This is the first post in my “Object of the Day” series: where I plan to describe artifacts from the non-digital world. Things I find interesting for their design or utility, but also things that may be slipping into the archaic. Artifact 1 is a woodworking tool: a dovetail gauge. This artifact’s history is well known to me, since I made it.
A dovetail gauge is used when marking out dovetails, of course. It certainly isn’t required – a sliding T-bevel, or some other angled or adjustable square can be used. The advantages of a gauge like this, however, are it’s lack of adjustability, and it’s light weight. It isn’t larger than the job requires, and that makes it easier to hold in place when marking out the work.
Like most squares, this tool has a stock (made of a dark hardwood here, “wenge” I believe) that butts up against the workpiece, and a blade that serves as a guide for a pencil or scribing tool. One blade is angled, for marking out the tails (in this photo, the tails are marked out – the shaded areas will be removed, leaving the tails between) and the other blade is square to the stock. Drawing square lines along the endgrain of the workpiece is another common task when laying out dovetails, so it is convenient to have the two blades on one tool.
The time I spent making this wasn’t trivial, but it was pleasant work. The brass stock was already a uniform width. Using a sliding T-bevel and a steel scribe, I marked the lines, then cut close to the mark with a hacksaw. I finished each edge by filing to the line, then dressing them with emery paper. I don’t recall the exact steps I used to mount the blade, but most likely I clamped them together and drilled pilot holes through the brass and into the wood. Enlarging the holes in the brass a bit, to create clearance for the threads of the screws would make sense.