derek c needed at the front desk. marking gauge help?

[Adam Lewis]

i noticed on your website that you have made a few marking gauges. one in particular caught my eye. you made one with a captive brass plate at the turn screw to hold the beam in place. i would really like to do this to a panel gauge that i am getting ready to build. can you explain in a bit more detail how you went about the captive brass part. i see a photo of it, but i just don't see how it is captive.
thank you
adam

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Adam

Gee .. I thought my explanation was good :) I'll add a bit but not sure if there is much more to explain.

Here are a few images from the article ..

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/CuttingGauges_html_10c4ced5.jpg

The captive blass plate ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/CuttingGauges_html_2da59ea7.jpg

The parts ... The plate is simply a brass plate that I drilled for a screw. The hole on the plate is chamfered, and the screw head fits fairly flush. Excess is filed off. The screw is left as a stub.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/CuttingGauges_html_1f59f8e4.jpg

OK, drill a vertical hole through the gauge for the screw but leave it undersize for the locking screw. It should be sized to make a tight fit for the stem of the locking plate. You should be able to insert the stem and plate from within the (arm) mortice. With the arm in place the brass locking place is itself locked in place (held so by the stem entering the hole).

Now from the top drill the hole wider and tap it for the screw. It should only be deep enough to make contact with the top of the stem. (Too wide and the stem will rattle around).

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/CuttingGauges_html_7fbc86b0.jpg

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/CuttingGauges.html

Does that make it clearer? Fire questions if it does not.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Adam Lewis]

yup, that cleared it up. i was thinking that the thumb screw was attached directly to the locking plate. my mistake. now i understand that the locking plate screw and the thumb screw meet inside the body of the fence, point to point.
thank you for the clarification.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Adam

One more tip ...

Grind a slot into the top side of the rod for the blade. This will enable you, using a screwdriver, to turn the blade to the ideal angle for cutting.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Adam Lewis]

Ooooo.... good call.