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Thursday, June 20, 2019

Tribbles

Upon occasion a woodworker hits upon a setup that faultlessly turns out a desirable object en masse. In the early 90’s I had one to produce marking/cutting gauges.  Everyone loved them and I made them by the dozens. Sold them at $10 a pop. Trekkies will remember the furry little animals that inhabited the starship Enterprise by the thousands. We called the gauges Tribbles.
Shop made (front), old timers ( rear).

The beams and fences were made of andiroba, a mahogany that the Woodworkers Club shop had in endless supply. Cutters from broken bandsaw blades, also in endless supply. Cutter wedges were scroll-sawn from maple for contrast. The wedge mortises were formed with a hollow chisel mortiser, with a quick taper trim by hand. Fences were made in two pieces with the beam mortise formed with a dado blade, then glued together. A tee nut is hidden in the beam mortise providing locking screw threads. Either a penny or dime is also in the mortise to prevent gouging by the locking screw, which was either a thumb screw or something fancier. A Watco finish made them look slick

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