On Marking Gauges Part I – Old and New

For more information on gauges, see our beginner site Common Woodworking.

On marking gauges as a whole – Part I

First of all let me take the unusual step and say I have lumped three different gauge types under the one heading as I have done, ‘marking gauges’, for, regardless of specificity and nomenclature, what they do is what they are. Beyond that, the names help us when we pass them to one another in the shop or write about them as we are here. The names identify the tool for our convenience. We use only three different types of marking gauge to run parallel lines lightly into the surface of wood to guide subsequent work with other tool such as saws, chisels and planes. The lines are made with single and double pins installed in the gauges on a part we call the stem or beam.  We use different marking gauge types throughout almost every area of woodworking and a wide range of specific tasks from laying out recesses to marking out the parts of joints before cutting the actual joint parts. 

Here is a traditional marking gauge with the two main body parts identified.

Marking gauge types

Marking gauges are quite simple tools and there is not really too much to be said, yet my experience tells me I should share what I know from using them daily this past 50 years. Few modern gauges give us what the pinned versions of old offered and still have for us. There are one or two modern gauges of quality but in my view few match those made in previous centuries using ornately configured brass wear plates inlaid into solid and stable exotic woods such as ebony, rosewood, boxwood or mahogany. Some older gauges might be utilitarian with no redeeming qualities other than the fact that they really work well while others come as highly engineered units but perhaps unnecessarily so. That said, beyond appearance, the most utilitarian gauge gives exactly the same results as the ornate counterparts and equals all of the modern ones in functionality too.In general use, different types exist for woodworkers and at first glance it would seem confusing to anyone new to woodworking as to what they do, how they differ, what they should be looking for to buy and what to use. So, let’s have a go at demystifying the offerings of three centuries. 

As can be seen above, marking gauges are basically two sections of wood united together with one or two steel pins passing through the stem part that score the surface of wood to make guidelines usually parallel to the edge of a piece or part of wood. We’ll cover that in the next two paragraphs.

Traditional marking gauges

Traditionally, marking gauges dating back several centuries divide into two main types with a third offering that combines the two types in one gauge. The two main gauge types are the marking gauge and the mortise gauge. The third type is one we call the combination gauge and this one combines both the marking gauge and mortise gauge using a single stem housed in the stock of the same gauge. 

The mortise gauge

The combination gauge

The conventional marking gauge

Most marking gauges made through the past three centuries have been made from beech, a straight-grained domestic hardwood growing throughout Europe and parts of north America. In functionality and general appearance the marking gauge remains unchanged after two centuries and more of developed use. In its simplest form this gauge comprises a single stem of wood known as the beam and a shaped stock designed to fit the hand, hold the stem and secure the stem to the stock during use. The stock houses the square or shaped beam which passes into and through the stock at 90-degrees. The stem holds a single, round, steel pin about 2.5mm in diameter fixed near to one end of the beam as shown. 

By moving the stock to the desired distance from the point of the pin, and having locked the stock to the beam by turning a thumb screw or setscrew, we push or pull the gauge along the edge of a piece of wood and score a parallel line or lines along the surface of the wood being worked to guide subsequent work with cutting tools such as planes, saws and chisels.

The modern marking gauge

New gauges have been developed in more recent decades, mostly by newer tool makers looking to develop new and innovative tools or replicating high end tools for the more recently developed market catering to tool collector-users. These gauges use hardened steel discs anchored to the ends of twin or single stemmed rods that pass through a metal stock which has a thumb or knurled set screw that locks the beam in the stock to the stock in like manner to the conventional marking gauge. Instead of a pin tracing lines on the surface of wood, the disc engages the wood and actually cuts a very thin knife-like cut line into the surface. These seem highly refined and whereas they give a very fine line on the wood, I often find them too fine to see because they incise-cut the wood so thinly and the wood springs back to close up the line. Having tried the different disc-type cutters over several years I have decided their best use is for two areas; one, they are good for developing hinge and lock recesses, things like that, a very limited use, and, two, I also find them very functional for delineating straight inlay work and for developing cockbeading rebates. Beyond that I find traditional marking gauges that date back centuries have proven themselves invincibly reliable for both longevity as lifetime tools and efficacy in ease of use and simplicity. The discs on disc-type marking and mortise gauges tend to edge fracture along the super thin cutting edge and this seems to easily happen even without careless treatment.

I passed my gauge to John this week and asked him what he felt when he used it. He moved the gauge with difficulty along a piece of sapele, a medium to light density wood, and the edge broke before our eyes leaving another section on the edge of the disc of 2mm missing. The engineering and material quality of this gauge is excellent, but herein is a reality comparison. I suspect that this is another case where an engineer thinks we need something super thin, which is not the case at all. A steeper bevel wall would have given us the a good line without compromise. The disc would be easily sharpenable for a once a year touch up too. Of course this may vary between different makers and even between the actual discs but the fact is they are very, very fine, in my view generally unnecessarily so, and they break easily. On the other hand, I have yet to wear out or break a pin in pinned marking or mortise gauges though I am sure it has happen. With all of that said, in actuality the disk gauge actually works fine with the fractured edge. Perhaps a serrated edge would be another innovation too.

Comparing the two types

In my view modern developments in the gauge in no way replaces the performance and ease of use that the conventional marking gauge offers to woodworking. The two types offer different possibilities and I like to have both with the additional disc type being kept for more special work and not to replace the pin type gauges. That being said we should consider why the two exist. I have found both gauges handy in my work but the ones I generally reach for are the conventional wooden ones. This is not because I am used to one and not the other or I am nostalgically attached. The marks left by the older gauges are clearer to see in just about any and all wood types and the marks made help me to align tools such as chisels exactly to the final line. The pin gauge forms a small but refined ‘U’ shape in the surface of the wood and because I set the very point of the gauge pin to the depth or width of cut, the pointed bottom of this slight ‘U’ then is the exact depth I plan on cutting to whichever cutting tool I use. Another thing I like is the gauge traces the surface easily in all woods and that I have found consistently is not the case with disc-type gauges. In almost all hardwoods the disc gauge binds in use and the manufacturers say not to press down hard, inevitably the gauge seems to pull itself into the wood and indeed bind. This is most difficult and so I find myself using great force forward (not downward) to effect the marking I need. Often times the pinched disc becomes immoveable and especially is this so in oak whereas In self lubricating woods such as some of the softwoods such as pine that’s not the case at all.

These pins are about 100 years old. Use time cannot be calculated but it will be many hundreds of hours.

This disc is used occasionally and over five years the disc has deteriorated. Use time is about six hours.

This picture shows the comparison between the heavy pressure of a pine-type marking gauge on the left, the light pass with a pin gauge at centre and a disc-type cutting gauge at right.

22 Comments

  1. Another problem I find with the wheel gauges is the inaccuracy of the start and stop points when trying to creat a line between two points.

  2. I started out with the disk type gauge and more recently got a wooden combination pin type gauge. I’m warming up to the pin type. You’re right that it takes less effort and leaves a better line. Another thing I notices with the brass rod disk type gauge is that it is a lot more finicky to set. The brass stock slides way too easily on the brass beam, almost zero friction. So I find I have to be very careful to hold it exactly in place while I tighten the thumb screw. But on the wooden model, there is more friction between the parts, so it doesn’t slide all over the place while I’m trying to set it.

  3. I have one of those disk type gauges and was surprised when my hand quit reaching for it. Once again Paul reveals the fact that newer isn’t necessarily better. I find that I have a built in bias and naturally think that new tools work better than old tools (especially if they have a power cord attached). The fact is that a few hundred years of practical benchtop engineering is hard to beat and new tools frequently prove inferior.

  4. I started out with a wheel type, but more recently got a wooden combination gauge and I’m really warming up to it. I agree, there’s less effort involved and the line is more visible. Another thing I’ve noticed is that with the all brass wheel type, it can be very finicky to set. There is virtually no friction between the brass stock and beam, so it slides all over the place as you’re trying to set it. I’ve found I have to get it close, then tighten the screw very lightly, then get the setting just right, then crank it down. But the wooden gauge has just the right amount of friction so you can set it, and crank it down without it slipping.

    1. What brand is yours? I have a Veritas gauge and there is a rubber “O” ring inside that keeps the beam from sliding when knob is loosened making for easy adjustment. Unfortunately the knob loosens on its own so I have to keep an eye on it.

      1. The loosening knob with ‘O’ rings on some Veritas tools is a fairly common problem and so I have retrofitted locking knobs with a groove to receive a brass key I made and that resolved the issues. I do love the simplicity of the fastening aspects but they have got to work effectively and efficiently. Here is the link to what I did.

  5. Interesting, Paul. I’ve always found the pin type gauge tends to dig into the wood and tries to follow the grain whereas my Veritas disc one doesn’t. Perhaps my preference, like yours, stems from growing up with a certain type.
    I have to agree on the cut line thickness though. A thicker disc would be a major improvement!

    1. It’s not based on what I grew up with but thorough experience. The disc definitely bogs down in certain woods no matter how lightly the disc is offered to the wood if it is pressed hard enough to actually make a viable mark that can be seen. Trailing the pin in a pin gauge and not pressing it into the grain works perfectly well and never follows the grain provided it is in fact trailed and not pressed too hard. I am used to both types and feel the Veritas design is nice but the disc is flawed.

    2. I didn’t see a knife gauge there. The most useful of all marking tools.
      Marples used to make a beechwood version, but it needed a lot of tuning to work properly.
      Stephen Proctor

  6. Great Blog, I have a disc type marking gauge and truthfully never liked it so it just gathers dust. I like the traditional ones much better, in fact I have several that some friends have made for me out of various woods. A couple of mine also has a knife blade in lieu of a pin and they work well.

    Steve

  7. Hi Paul,
    My son bought me a “Crown” gauge with brass inlays and a brass dog holding a knife.
    I havn’t been able to track it as well as the pin type which I’m getting used to Ive been through mortising for a workbench and found that the pin type gives me repetivive height on the mortises. I’m having fun learning about the “knife walls”.

    Do you think the problem is the angle of the Knife in the gauge or just sharpness. No instruction with this gauge

    1. This sounds like a cutting gauge also called a slitting gauge. The brass wedge you call a dog, it seems to me, is a wedge that tightens against the steel cutter and is sharpened like any edge tool with to each of the bevels either side of the spearpoint. Depending on which side of the blade the bevel is on depends on which side of the cut line the bevel bruises the wood. We turn the blade one way or the other in the housing so that the task of creating a good cut line is achieved. The flat of the blade is installed parallel to the face of the gauge stock so that the blade creates a knifewall as we do with the knife and square only this time the stock of the gauge controls the cut line or knifewall instead of the square.
      The development of the cut line is initiated with a light pass and then deepens with subsequent passes unless the grain seems favourable after the first light pass. If it is favourable and the cut runs smoothly we can press firmly and develop the knifewall in one full pass.

      1. Thanks for your reply.(and many interesting hours watching your videos.)
        I’l work some more with it now that I know its used to actually create a knife wall (before taking it apart). Then I’ll try sharpening the blade.

  8. Hello Paul,

    Is there an easy fix for a stock that is not square to the beam on a mortise gauge? (The type with the thumbscrew on top of the stock).

    I’ve found a cheap one at a local big box store (HF) here in NJ that might work for my needs but after setting the stock and checking it with a square, it was out a few mm. Ditto for every one I tried on the shelves.

    Have you found this to be a problem

    1. First off I would try the gauge on some scrap and see if it works. I have a couple of such gauges and they work just fine out of square. You can usually fix poorly aligned wooden components made from wood but what you can’t fix too well are big gaps that cause slop in use. You don’t want something that moves too much, especially after cinching things tight and finding they move.

  9. Thank you, Paul, as always, for unparalled guidance.
    The stock did not move nor did the stem when I cinched them up, so I have decided to get one and try it out. They are only $9.99 at Harbor Freight and with a 25% coupon they can be had for $7.50! The description says hardwood, and the thumbscrew brass, and indeed at the store it looked like this was the case. The finish was poor though, a thick glossy varnish. Great price though if they indeed work fine. I’m going for it. Oh, and Happy New Year to you and your Family, as well as Happy Birthday wishes.

  10. As a point of clarification lest some think that the disc type marking and mortise gauges are relatively recent inventions, the #98 (twin beam) and #97 (single beam) disc gauges made by Stanley and others have been around for 100 years or more and are commonly sold on EBay. These have a disc or discs at one end and pins at the other. They are made out of steel.

  11. Hi Paul
    Can you comment on the shape of the pin in a standard marking gauge. Is it sharp, or does it have a small radius. Do you chuck it in a dremel and run a file on it or just slide it on sandpaper.
    Thanks
    Andy

    1. Though two flats either side of the pin is easiest to form, and then also produces the longest lasting tip to work with, I do like pinpoints best. It is best to file the point to a point first and then turn it in a drill against abrasive paper moving the tip along the abrasive to avoid wearing out the abrasive in one spot.

  12. I have had junk wheel types including Veritas. My Tite-Mark has been flawless and easy to keep sharp for 10 years. For me, it is easier to use than the pin type. Fractured wheels have never occurred and I use the original. I have tried the pin type and always go back to the Tite-Mark.

  13. Paul,
    This is an interesting thread that I have just found. I have a different type of marking gauge with no locking screw. The beam is made up as two semicircles of slightly different diameter with one edge aligned, forming a cam shape. The stock has a matching hole and the gauge is tightened by twisting one relative to the other. The pin seems to be a nail through one end of the beam.. This would seem to be a poor man’s marking gauge, to use your own terminology.
    If it was of interest to you, e-mail me your postal address and i’ll send it to you.
    Best regards,
    Keith

Comments are closed.

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