Veritas Standard Marking Gauge Review By: I.Ball
Category: Mortice and Marking Gauges
Manufacturer: Veritas Tools
Tool Type: Marking Gauge
Model No: Standard
The Veritas Standard Marking Gauge, also known as the Veritas Standard
Wheel Marking Gauge is the standard entry level marking gauge in the
Veritas gauge range.
Veritas Tools (of Canada) have as always done a fantastic job of putting
their modern sleek stamp on this style of marking gauge and making it
look cool and stylish while making sure the tool works well while being
competetively priced for a tool which if looked after should last a
long time.
To aid in the longevity of the Veritas marking gauges, the wheel can
be resharpened on a sharpening stone and beyond this Veritas sell replacement
marking gauge wheels.
These replacement wheels are standardized as such are interchangeable
with any of the single rod Veritas marking gauges and one of the arms
of Veritas Dual Wheel Marking Gauge (link).
The wheel cutter is easy to replace with it being held in place with
a single screw.
The Veritas Standard Marking Gauge is made with a single steel rod, a brass head
and a hardened steel wheel cutter located at the top of the rod.
The gauge can be adjusted by sliding the head up or down the rod to the desired
position before locking the head in position with the knurled locking nut. The
sliding action on the rod is good with a light but constant friction applied resulting
in good, easy control.
The Veritas Standard Marking Gauge like the Veritas Micro-Adjust Marking Gauges
and Veritas Dual Marking Gauge and most other marking gauges is used to mark/scribe
a constant marking on a piece of work at a set distance.
For a simple example if you require to scribe a marking on your work 76mm (3") from
the edge of a piece of board for the whole length of the piece of the board, you
would set the brass gauge head to 76mm (3") from the cutter, lock the head in place
with the knurled nut and you are ready to mark by placing the brass head face against
the edge of the piece of board and drawing the tool along the length of board resulting
in the board being scored by the cutter wheel. The result being a line drawn
76mm (3") from the edge of the board for the whole length of the board.
The gauge can be used on pieces of work with the grain or cross-grain.
The Veritas Standard Marking Gauge is made by Veritas with either a plain rod or
a rod graduated in measurement marking to 6" with 1/16" increments. At the time
of writing this review I have only seen the plain rod Veritas Standard Marking Gauge
in the UK with the main UK distributor only selling the plain rod version.
This patented marking gauge has similarities to old marking gauges such as the
Stanley 90 Marking Gauge
and some other old marking gauges some of which had disc cutters.
History seems to suggest in the past these weren't the preferred style of marking
gauge (at least in the UK) based upon my family's history with working with and
buying and selling secondhand tools, the preferred marking gauges for 100's of years
were wooden marking / mortice gauges or wooden and brass marking / mortice gauges such as the
Marples Mortice / Marking Gauges
which still remain ever popular today.
Veritas however are heavily challenging the traditional marking gauge market, so
much so that other makers are making marking gauge designs similar to the Veritas
marking gauge.
The Veritas Standard Marking Gauge at the time of writing this review is supplied
in a plastic box container after previously being supplied in a Veritas cardboard box.
Given the plastic problem the world faces, I found it disappointing when Veritas
moved to plastic packaging on this item and hold hope they may return to cardboard
or some more evironmentally friendly packaging soon.
* Important: please refer to the 'disclaimer' at the foot of this review.
* Wearing safety clothing and eye protection is usually a good idea to help protect against injury.
- This tool has sharp parts, take suitable precautions when using/handling/storing
the tool to prevent injury.
- Failure to loosen parts when making adjustments can result in damage
to the tool. Never force a part to move.
- Overtightening parts can cause damage to the tool.
<1999 - Today
- Veritas Tools
(i) Please always refer to and follow the manufacturer's instructions / guidelines /
safety notices / cautions and similar notices as the manufacturer's instructions
may contain important information on safety, personal safety and the good health of your tool,
something to which this review's scope does not guarantee to extend to.
(ii) This review may give warning(s) / advisory notes / cautions / guidelines given
in good faith however any such information should not be solely relied upon and should not be seen
as the exhaustive list of warnings / advisory notes / cautions / guidelines.
Refer to disclaimer note (i) for information on safety, as well as the
good health of your tool.
In addition refer to good safety practices for the safety of you and others. Refer to good practices
for the good health of your tool and property.
(iii) The details here are given in good faith, there is scope for error and shouldn't
be fully relied upon, please be aware the details may also become out of date due to manufacturer
changes to the product, please confirm any details for yourself by performing additional
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