# Cheap Woodcraft Wheel Marking Gauge--It works!



## pintodeluxe

Looks like a handy tool, I think I will try one too.


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## TheFridge

It works ok. Just got a veritas dual marking gauge and it's a champ also.


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## CharlesA

I haven't tried a Veritas or similar wheel gauge. But this one works for me for now.


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## TheFridge

It's a good gauge. I just had to swap the wheel around to finish marking out mortises so the bevel of the wheel was facing the side to be cut.


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## gfadvm

Looks like yours came with one side of the "Fence Wheel" flattened. I had to grind a flat on mine after it rolled off the bench every time I laid it down! I use mine a lot. The scribed line is a little hard to see but a mechanical pencil will darken that line without having to scribe over and over.


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## CharlesA

In using it tonight, I got it down so I only have to scribe it twice. I do it twice not to be able to see it, but so that my chisel has enough of a groove to register well.


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## BinghamtonEd

I have that same marking gauge, and I like it as well. I like that I can hold the gauge and adjust it and tighten it with one hand. I took the wheel off and sharpened it on sandpaper, it seemed to help.

Mine had the problem cutting wheel was loose and would spin. The screw that holds it on was bottoming out in the post, so I couldn't tighten it down enough. Filed maybe 1/16" off the screw and it fixed it. The wheel no longer rotates when I use it.


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## CharlesA

That's funny, Ed. I read a couple of places where folks were upset the cutting wheel didn't turn, and they tried to fix it so it would. Both of mine (I just got the second one yesterday) are fixed pretty tightly. I do plan on sharpening them at some point, but at this point they're sharp enough.


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## ssnvet

I purchased a similar marking gage from Grizzly. the wheel doesn't roll, nor do I think it is supposed to.

Unfortunately the cutter wheel was roughly finished and not very sharp. I called Grizzly CS and they sent me a new one (and told me to keep the old one). It was exactly the same.

Having two of these is very handy, as you can set a common reference dim and keep it set perfectly, while you use the other to mark out other varying dims.

I'm keeping my eyes open for a tool steel or carbide wheel I can swap out.


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## BinghamtonEd

Charles, I actually have that crown gauge as well. It seems to work well for me, and doesn't wander, so long as I make light passes. However, when mine arrived, the knife was installed backwards. No joke. One way will pull the fence of the gauge to the workpiece and track well, and the opposite way will cause it to be difficult to track straight.


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## b2rtch

I cut a flat on mine so that it does not roll off the bench.


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## Grumpymike

gfadvm and b2rtch need to level their benches.

I have also gotten the cheapo wheel marking gauge, used it for years … and then one day at a tool demo I tried another brand … Wholla what a difference! Well, I bought the more expensive one on the spot, but it wasn't $40 it was like $22.50 or something. (I'm to cheap to pay $40 bucks for a marking gauge)

Well now I own four of the gauges and I use them for different projects.


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## planepassion

I've had good luck with this marking gauge. Sharpen it by removing the wheel cutting edge and polishing the back side. It cuts very well. My only beef is that a micro-adjustment feature would make it superb. It can take me a while to dial in that last little bit…like when I need dovetails to protrude a bit so I can plane them smooth.


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## cutmantom

You can stand it up in a dog hole to keep it from rolling of the bench


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## lumberjoe

I've had this for about a year. It's ok for occasional use. If you are a hand tool woodworker you are going to hate it.

The brass body is way too loose. There is no friction at all. It makes small adjustments really difficult
The cutter is abysmal quality steel. I did shapen mine on my shaptons but it's still terrible. 
I had the same problem as BinghamtonEd and employed the same solution
The rod is a little on the thin side. If you are using it to mark beyond 2" or so, there is a significant amount of deflection. 
It will roll off a perfectly level bench because the adjusting nut adds some weight to give it just enough momentum to start rolling.
After about 3 months, I could push it past the lock if I wanted to no matter how tightly I turned it. Again, laying out for long-ish rips will move the adjustment along with the deflection in the rod.

Now I understand we all can't afford a Tite-Mark, or even a Veritas, but the WoodRiver wheel marking gauge is actually pretty good


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## Joel_B

I am going down the same path as you but I don't have a marking gauge at all, I have been using an xacto knife and using the wood I am working with to mark the width. It not exactly straight or a good cut to put a chisel into.
I looked at all kinds of gauges including various ones at Lee valley since they are having free shipping right now. Decided i am going to get the Hamilton, Its a little more money but I only want to do this once and the best possible results.


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## Chiaroscuro

I picked one up at Woodcraft for $10 (on sale). I use it all the time, and mostly do hand tool work. I don't use the ruler portion (though it's fairly accurate), preferring to check it against my combination square. I did have to tighten the wheel down too, it rotated out of the packaging. I find the post plenty hefty with no deflection even out at the end. What I don't like is that the screw extends a bit past the wheel. It makes setting the gauge to a mortise a two step process (use a caliper to check the depth and then use the caliper to set the post).


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## builtinbkyn

I have the subject marking gauge and a few others. One I foolishly bought is the Bridge City Toolworks that has a double beam. Expensive and doesn't work very well. The woodcraft gauge is pretty decent and does what it needs to do.

As for using the scribed line for a chisel reference - I'm by no means an expert, but I have watched Paul Sellers videos, which are great. He's an excellent teacher. When he cuts dovetails or mortises or he makes any saw cut, after scribing the line, he uses a chisel to pare wood away on the waste side of the mark and right to the mark. That provides better register for a chisel back or saw. You'll have to see him do it to understand. This little trick has helped me a lot. I get much cleaner cuts. You'll have to see him do it and explain it better than I did here


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## Buck_Thorne

Posting to a very old thread, but I think my comment is important. I recently replaced my Woodcraft gauge primarily because the screw holding the cutting wheel on is not countersunk. Quite the opposite… it is a round headed screw. This means that you can't simply drop the blade onto a flat surface to set it to the exact thickness of a board or hinge.

Now, I upgraded to the Tite-Mark because I could, and because I liked the idea of the micro-adjust, but the main reason I even considered it was that screw. Very bad design, and such a simple thing.

(I also agree that the blade quality is sub-par, but I could have lived with that)


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