Review: Woodpecker’s Wheel Marking Gauge

Marking gauges are beautifully simple tools. A cutter at the end of a stick with an adjustable fence is all that’s required. This changed when wheel marking gauges appeared. If the term luxury can be applied to such a tool, the Woodpecker’s Wheel Marking Gauge is deserving of the description.

Cutting equally well along and across the grain has me converted to wheel gauges and, of course, the Woodpecker’s gauge excels at this. What separates it apart are the details. The fence is rectangular, which prevents it from rolling away and presents options on how it’s registered to the material. The aluminum main body feels good in the hand, with recesses for a better grip. Both the cutter and fence are fixed with Torx screws, and the fence can be rotated 90° if you prefer. The blade can be retracted into the main body, so it’s protected even with the fence off.

The cutter is easily set to the correct depth with the fine thread adjustment barrel. Nylon(fact check) set screws keep it from drifting out of adjustment while setting, and knurled brass screws lock it securely.

My only nitpick is that the edges of the fence have crisp, squared edges that don’t feel good in the hand. Nothing a quick swipe with a file couldn’t solve.

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