Depth gauge

[Christophe Mineau]

This is the last tool I made, it's a depth gage.
It's a quite classical design, but a feature thing I wanted is to be able to lock the measure with a single hand.
That's why I put this large brass knob, so that I can turn it with the thumb, while holding the tool in my right hand, and possibly holding the piece I want to measure in the left hand.



Here I am measuring the location of the tone holes on a flute that I made. I gauge the hole using the right drill bit, then measure with the depth gauge from the bottom up to the drill bit. Just need to add half the size of the bit to get the position of the axis.
Obviously, I need both hands to do that, hence the thumb knob.



To get minimum friction of the rod in the body of the tool, I actually drilled the hole larger and put some boxwood bushes at both sides, so that it slides easily, but with no play.



It's made out of oak, and the rod is a painted steel rod, salvaged from I don't remember what.

[mklotz]

Nicely done, indeed. Re holding the measurement until you can lock it in, you might find the approach discussed here suggestive...

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/d...7309#post36838

and once you've got the measurement locked into the gage, here's an easy way to read it accurately...

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/d...7311#post36840

[DIYer]

Thanks Christophe! We've added your Depth Gauge to our Height and Depth Gauges category, as well as to your builder page: Christophe Mineau's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Depth Gauge by Christophe Mineau

tags: depth gauge