Popular Woodworking 2008-10 № 171, страница 41

Slitting gauge. Although the "Jilting gauge look < a lot like a marking gauge. this gauge ha* a small knife mounted in the end of the bai.

accompanyingtcnon. complctingthc job will also require a try square, and pcrhapsa marking gauge for layingout the shoulders.

While I do not scribe the shoulders with a marking gauge. I do ensure uniformity by using a marking gauge to measure the tenon's kngth. 1 make a mark with the marking gauge and complete the shoulder with a try square.

A slitting gauge looks a lot like marking gauge. The difference is the point. A slitting gauge has a small knife mounted in the end of the bar. The tool's purpose is lo slit (cut or score) thin stock. So. it is both a layout tool and a cutting tool. A slitting gauge is set up and used in the same manner as a marking gauge. If the stock is thin enough, the gauge will cut it cleanly. If the stock is a bit thicker than the tool can cut. you can do one of two things. You can break the stock free the same way you would break a perforated seam in a pkee of cardboard. Flex the stock until it cracks along t he slit.

Thcothcrtrickistodipihc stock over and slit it on both sides. If it isstill too thick tocut free, flex it until it snaps.

A panel gauge isa large markinggauge. Its purpose istoscribcalincparalkl toajointcd edge. The stock is then cut along this line to createa pancl.a piece of stock with twoparalkl edges. The tabk saw with its adjustable fence for ripptng stock has made the panel gauge pretty much obsolete. I lowever. ifyou prefer to work with handsaws, this is an important tool to own because it can scribe lineson very large work pieces for sawing

56 ■ r\n*iUi VVuodwfiinj CViohfiXKW

Panel gauge. A panel gauge i> simply a large marking gauge that is used to scribe a hneparallel to a fotnted edge.

Shapes

Three different tools arc effective for laying out a circle. Which you use depends on the work. A compass is the tool we usually think of. as we all learned to use a compass in grade school. A compass hasa pencil on the end of one kgand a point on the other. The circle's radius is established by turning an adjustment screw.

However, you can also use a pair of dividers to make a circle. A pair of dividers isa required chairmaking tool on our tool list. So many people calkd mc and asked what a divider is and why we needed a pai r of them, that I added the note in parcnthcscsthat a pair ofdividcrs is like a pair of scissors. It is one tool. A pairofdividersisa tool very much like a compass, except that both kgs arc pointed. There is no pencil. So. when you make a circk with dividers, you have to scratch it into the wood's surfxe.

Dividers arc also used for dividing a line orashapc intosegmcnts. Ancxampk would be to walk off a row of equally spaced holes or other locations. Wc use dividers for locating spindle holes in chairarms. bow-sand crests. In carving, dividers are used for such jobs as w-alking off the divisions in a shell, or for crcatinga polygon inside a circle.

Dividcrsarc also effect ive for transferring measurements. For practical rcasonsthis technique usually involves smalkr measurements. It is particularly helpful in places that may be difficult or awkward to reach with a rukr. I set the dividers using my tape measure, then transfer the measurement to the work.

Unless your work is all of one size, you will want several pairsof dividcrsof different lengths. 1 own pairsall the way from several inches to a loot. There are two katures I look for. I want needk-sharp potntson the legs. The finer the point, the kssof a mark it makes in the wood. Also, because needle points penetrate the wood easily, they are less likely to slip while I am doing layout.

When selecting a pair ofdividcrs I insist on easy-to-use mKro adjustment. Dividinga line orashapc often involves walking off many segments. Thus, adjustments have to be very fine: an>' increase or decrease will be multiplied each time the tool is walked. A clumsy adjustment can end up makingthc job frustrating^ fine adjustment makes it short work.

Dividers, these tools resemble a conipass. except thai both legs are pointed and there is no pencil. Dividers scribe rather than mark.

location. Dividers are also used to dh kk a line or shape into segments to locate positions (or spindle holes and more.