Marking Gauge - Traditional Woodworking Tool by sablebadger

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

In addition to 3D printing one of my hobbies is "traditional" aka Hand Tool woodworking. One of the tools that I use a lot is a marking gauge, and it never hurts to have extra around. So I thought I would model it up and see how well it would work in modern materials. The marking gauge is an ancient tool, and examples have been found back as far the 1500's
What is it used for? A marking gauge is typically used to scribe a line parallel to the edge of board. It allows you to make repeated markings of the same width on any number of boards. If you're making a table you want all the legs to be the same width, and you can measure once and mark multiple times with this tool. I also use it for marking the border around a board for carving designs.
This design borrows a lot from the historical examples, using a captive wedge to hold the beam in place, and a wedge to hold the pencil in place using friction. I opted for the pencil instead of a cutting/scratch gauge using a nail or metal blade which is also common. I might make an additional beam that allows for that later.