A standard marking gauge doesn’t work very well on curved profiles, especially concave ones. So, I designed a simple marking gauge for curved parts. It’s made from two pieces of square stock, the top one slotted to provide adjustment. A thumbscrew locks the setting. I drilled a hole in the top piece to hold a pencil (or an X-Acto knife) and rounded the business end of the bottom piece to allow it to follow a curved profile (see below). To scribe a line, butt the rounded end of the gauge to the edge of stock, then slide the gauge along the curved edge. As you scribe, make sure the gauge always stays 90º to the curve.

Click to enlarge image.

Drawings by Jim Richey.

Drawings by Jim Richey

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