Cutting Gauge

Posted by Easy WoodCraft on

Feb 11, 2016

A cutting gauge is very similar to a marking gauge except that instead of using a pin to mark the work-piece, it uses a knife. The advantage to this is that the knife cleanly cuts through the wood fibers instead of tearing them, as a pin does. This makes a cutting gauge the tool of choice whenever you need to mark lines across grain.
You might then think, why not throw out my marking gauge and just use the cutting gauge? Because since the knife of a cutting gauge leaves such a thin, crisp line, it virtually disappears when you use it to scribe a line along the grain. Shop-Tip: To create a "universal" mark­ing gauge, some woodworkers file the point of their marking gauge to a finer point. This does an adequate job of marking both with and against the grain, but is still inferior to results from the individual gauges.

Basic use

The technique for using a cutting gauge is virtually identical to that of the marking gauge, with one exception: Take care to use very light pressure. If the knife is sharp (a few licks with a diamond hone will bring it to a crisp point), it's easy to cut deeply into the wood, leaving cross-grain scratches that can be a hassle to remove.

VENEER STRIP TIP

A cutting gauge can also be pressed into service to create uniform strips of veneer to use as inlay for your projects. Set the fence to the desired strip width, and place the veneer on a scrap piece so it's flush with the edge. Make a series of light cuts to produce strips.

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