Made Some Marking Gauges

[Bibliophile 13]

I actually have been working on stuff here and there.  I just completed these two marking gauges in cherry and spalted pecan.  Locking mechanism is a "French wedge," and finish is paste wax.  

This first one is fairly small at 6" long, but pretty serviceable.  










This second gauge doesn't have as much flashy spalting on the fence, but the bell-shaped profile is my own design.  It makes the fence comfortable to hold while allowing for a wider-than-usual bearing surface.  I have several gauges that I've made with this design, and I've really come to enjoy using them. 

This one is a little longer at 7" overall.  









Comments and questions welcome.  Thanks for looking!

[C. in Indy]

Very nice, striking looks!

I was actually thinking of re-visiting your gage threads, since I recently hawked an expensive gage and had fun repairing a beater which works just as well for me...

Chris

[GNP]

Excellant

[overland]

Beautiful gauges--and very well made.

[Bibliophile 13]

Thanks, guys!  For those interested in the build-along process, here's my blog post with all the details.  It's a process that requires a fair amount of attention to detail, but once you get the process down, it's not terribly difficult.  The first few gauges I made were kind of sloppy and ugly, but they worked well enough.  I still use them sometimes.  But my go-to gauges are a couple that I really took my time on and made as well as I could.  I use them regularly, not only because they work well, but mainly because I don't cringe when I pick them up. 

[overland]

Yes, even a crude one is a pleasure to use. It's nice if you use a heavier wood, too. I was going to say,, too, that the trick is getting the beam square and then chopping the mortise square, too. But would it be better if the beam was not square but dovetailed? That might prevent any wobbling.  Just a thought.