At a glance
Finished dimensions
Overall sizes
- Winding sticks
- Two, each 18 × 1-1/2 × 3/4 in
- Gauge beam
- 3/4 × 3/4 × 8 in
- Gauge head
- 1 × 2-1/2 × 3 in, with a 3/4 in square mortise
Materials
| Item | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Straight-grained, dry hardwood offcuts in two contrasting colours | About 3 ft of 3/4 × 1-1/2 in, and a 1 × 2-1/2 × 3 in block | Maple and walnut, for example |
| Small finishing nail | 1 | The gauge's pin |
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Dimensions | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winding stick, light wood | 1 | 3/4 × 1-1/2 × 18 in | Straight-grained hardwood |
| Winding stick, dark wood | 1 | 3/4 × 1-1/2 × 18 in | Straight-grained hardwood |
| Gauge beam | 1 | 3/4 × 3/4 × 8 in | Hardwood |
| Gauge head | 1 | 1 × 2-1/2 × 3 in | Hardwood |
| Gauge wedge | 1 | 3/4 in wide × 3 in long, tapering from 5/16 to 3/16 in thick | Hardwood |
Tools
- Hand plane
- Saw
- Chisels and a mallet
- Drill
- File
- Square and straightedge
What this page builds, and what it does not
Homemade woodworking tools can mean anything from a pencil gauge to a table saw. BenchRoot publishes plans only for hand-operated tools and shop aids, not for home-built power machines: a machine's guards, wiring and moving parts are engineered by its maker and checked against standards no shop drawing can reproduce. Many shop-made jigs are already published on their own pages: the crosscut sled, box joint jigs, the dado guide and flattening sled, the saw track, the circle jig, the bench hook and miter box and the dovetail marker. This page adds two tools that are not: winding sticks and a marking gauge.
Winding sticks
Winding sticks are two identical straight sticks with parallel edges, longer than the board is wide. Set across a board near each end, they exaggerate any twist: sight across their top edges, and if the board is flat the edges line up; if it is twisted, one stick tilts against the other. Making one light and one dark lets the eye find both edges. How they are used while planing is shown in using a hand plane.
Making the winding sticks
Choose the stock
Pick straight-grained, dry offcuts of two contrasting woods and plane them to 3/4 × 1-1/2 in. Measure rather than assume their size; dressed stock varies.
Cut to length
Cut both to 18 in, square at the ends.
Joint the top edges
Plane each stick's top edge straight, checking against a straightedge until no light shows along it.
Make the edges parallel
Mark the width from the top edge with a gauge and plane the bottom edge to the line, so each stick is the same width along its length.
Check them against each other
Stand the sticks on a flat surface side by side and sight across both top edges; then turn one end for end and sight again. If the edges line up both ways, the sticks are a matched pair. If not, replane the high edge.
Ease the arrises
Chamfer the sharp corners lightly, leaving the top edges themselves crisp.
A wedge-locked marking gauge
A marking gauge scribes a line a set distance from an edge. This one has a 3/4 in square beam that slides through a mortise in a 1 × 2-1/2 × 3 in head; a tapered wedge in a slot beside the beam locks it; a pin near the beam's end does the marking. A pin suits lines along the grain; across the grain it tears the fibres, which is where a cutting gauge's knife or a wheel gauge slices them cleanly instead. Marking gauges compares the types.
Making the gauge
Make the beam
Plane a straight-grained piece to 3/4 × 3/4 × 8 in, square in section, so it slides evenly.
Cut the mortise
In the head, mark a 3/4 in square through-mortise centred side to side, its top 3/4 in below the head's top, running through the 1 in thickness. Drill out most of the waste and pare to the lines until the beam slides through with no play.
Cut the wedge slot
Beside the mortise, cut a slot 5/16 in wide and 3/4 in long down through the head so it opens into the mortise by about 1/16 in. Pare its outer face to the wedge's taper so the wedge bears flat.
Make the wedge
Cut a wedge 3/4 in wide and 3 in long, tapering from 5/16 to 3/16 in thick. Pushed down the slot, it presses on the beam's side and locks it.
Fit the pin
Drill a small pilot hole through the beam 3/4 in from one end and drive a small finishing nail through it. Cut it off and file it to a point that projects about 1/16 in.
Test it
Set a distance, lock the wedge, and scribe a line along the grain of an offcut from a straight edge; the line should be parallel and the setting should not creep.
Safety— Small parts and sharp points
Clamp small parts or hold them in a vise while sawing, paring and drilling, as OSHA's tool booklet advises, and keep chisels sharp. Cover the gauge's pin when it is stored. See woodworking safety rules.
Before trusting the tools
- Winding sticks' top edges straight
- Edges line up when one stick is turned end for end
- Gauge beam slides without play and locks with the wedge
- Pin sharp and projecting about 1/16 in
- A test line along the grain is parallel to the edge
A mallet to go with the chisels is in mallet plans; these tools belong to the shop projects family.
Sources
Both tools are BenchRoot designs; their dimensions are design choices. They were drawn and checked but not built for this page. Winding sticks show twist by comparison and a marking gauge repeats a distance; neither measures or certifies an absolute dimension, and neither replaces a square or rule checked against a known reference. Home-built power machines are outside BenchRoot's plans.
- 1.
Frank Strazza. Marking Gauge versus Cutting Gauge. Heritage School of Woodworking, 2013.
Used for: A pin gauge for marking with the grain, which tears fibres across it; a single-bevel knife in a cutting gauge severing cross-grain fibres cleanly, with the bevel facing the waste side.
- 2.
Veritas Standard Wheel Marking Gauge. Veritas Tools Inc..
Used for: A hardened wheel slicing fibres rather than tearing them, leaving a cleaner line across the grain than a pin.
- 3.
Hand and Power Tools (OSHA 3080). Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002.
Used for: Securing work with clamps or a vise so both hands are free for the tool, and keeping edge tools sharp.
- 4.
NIST Handbook 130 (2026), IV.B Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2026.
Used for: Lumber sold by nominal size and dressed smaller, so stock is measured rather than assumed.
About this project
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.