Preset Mortise Gauge
I
SPECIALIZE IN MAKING CHAIRS, and after a few years I realized that
my mortise-and-tenon joints were all just about the same thickness,(^3) ⁄ 8 in. To save the time spent setting up my adjustable mortise gauge,
I made one with a fixed^3 ⁄ 8 -in. setting. The most important component
is a piece of^1 ⁄ 16 -in.-thick steel ground exactly^3 ⁄ 8 in. wide and shaped
as shown, which provides two marking spurs. The steel should always
be sharpened on the inside hollow so the outside dimension is not
altered.
Fasten the marking steel into a slot in the dowel with rivets or a
small wedge. The dowel should be a hard, stiff piece of wood such as
oak. I made the body of the gauge from hornbeam, a dense but non-
brittle wood. I omitted the usual wedge for locking the gauge at its
setting because the dowel fit so tightly into the body. To adjust the
gauge, I tap the dowel with a small hammer.
—STEFANDURING,Texel, Holland
CHAPTER SIX
Tight-fitting
dowel
Pin
Spurs
Marking steel