The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING
Gauges
Beech marking-gauges (43:3) are cheap enough and several should be provided, thus saving time in multiple layout work. The brass-plated variety offer no real advantage, but boxwood thumbscrews are preferable if they can be obtained as the plastic screws tend to snap off if dropped. In circular work the flat-faced gauge will give a false reading, and stubs of dowel-rod rounded over (43:5A) to give a two-point bearing are necessary, while for concave edges one face of the gauge can be rounded (43:5B), and for pencil-use a hole can be bored in the end of the stem. Marking-gauges are primarily intended for scoring with or on the end grain; if used across the grain they will either scratch or tear unless the pins are needle sharp, and a cutting-gauge (43:6) is more suitable. This has a small knife in lieu of a steel pin, secured by a brass wedge shown alongside (43:6A); the knife is pointed and bevelled on one side and used with the bevel facing the fence, pulling the fence tight against the work and preventing any tendency for the knife to ride with the grain. Mortise-gauges (43:9) are in effect double marking-gauges with two pins, one of which is adjusted for distance by a threaded rod passing through the stem. These gauges are usually made of rosewood which is a somewhat unnecessary refinement, for the brass movement is rarely good enough to last a lifetime, and the points of the pins wear out.
All these gauges are held in one hand tightly against the edge of the wood, the fence inclined away from the body and pushed forwards so that the pin is always trailing; the movement can then be reversed to impart a rocking movement to the gauge. (It is for the individual worker to find his own particular method of handling as with all other types of hand-tools.)
The long panel-gauge (43:10) is used for pencil gauging panels to width; a wooden wedge secures the fence which is rebated so that it does not tip under its own weight. The stick should not be less than about 20 in (508 mm) long to take in the extreme width of an average-size carcass. Figure 44:7 illustrates the T-gauge or grasshopper-gauge with extra long fence for riding over projecting mouldings as shown.
