Help in naming tool

[Alan Turner]

These are photographs of marking out the shoulders on square section splayed legs, which are basically compound miter cuts. The tool I am using was acquired from a pattern shop which was closing, but was probably made as a machinist's tool. Does anyone know the name of it? I must say that it is quite a step up from a pencil held on a block of wood. The legs have yet to be shaped.

Since these shoulder cuts will be made with a back saw, I thought the thread qualified, at least minimally, for the hand tools side.

[Rob Millard]

Alan,
It is a surface gage. When I worked part time in a machine shop, they used them once in a while , in conjunction with a surface plate to scribe production parts. CNC machines change everything, and there aren’t used as much as they once were. I’ve wanted one to scribe lines for cuff bands on federal furniture. The following link is for the surface gage in the Starrett catalog.
http://catalog.starrett.com/catalog/catalog/groupf.asp?groupid=545

[Brian Hale]

Hey Alan, that's a surface gage and one very handy tool to have in the shop. They normally come with 2 or 4 pins in the base which can be used for TS setup by sliding them in the miter gage slot. You can get seperate clamps to hold a variety of indicators

Brian :)

[Brian Hale]

Wow, Rob, beat me by one minute!

Brian :)

[Alan Turner]

Thanks, guys. I knew the answer would be in the SMC collective mind.

I have 4 or 5 of them. They were gifts from a pattern shop where I spent way too much money. I knew what they were used for, but not what they were called.

Rob, I can see why you wanted one. Very handy indeed. Think I'll put them on display, and then when people ask me what they are, I can just casually say they are surface gages, as if anyone would know that. (:

[Jim Dunn]

I retired into a new life from a machine shop. We called those little things height scribes. The shop I worked in was a tool room shop. We used them all the time for layout work.

[Jim Becker]

Hmm...I was going to say something like, "Gretta", but now I see you were looking for the real name for the device! LOL! Seriously, that's a very interesting tool. Perhaps you could post some larger, more detailed shots of it as it may be something folks could cobble together a similar shop aid from "surplus project materials" lying about the shop... ;)

[Kent Parker]

Alan,

See Bruce's thread here http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=32315

Cheers,

Kent

[Alan Turner]

Thanks Kent. I think I missed that thread.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

That particular tool is named: "Julie."
I have a similar one but mine is named: "Sharon."