A Panel Gauge I Made

[David Weaver]

...there is no way to determine who gets credit for the design...

Probably some poor rank and file guy at stanley whose bosses always came to him for design advice when they wanted a bonus, and then told him at the end of the year that he didn't have what it takes to move up in the company (so they could come back and harvest more ideas in the future)

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Chris, yours is much nicer than mine!

I swear I've seen discussion of the triangular beam elsewhere, outside of the context of that Stanley gauge. I specifically remember seeing it, because I used a similar method with my panel gauge. My beam had a sort-of-triangular-thing going on in the bottom to keep it from sliding/moving around. Not nearly as attractive, nor probably quite as functional, as Chris' gauge, however. (It does come to more of a point than the close-up shot of the end would have you think - I should have mortised before shaping. I lost a chunk at the end; it's more a five-sided shape than a six-sided one)

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I still need to fettle the wedge a little better - no matter how good it fits, I still sometimes loose my setting. I think a larger wedge like Chris' might be helpful, but mostly, I need a better fit in the arm. The original piece of wood ended up being needed for something, and the replacement doesn't fit as tightly. (Although not nearly as poorly as the photos make it look)

The only downside I've had with mine has been the time that I was tweaking the bar extension with a hammer, and the blade wedge loosened up and I lost the blade in the shavings . . . .

[Steve Voigt]

At the risk of being the guy you wanted to beat up in high school, can I just point out that the beam is trapezoidal?

Chris, I'm very late here, but that's a really nice gauge. I will definitely be stealing the tri- uh, er trapezoidal beam for my next build. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Chris Griggs]

At the risk of being the guy you wanted to beat up in high school, can I just point out that the beam is trapezoidal?

Chris, I'm very late here, but that's a really nice gauge. I will definitely be stealing the tri- uh, er trapezoidal beam for my next build. Thanks for the inspiration.

Dude. What's hilarious! When Dave suggested I make a "triangular beam with a flat bottom". I said the EXACT SAME THING. "Do you mean a trapazoid!"

Really its actually not a trapezoid though, because it has 6 flats...a trapazoid has 4...its and irregular hexagon I believe.

...and thanks for the praise. I look forward to seeing your "Griggs Gauge tm"

[Steve Voigt]

Really its actually not a trapezoid though, because it has 6 flats...a trapazoid has 4...its and irregular hexagon I believe.

Damn! I was going to go with hexagon, but I thought the smallest sides were chamfers rather than actual sides!

Chris, all fun aside, I have a real question. Is the length of the bottom of the mortise smaller than the bottom of the beam? In other words, does the beam bottom out against the sides of the mortise before it can hit the bottom? Or does it contact 3 sides all at once?

[Chris Griggs]

Damn! I was going to go with hexagon, but I thought the smallest sides were chamfers rather than actual sides!

Chris, all fun aside, I have a real question. Is the length of the bottom of the mortise smaller than the bottom of the beam? In other words, does the beam bottom out against the sides of the mortise before it can hit the bottom? Or does it contact 3 sides all at once?

Make it so it locks in the sides before it bottoms out. That way when the beam shrinks or the mortise wears it still can wedge tight. Mine actually just about bottoms out..but I tried to make it so it wouldn't quite. That's fine though..because its the driest time of year right now and if anything it will only get tighter as the humidity picks up.

[Steve Voigt]

Make it so it locks in the sides before it bottoms out. That way when the beam shrinks or the mortise wears it still can wedge tight. Mine actually just about bottoms out..but I tried to make it so it wouldn't quite. That's fine though..because its the driest time of year right now and if anything it will only get tighter as the humidity picks up.

That's kind of what I thought…makes a lot of sense. An excellent design. Thanks Chris!

[Stanley Covington]

Chris:

Very nicely done. Where do you attach the dust extractor?

[Chris Griggs]

Chris:

Very nicely done. Where do you attach the dust extractor?

Thanks Stanley! It hooks in under the wedge. Top secret design so I can't explain how.