How many use a panel gauge?

[Bobby O'Neal]

Is this a commonly used tool for all neander work? It seems like a rough measurement but I could be underestimating the tool. Would an appropriately sized combo square serve the same purpose and then you wind up planing to the final fit anyway?

[David Weaver]

I use one for every long rip I have on a wide board or panel. If you're making several rips, you only have to set it once and it marks a lot easier than following a combination square. I wouldn't spend a lot on one, though, an old one with a semi-dull pin will be nice to use. I think I paid about $20 for a stanley one with a brass wear strip.

I saw another one this weekend that was a nice design with a triangular beam that really locked up tight despite being very old. It seems like it might be a better design than a square beam. Sort of a triangle with facets on the pin side.

[Zach Dillinger]

I use a panel gauge, much as David describes. However, mine uses a pencil, as I'm not usually going to leave the long grain surface as the final surface (it will be planed to fit) so there isn't much need for great accuracy. My crosscuts I use a knife, as I'm usually trying to be quite accurate with line so that I can shoot to it on my shooting board, should that level of accuracy be required.

[Jim Neeley]

Mike is an all-wooden, wedge stopped unit with a wheeled knife-edge cutter and I use it for setting width on anything I'm going to machine by hand if its between about 3" and 18" in width. Less than about 3" and I use a wheeled knife edge marking gauge. With a little care they work great and are dead-nutz consistent.

Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Mine is a Stanley #1 (Odd Job) with a pencil. For marking close to the edge, my Tightmark™ gauge is most often used for the job.

jtk

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I use a shop-made panel gauge anywhere the distance is too wide for my wheel gauges. Mostly exclusively for rips when working solid stock, but also when occasionally working ply. (Where I also get a nicer finish as the knife severs the top layers of the ply.) It's got a wedged arm, with a triangular bottom to help cinch it up. I need to make a new wedge for it, I think, though, because lately it's been slipping a little bit - although it's really only a problem if I'm holding it in certain ways. It was a quick, throw-together job, and I made a cutter from a jigsaw blade. I've got it set up to use a pencil in the other end, (as Zach says, most of those parts are planed to fit. The pencil hole also make a nice hang hole.)

It may be a little more finicky than a square for getting an exact distance, but the repeatability of the marks is what is key for me - I seldom care that every part is exactly eight and seven-eighths wide, (or whatever) but rather that every part for the carcase is the *same* width.

[John-Paul Volkenant]

I made this panel gauge when I decided to go the neander route. Its made of white oak, about 3ft long, and uses a drill bit ground to a point. I set it using my folding rule, and knock the wedge home with my mallet. It is very helpful in laying out for a rip cut on a wide board or panel.

I don't find it to be a rough measurement at all. It is just a larger marking gauge, and we all know marking gauges aren't for rough measurments. The key is to set it correctly. I suppose a large combo square could serve the same purpose. But I like that the awl point on the gauge leaves the scribe line, and I don't have to hold a knife to the edge of the square and run it down the length of the board. It makes it very easy to see and determine when you have planed to the line after sawing. And repeatablility is a major plus, too.

Despite the gaps that appear around the wedge and bar in the second photo, it locks up absolutely tight. Those gaps are just from easing the edge.

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[Mike Allen1010]

I think a panel gauge is absolutely essential if you want to do primarily hand tool woodworking. It is sort of the equivalent of a quality rip fence on a table saw. For me, this was a really appropriate shop Made tool. Just like the accuracy touted by the rip fences sold for table saws, a well-made panel gauge that allows you to accurately layout the precise with for ripping is essential for me.

I have a couple different versions, one with a pencil and another with a bevel edge cutting blade. All my work is pretty much done with hand tools and therefore I like the knife edge left by a bevel edge cutting blade in my panel gauge. It makes it easy to accurately see the line where any final, clean up planing should stop.

Great question for a hand tool woodworker-- a panel gauge is the equivalent of an expensive rip fence lots of people buy for their tablesaw.

All the best, Mike

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Here's the one I mentioned earlier. It was a quick throw together project to make the next steps of a real project easier. I still haven't gotten around to replacing it or making it a little nicer, although after taking these photos, I did fettle the wedge on the arm a little it - still needs a hammer tap to be secure, but one gentle whack does it and it doesn't seem like it'll loosen up in use like it did before if I wasn't careful.

I was going to replace the aluminum angle fence (which probably isn't necessary) with some brass and never got around to getting some brass. I might also want to add a little bit under the end of the arm (like John-Pauls example) to help keep it square a little easier (although that's not too difficult if you ride it in the rabbet)

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[RickT Harding]

Just to toss a +1 on using one. I picked up the one from LN and use it to mark out anything more than 4 or 5" across. Normally it's just a rough line to plane down to on anything long. I'm not sure how I'd make sure a wider long board was square without it.

[Bobby O'Neal]

So is there a consensus on whether this is a build or buy item?