Okay--I feel really stupid and inferior, but I'm asking for help.
For some reason, I've never been able to get good scribe line using my marking gauges. I've tried the Veritas wheel gauge, the Jessem Wood Sabre gauge, the wooden gauge with the nail, etc. I see everyone using these marking gauges to make perfect scribes by holding a board in one hand and running the gauge with the other, but when I try it I can't get the bloody line to be straight. Clamping the wood down sometimes help but is problematic if it's a thin piece. So up to now I've been using the Incra T-rule and a pencil to draw the lines, then a marking knife and another rule to scribe. I'm a hybrid hobbyist so if push comes to shove, I will just plug my tools in. But in between projects, I like to just whip out the hand tools to dimension stock except I can't figure out how to bloody use these marking gauges.
....help?