Steve wrote:
Frankly, I've found a marking gauge pretty clumsy to use and its pin
cuts a ragged line.

There are marking gauges with knives or sharp wheels rather than pins
for this exact reason.

Chris

On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 17:06:56 -0600, Chris Friesen
wrote:

Steve wrote:
Frankly, I've found a marking gauge pretty clumsy to use and its pin
cuts a ragged line.

There are marking gauges with knives or sharp wheels rather than pins
for this exact reason.

Chris


I have a butt ugly quickie marking gage I made to hold a pencil. I
made it mebbe... a couple of years ago... still using it. heh. one of
these days...

On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 17:06:56 -0600, Chris Friesen
wrote:

There are marking gauges with knives or sharp wheels rather than pins
for this exact reason.

"Marking" gauges traditionally use pins. The ones with knife blades are
called "cutting" gauges. For marking out dovetails they do indeed cut
a better line. However they're not recommended for marking mortices, as
they tend to self-steer when following along the grain.

A good compromise is a gauge with a pin, but to sharpen it on two sides
as a narrow knife blade.