Using a Marking Gauge
Bob Van Dyke demonstrates how to properly use a marking gauge to make sure you get perfect scribe lines every time.
In this video, Bob Van Dyke walks you through the do’s and don’t’s of using a marking gauge.
Bob begins by explaining how to properly set the gauge to match the thickness of your stock, and explains situations where you might actually want your gauge set a little thinner or thicker. Next, he illustrates the correct way to hold a marking gauge: by the head, rather than the neck, so you can properly press the gauge against your stock, minimizing twisting and wandering as you scribe your line. Bob uses a bench hook stacked with a few pieces of stock so he can both hold his workpiece firmly while scribing, and have enough clearance to avoid knocking his knuckles against the bench.
Bob always scribes with a single bevel knife style cutter head, with the bevel facing the waste. He begins with a few light strokes to establish his mark before making it deep and clear. Scribing in multiple passes like this prevents the knife from wandering and keeps scribe lines straight and clean.
Comments
Thank you
With Joinery, The Devil is always in the Details! Fantastic lessons here! Never occurred to me to grab a bench hook and double up my workpiece height. More than Cool......
Great information . Learned a few things . Try putting a camber on the end of the blade when you sharpen it. You get a smoother cut with no jagged edges . A little harder to sharpen but far better results on the cut .
Also since the outside edge of the blade is flat , use a scrap piece to set up the initial alignment . You'll be right on the correct width to start with and it's very easy to fine tune from there . BTW, I just moved my rolling marking gauge to the back of my tool chest in favor of the cutting gauge .
Again thanks for the video. I know these productions are expensive but it's part of why I subscribe to FWW. I look forward to it every Saturday morning .
what kind of cutting gauge is that?
This one: Shopmade Cutting Gauge by Bob Van Dyke #261–May/June 2017 Issue
Appreciate the link to the pdf file. I'm looking forward to the making a better marking gauge and even more so to using it. The information of this video is so illuminating and will improve woodworking accuracy tremendously. Thank you all for composing such a fantastic video!
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