Day late.....Dollar short!

Ron Roase

Member
Messages
268
Location
Bloomington MN USA
A few years ago I saw a artical in a wood working magazine about a depth gauge for setting saw blade to a specific hight. Looked simple enough. So for me that was a good thing. A scrap piece of 3/4" plywood, a 6" steel rule Pice of clear plastic and a rare earth magnet to hold the steel rule. A scribe mark in the plastic with a little red ink rubed into the scribe mark to make it show up well. Easy enough..... I already had every thing but the steel rule..$9.00
Rare earth magnet.... $8.00 for 10 of them. So $17.00 and about 1 hour of fun making it. It works great. Some times I just set a brass set up block on the table and bring the steel rule to make contact and it is perfect even with out reading the scale on the rule...in 64ths. Some times hard for these old Eyes to see with out glasses.
Depth Gage.jpg
Now Rockler sells one ready made for $9.99 Oh well It most alway happens that way. But I had way more fun with mine then those who bought one.
 
A couple years back, one of the magazines (Wood?) had plans for building something very similar, but using a digital caliper set from Harbor Freight. I bought the calipers for about $6.00 on sale, and made a couple of them. They work very well at both the tablesaw and the router table.

No magnets needed - just scrap 3/4" plywood, and the calipers. Easy to build, and very useful.
 
...Now Rockler sells one ready made for $9.99 Oh well It most alway happens that way. But I had way more fun with mine then those who bought one.
Yours is custom made...that's gotta be worth the extra 7 bucks. ;)

I think I've got the parts laying around to make one myself. Might have to give it a try.
 
depth gauges

Just a thought, go to the nearest truck stop or well supplied automotive parts house and buy a tire gauge for use on highway trucks. They measure depth in mm and also 16ths. Cost, about $6.00.
Handy little gaget in the shop, and hey, you can measure the depth of the tread on your tires too. No foolin'.:wave:
 
Some times I just set a brass set up block on the table and bring the steel rule to make contact and it is perfect even with out reading the scale on the rule...in 64ths. Some times hard for these old Eyes to see with out glasses.

Now that's a jig I haven't seen before ... very nicely done! I think I'll have to save a copy of your post so that I can make one for myself. I also like the idea of the brass blocks as height setting standards. I also have difficulty reading small print, especially when it's closely spaced such as on a ruler.

cheers

John
 
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