Sorry to hear your problems.

Lee Valley is an excellent company, they will likely allow a return.

As you said this was not a Veritas product.

I have purchased a lot of items from Lee Valley and rarely have I been disappointed.

Lee Valley pride themselves on customer service.

I purchased a Veritas router plane. Later they improved the depth setting design and sent me the upgrade part free and without any prompting. I was impressed.

I have not looked for reviews of the Veritas wheel marking gauge, but if it says "Veritas" I would be willing to purchase. So far Veritas products have been good design, and high quality.


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## Purrmaster (Jul 19, 2012)

So far my experience with Veritas stuff has been great as well. Their low angle jack plane is great. I briefly used the dovetail guide (with their saw) and the initial impression was good.

But from what I've read even Veritas fans aren't keen on their wheel mortise gauge (I think it's called dual marking gauge). 

I tried using the Lee Valley one a little more and the knives didn't cut very well. They really need to be beveled on both sides. And they need to be sharpened. Also, even when tightened, the stems have a bad habit of shifting up and down so they aren't level with each other.

Ideally I'd like to have them send me a replacement and I could just cut up the bad one for parts or experiment on it. But that's not reasonable and they would (understandably) think I was just trying to score a free gauge.


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## Purrmaster (Jul 19, 2012)

Update: I got a reply from Lee Valley after e-mailing them:

"These gauges come with the blades preinstalled. After examining our stock, it appears that the vendor applied some sort of clear finish and in turn coated the blades in place. This is likely why you had such a difficult time. I also noted that some of the installed blades are not at the proper angle. I have brought this to the attention of our Quality Assurance team.

With that being said, I managed to have one of my much stronger co-workers remove the blades from a gauge. He finally had to use vise grips and wiggle it back and forth very slowly. I can see where someone would lose their patience trying to remove the blades."

So I'm not insane and the blades were, in essence, glued in.

They're sending me a replacement and I'll send them the defective gauge.

I'd still stay away from these gauges until their vendor works out the issues with it. But kudos to Lee Valley for actually looking into the gauges.


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## Mesquitesmoke (Dec 2, 2011)

Did they send you a replacement of the same gauge or did you go with something else? I only ask because I was about to order one of these when I stumbled upon your thread...


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## Purrmaster (Jul 19, 2012)

They sent me a replacement and I sent the original back to them. They were very good about it, as the people on here said they would be.

I was able to stick the provided blades into the replacement. I've used the gauge and my overall impression is unfavorable. It's kind of a bulky thing and I find it hard to use. Because the blades friction fit into the slots it's difficult to get both blades to protrude the exact same length. Secondly, if the blades aren't in super tight then using the gauge will cause a blade(s) to push upwards and outwards.

I haven't found it any better than pin gauges. And I have a severe dislike for pin gauges. There's another style that seems to have two metal "arms" that fold over into a knife point. I'll probably get one of those someday to test it out.

Your mileage with the tool may vary, of course.


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## woodworkinguser (Nov 14, 2012)

Thanks for the review.


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