144. This marking gauge is one of a kind

Check out the build here →    • Marking Gauge You Have to Make!  

Watch the moldy oldie one here (same concept) →    • Marking Gauge Made From a Used Printe...  

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This Marking gauge I made a few years ago is one of my favorite tools. Instead of creating a grid by carefully measuring from two sides and taking a chance that one of measurements is off, I can set my gauge to a size and quickly mark with it. It works off the same principle as one of these marking gauges, but it doesn’t have a point on it, so you’re not scratching the surface but leaving an easy to remove pencil mark. I have a full video for this, but it works like this: I took a 1/4” square metal dowel and drilled a hole in the end that’s just big enough for a fat pencil lead to fit in.

Next I created the body with a channel in the center of it and added a magnet to give it resistance so that it’s not easily bumped out of place. In my original one, I cut a center for a thin steel ruler but it isn’t necessary…with this one I didn’t add it. To use it you, you measure to the point with a ruler…and it’s ready to use. To sharpen the point, I file the edge to get a flat point.
This is an extremely simple project that anyone with a drill press and a table saw can make. It makes getting straight lines and perpendicular intersections easy.

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