Replies

1. 
   Ricky_Yu | Jan 08, 2004 03:30pm | #1

   If you haven't already, check out http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com for their English-made rosewood panel gauge. Your gauge should be sized to accomodate the largest panels that you anticipate working with. A straight and durable fence is essential. Use a dense stable hardwood and perhaps inlay a brass wear strip. The fence should be long--long enough that it registers tightly against the panel, especially when using a long beam. Also, the longer the beam, the more susceptible it is to deflection, especially when the gauge is fully extended. The opening in the fence should accomodate the beam as closely as possible but without any sort of binding. A thick fence and a wide beam can also help to counteract any deflecting tendencies.

1. 
   DuncanSR | Jan 08, 2004 10:55pm | #2

   Ricky,

   Thanks for the info. I've had a look at the web site you recomended, that helps a lot. Have you built one? If so what wood did you use and what did you use for a scribe?

   Duncan

1. 
   Ricky_Yu | Jan 09, 2004 01:20pm | #3

   You caught me; I have never built a panel gauge (or any gauge for that matter) though you wouldn't know that considering my blow-hardy know-it-all earlier post. So take everything I say with a grain of salt.

   A lot of the manufacturers use rosewood, so that's an option if you can find and afford it. However, these manufacturers often put out an economy version made from beech. Either wood seems to me to be suitable. But I think you can use almost any hardwood, the important thing being the fence be made of quartersawn stock so the face is less likely to warp over time. If you have a certain hardwood in mind but think it might be a little soft, than you can always add the brass wear strip.

   As for the cutter, if you are going with a pin, I have read of shop-made gauges using a brad with its head clipped off for that purpose. But considering the function of a panel gauge, you might like a pin for marking with the grain and a knife (like on a cutting gauge) for marking across the grain. You could have two beams: one with a pin and the other a knife. Or you can incorporate the pin and knife onto one beam.

   At any rate, post some pictures when you're done to show me how to really make one.

2. 
   Scrit | Feb 02, 2004 03:23am | #4

   Bob Wearing has a design for this in his books (e.g. "Woodworking Aids and Devices" publ. Evans, ISBN 0-237-44995-1) together with many other toolsand devices to make. Traditionally in England they seem to have been made from rosewood or mahogany (at least all the examples I've seen are) - ebony was just too expensive.  Any stable and fine grained hardwood woud do, but the darker tropical woods probably look better. My home-made one has a stock approx 4 x 3 x 7/8in and a stem approx 3/4in square and about 18inches long giving about a 15in span (it is based on the Wearing design) and is made from beech (well, it's cheap here). The stem is held by a wedge and the two ends have a hole for a pencil and a pin point (home-made sharpened, hardened silver steel rod) respectively, so it can be flipped round. To that end mine has a rebate on both sides of the stock.

   If I were to build on again I'd increase the length of the stem to around 7 or 8 inches, especially if I were to increase the reach to 22/24inches.

   Scrit

   
   

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   Edited 2/1/2004 7:28:06 PM ET by Scrit

1. 
   DuncanSR | Feb 02, 2004 10:58am | #5

   Hey Scrit,

   Thanks for the info. I bought a piece of quartersawn cocobolo to use for both the stock and stem. The current problem is that when I try and handplane the cocobolo I have no luck. I am using a Lie Neilson #8 that is tuned to shave off 0.001 when I use it on hard maple. When I go directly from the hard maple to the cocobolo, its like I have changed the blade in the plane to a wooden blade. Any ideas?

   Duncan

1. 
   Scrit | Feb 02, 2004 11:59am | #6

   Yes, cheat! Mill the cocobolo on your spindle moulder/shaper or router table, even on a metalwork milling machine, then hand scrape. Just don't try to take heave cuts. Scrapers or high angle (York pitch or higher) planes work on the stuff, but I don;t think you'd get too far with a common pitch plane, as you've probably surmised. I have some iroko in the shop at the moment which is just the same, so far only scrapers have worked on it. Perhaps Mike in Katy over in Knots would like to comment. Doesn't he make plane handles out of this stuff?

   Scrit

   Edited 2/2/2004 4:00:08 AM ET by Scrit

3. 
   cowtown | Apr 23, 2005 11:17am | #7

   Iknow I'm a little bit late in replying to this post, it's damn near a year old....

   We all make precision jigs for the TS right?

   so if the stock you mill up is 1/4x3/4, yu is gonna have off cuts right?

   so three 10" long piecs of stock, set side by each (good canadian parlance there) you got a piece that is 3/4x3x/4. good enuf for a mortice gauge. Yer little cuts, you just cut up two pieces 3/4" long, and then attache two longer cuts to it. Then you make another layer, only so the joints overlap, and then another layer. You got three layers of wood, stacked up like Lincoln logs, wrapped arround three sticks of 3/4x1/4 stock, and you got yerself the major pieces of a marking guage.

   let the glue dry, drill and tap a hole for a sitable locking screw,(10-24 works) use a cuppla 1/16 drill bits and drill the holes in the end of the stock, grind cutting edges in the drill bits (real hard steel), set em in place with a wipe of pva glue (carpenters) and
   voila- a bonafide shop made marking/morice gauge.

   The curious thing is that if you do woodworking, if you look for the "stuff" to make this, you probably got it at hand,

   And, Dunc, the methodology is so cheap and easy, that if this first try doesn't cut the mustard with you, at least you got a reference point for the manufacture of the next iteration. In the meantime you got a funtioning mortice gauge.

   The next iteration is a likely event anyway, so why dwell on getting the first one to the paragon of performance. Just make it, and develop from there.

   Eric in Cowtown