Shorty scriber

[mklotz]

I suppose there are many applications where its short stature is advantageous but let me describe one from my own experience that will highlight it.

A base casting for a steam engine. One end of the casting has been milled flat to serve as a reference surface. A number of points and lines have to be scribed relative to this surface. However, the casting is not flat; it has a number of "sticky-up" bits such as bearing supports and governor stanchions, etc. so one can't simply lay a square on it and scratch lines.

The solution is to clamp the base to an angle plate and then set that assembly on the surface plate with the base reference surface resting on the surface plate. Now you can use a surface gauge, e.g....

https://www.gamut.com/p/starrett-sur...QaAi4PEALw_wcB

to lay out the lines. However, I needed to lay out some lines close to the surface plate. When the surface gauge is set up to do this, the gauge rod sits vertically and fouls against the "sticky-up" bits of the casting.

The solution is a low profile surface gauge that can get in under the obstructions.

At the time I built it I didn't have a conventional height gauge, e.g....

https://www.gamut.com/p/analog-heigh...uracy-NjYwNTc3

which would probably have done the job just fine. In fact, it was jobs like this that prompted me to buy a height gauge. I now own three of them; they're wonderful, versatile tools.