How to Make an Afordable Marking Gauge

Marking Guge Kit I used here: lddy.no/12qeh
this marking gauge is made of 500-year-old English oak from a friend of the channel.
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[@scottb.2022]

I made three of these earlier this year after Johnathan Katz-Moses highlighted the kits. Gave them away. One additional feature you may want to consider is adding a small chamfer to the blade side of the rod hole so the blade can be protected when not in use. Fun little project.

[@professor62]

Your additional feature is a very good idea! Thanks!

[@blacknorce]

This is on my list of projects. Looks great

[@johnkelley9877]

I love the tutorial and the humor. Thanks for sharing this.

[@viriato8566]

After dismantling an old laser printer for parts I had a collection of long steel arbors with threaded axle holes on each end. A bit of head scratching & rooting around salvaged screws yielded basically the same hardware as the purchased kit. You'll have to grind a bevel on a washer though. Didn't find any 300 year old oak in the printer though.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

perfict!

[@michaelgreen429]

Nice and timely ... building one right now

[@wolfman75]

Cool!!!! Looks like fun!!!!! Thank You James!!!!😎😃👍

[@nicolasf2675]

Cool project. Idea for improvement: make a recess for the blade wheel so you can stand the marking gage verticaly.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I thought about doing that, but then forgot as the excitement of the finish drew closer.

[@andyhastings5950]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo HeeeHeee🤣🤣🤣 My kind of guy! Oops forgot to .........

[@TheDistur]

Nice looking gauge!

[@J.A.Smith2397]

This video left a mark

[@PaulSmith-rd8yc]

Sounds quite a good little project to do and using good old British folk. Suppose over here in England were after use American white oak. Been visually impaired use these tools quite a bit and you’ll be surprised what are use it for actually market it’s a lot of stuff cardboard to leather. Got to get a wheel marker the next coat I just use a point. Keep up the great work

[@Dogo24h]

Very creative and useful, nice jo bro.

[@joespilman7333]

Happy thanksgiving

[@WoodenBoatBen]

*snide remark* ermagerd oak again!! Rabble rabble rabble. Lol. Delightful as always.

[@MCsCreations]

Really beautiful work, James! 😃 I've found what I believe is a piece of white oak from a construction near here... And I guess I'm going to do exactly that! Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@andyhastings5950]

I just recieved the two of the kits you recommended for the DIY guage. I'm going to build a twin rod guage for tenon marking. I just ordered the 1080 bar stock to make the guide for the far end to keep the two rods parallel, as they can twist out with out it. I choose 1080 for it's hardening and tempering abilities as it will give it a spring action to help in operation. I'll send photos of the build.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Sounds like a fun time.

[@andyhastings5950]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo I think it will be. As you showed even an old duck can build one following your instructions, Oh No I didn't mean your the Old Duck!! That's me.

[@skoomasteve6144]

cool wood

[@LimitedGunnerGM]

Quick question/comment: how about drilling the beam hole, then sawing to the center of the hole. Use the insert and screw sideways as a clamp on the beam? The chamfer hole to recess the blade is a good idea, I saw that mentioned earlier

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That would work.

[@skoomasteve6144]

Good morning friends

[@najdiy]

Cool

[@fk6536]

Nice project, next one a dual?

[@halsti99]

Looks nice :) How tight does the screw on the cutting wheel need to be? Mine always seems to loosen over time, if i dont tighten it all the way. But if i do, it does not spin anymore.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

it should not spin. the blade should be locked in place. It works best as a knife that cuts rater then a roller that crushes.

[@professor62]

Hey James, it’s a very cool looking marking gauge. But do you find that it’s as comfortable to use as an all-wooden one? I’m so used to the thicker wooden ones that I’m wondering if the thin rod will be as comfortable to use. Thoughts?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I find both about the same. the big benefit it the wheel. these are FANTASTIC for cross grain.

[@trevors2933]

Well I didn’t think these were that easy, guess I’ll find out in about 7 days when my kit shows up🤣 think I have some cherry or red oak laying around

[@mattf9096]

The "you need a marking gauge to make a marking gauge" comment got me wondering if it might make an interesting series to do the exact opposite. Make a square without a square or a saw without a saw etc. etc. Basically any type of tool that would prove difficult to make well in that circumstance.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I've actually done a few of those. I have a video on making a square without a square and a plane without a plane. As well as a mallet without a mallet.

[@salimufari]

You don't need a gauge to make one but it does help some...

[@GCaF]

I've tried to make like 4 marking gauges and the hole never ended up perpendicular. Now don't think I bore it sideways or anything... but it still between 87-89.5 degress and with a long rod it shows. Any tips on making sure the hole is perpendicular through? I've tried with a standing drill but still it deviated, even if just a little. I'm using the 89.5 gauges and just looking at them trips me :)

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I use the ring trick for me. you can easily eyeball side to side but it is the up and down that you can not see. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2G1XoVra8pqesU but to be honest I do not think any of mine are closer then 98 degrees. it feels like it would make a big difference, but in actually function it does not.

[@GCaF]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo I'll try that as well. I'm a bit concerned about having it perpendicular in the vise (and it not rotating when I bore through which happened on one of my attempts - or it was not exactly 90 degrees to begin with). I really want to get one perfectly square :) And btw I agree: They function just fine as they are - they just look weird :)

[@bernardhvanengen5002]

@@GCaF In addition to the ring trick you might check the position of the wood in the vise with a level first.

[@tungsten_carbide]

@@GCaF I share your pain here, I struggle to drill near-perfect perpendicular holes no matter what method I use. I have an old drill press with a vintage brown/gold B&D drill mounted in it, and I had high hopes it would be better but it's just not accurate or rigid enough to ensure perfectly plumb drilling. One workaround for this is to carefully mark up matching points on both faces, then drill through from both sides. Similar to the inside faces of dovetails not having to be neat and tidy, the 'middle' of the hole can be a bit messy, but the aligned starts of the holes ensure you'll be pretty much bang-on 90°. I relied on this method recently because I had need of a really accurate perpendicular hole (for the tailstock of Patrick Sullivan's disappearing lathe) and it gave the best result I could have hoped for - sighting through after drilling the second half I was as close to aligned as I've ever gotten, with only a minor step (0.3mm?) at the halfway point. Another trick, and this is really a dirty trick LOL, is to start with overthick stock, drill your hole straight through from one face _and then plane the faces to match the hole angle_ (or sand, if that's the way you roll). I feel like I'm cheating when I use this, but it sure works :-)

[@GCaF]

@@tungsten_carbide Cool ideas, thank you!

[@warrenmunn3224]

Did you get written permission to use Sarah's plane?

[@standswithfish]

You need a marking gage to make a marking gage. Thank God you weren't making a saw! I hope you were at least using Starrette calipers.

[@boriszaprudin1458]

I have a question about this kind of gauges: is the blade supposed to rotate freely or is it fastened tight? I've made one myself couple of years ago with a freely rotating blade, but i wonder wheather it has any real benefits.

[@ricos1497]

Tight. It's not a spinning wheel.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

It is suppose to be locked in place. If it rotates then that means there is play in the blade and its line will not be as true. the idea is a knife that can cut in any direction.

[@boriszaprudin1458]

Thank you! No, there's virtually no play, as I've made it on a precision metal lathe :) Some microns. But sometimes it seems like it wants to jump over the growth rings of the wood, so I'll fix it in place.

[@Hansenomics]

Good morning! We all need marking gauges!

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Congrats on first!

[@umbertozanchin4476]

Why you didn't use the pedal lathe?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

How would that help me?

[@dwayne6402]

nice marking gauge. I like it, how much?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

the kit is $14 if I remember correctly.

[@c.a.g.1977]

Awww 💩 They don't ship the kit to the Netherlands! It would've made a nice gift for my two woodworking buddies!

[@andyhastings5950]

Has anyone made a dual rod M&T gauge?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I have two videos I'm making mortiseing gauges. But I haven't done with a wheel. I guess I should get a second kit and make one.

[@andyhastings5950]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo I ordered 2 kits and am going to try and build a double rod gauge using your basic one rod design. I really think your design is as accurate as anyone but a wood fetisher would need. Who needs an accuracy of +- 1.5 millions of an inch!!!!!!

[@andyhastings5950]

See my reply on my efforts as of today

[@tungsten_carbide]

This is a nice kit and your gauge turned out great. That is a lovely piece of _quercus robur_ you have there! I'm very fond of the old joke that you need tool X to make tool X (and it really is true sometimes!) but I wish you'd shown that you can actually mark out the stock without one since newbies might not realise one is not _strictly_ necessary, although obviously desirable. And just to mention, this is not far cheaper than you can get a trad gauge. Here in the UK at least there are a couple that are around the price of the kit, or less. These aren't all cheapie-cheap versions, the Crown tools pin gauge I believe is still made from some member of the rosewood family and has a brass thumbscrew.

[@mikekazz5353]

"If you're making a tool you're gonna need the same tool to make that tool" Then who made that original tool?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Aliens.

[@MarJuki-ug6un]

Salam

[@JackFright]

*grumble* need marking gauge to make a marking gauge. *grumble*

[@beardyface8492]

Not to be picky, but you can buy a complete marking gauge for less than the kit costs, provided you're not picky about brand. Either very quickly & easily for a pin marking gauge, or with a wait but cheaper still for a wheel gauge from ali express.

[@loganosmolinski4446]

Boop