Customer Reviews

Footprint 1877 160200 Rosewood Mortice/Marking Gauge

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Every wood worker needs at least one of these in their tool chest, I have several. Much more accurate than marking with a pencil, I use em for laying out mortise/tenon joints and dovetails.
This gauge is every bit as nice as my Lee Valley marking gauges, very nice fit and finish and operates smoothly. Fits the hand well and the points take and hold a nice edge ( I like a chisel point on my gauges, cuts the wood instead of tearing it). The brass inserts insure the face will last for years. The knobs and slide are also high quality brass and are easy to operate.
This is a quality tool and I recommend it highly.

I have been using this mortice/marking gauge for a while.
It does its job well and didn't build up any play over time.
Definitively a good buy

There's no doubt that a marking gauge is essential, and makes for for more accurate joinery cutting. And this particular example seems really well made for the price. The biggest thing that bugs me, however, is that it uses pins rather than knives to do the marking. Being round, the pins tend to wander when traveling with the grain, making for less accurate lines. With cross-grain marking, then tend to tear the wood fibers rather than slice.
The mod I'd recommend would be to file the pins flatter near the ends, creating knife points rather than sharpened rods. This will help in cross-grain situations, slicing the grain and giving you a much sharper line. And if you angle the front of the "blade" away from the tool just slightly, it will pull the tool tightly against the workpiece when marking with the grain (instead of following the grain off your intended line).
This little modification should make this gauge a sharp performer. (I apologize for that horrible play on words.)

While I agree, every woodworker can use one of these, this one ain't it. It is NOT all rosewood as the manufacturer would have you believe. Only the face is. The slider is some cheap hardwood poorly stained to resemble rosewood. Again, Crown products are far superior than Footprint's. And in this case, less $$$. Matter of fact, you can get these for about $25 at your local WoodCraft stores. And their brands are cheaper and better quality (all rosewood for one).

I've been doing wood working for a number of years and seen the value of using a marking cage. I finally decided to actually go buy one. I've looked at and tried a few and this one had the features I wanted including the double pins. The price was right and have used it now several times and I'm satisfied with its performance.