Panel Gauge

identity

Name: Panel Gauge
Regional / alternate names: None confirmed as a distinct regional term. Every source found (British and American) uses "panel gauge." A related roller-equipped form was sold by Stanley as a slitting gauge; see lineage.
Family / category: Layout and marking tools → Edge-referenced scribing gauges → long-beam branch
One line: A Marking Gauge built at scale: a longer, stiffer beam and a broader, rebated fence, so a line parallel to a reference edge can be scribed at an offset beyond what a standard gauge's short beam can hold square. The beam sets the offset inward from the edge; the gauge is then moved along the edge.

Capacity, defined carefully. Capacity is the maximum cutter-to-fence-face offset, not beam length alone. A 25-inch beam does not necessarily give a full 25-inch offset once fence thickness, stop hardware and cutter placement are counted; use the maker's stated capacity where one exists (per the reviewer, not independently re-read).

✦ how NOT to use it

A bad line is discovered downstream, by the saw or plane that faithfully obeys it. This section covers what is specific to the long beam, broad fence and exposed cutter.

Not-for: jobs where this is usually the wrong tool

• Small or one-off work is usually unnecessary, not forbidden. A 2011 Lost Art Press comment exchange: "Panel gauges are considerably faster when you are building a piece with lots of similarly sized pieces... Chalk lines work fine [for one-offs]." A panel gauge can mark narrow work if it registers securely; it is simply bulkier than the job needs. Alternatives: a standard gauge, a straightedge through two measured points, a chalk line.
• Crosscut or perpendicular layout. The tool marks parallel to a reference edge. For a line across a board, use a square or a marking knife with a square.

Dangerous: misuse that injures the user

Earlier drafts called this class "genuinely unfound." A lack of located injury anecdotes is a research result, not a risk assessment, and that line is withdrawn. The exposed pin, knife or wheel is a sharp point or edge on a long lever.

• The maker warns of serious injury. Lee Valley's care-and-use instructions: "Be aware that the wheel cutter is sharp; careless handling can result in serious injury." (Read in this pass.)
• Unclamped work. The maker requires the workpiece to be securely clamped. A panel that shifts under a long beam pulls the cutter off the line and toward the hands.
• Heavy single passes. The maker rejects them: "Multiple, lighter cuts will yield better results than one heavy cut." Pressing to cut through in one go invites dig-in, loss of fence registration, a damaged workpiece and a slipped cutter. There is no basis here for "enough pressure."
• Slicing through without the maker's sequence. Through-slicing is a model-specific capability: Lee Valley, up to 1/4 inch, cut halfway, flip, score from the opposite face. Skipping the flip-and-register sequence risks an uncontrolled breakthrough or a mismatched cut. Do not slice through with a pin, pencil, narrow knife or unverified shop-made gauge.
• Hand in the cutter's path. The cutter trails; the free hand and the clamping hand stay behind and away from the cutter path.

Controls (workholding, hand position, stance, edge handling) below that are not Lee Valley's words are marked as general practice and as the reviewer's recommended wording [per the review, not manufacturer text]:

• Before use: inspect the cutter, beam lock, stop screw, fence shoe and reference surfaces. Stop if the lock slips or the cutter wanders.
• Workholding: clamp or brace the panel on the bench so it cannot walk; work toward a stop where the bench has one (Rozaieski).
• Hand position: keep hands behind and away from the cutter path; control both ends of a long beam.
• Stance and space: a controlled stance and a clear travel path, with enough surrounding space that the beam cannot strike a person or object.
• Edge handling: guard or safely orient the cutter during adjustment, sharpening, transport and storage. The maker's cutter notes: the wheel cutter is sharp, so handle it carefully; it does not rotate, so when it dulls, loosen the securing screw and turn it to expose a fresh edge; to sharpen, remove the securing screw, washer and cutter and "lap the face of the wheel cutter on a stone." Use the maker's instructions for removal and reinstallation.
• PPE: no personal protective equipment is specified in the sources read. A cut-resistant or at minimum careful bare-hand practice during cutter changes is a reasonable precaution but is not sourced here; follow the manual for the exact gauge. The Lataxe account is a reminder of how easily a loose cutter cuts fingers.

Damaging: misuse that ruins the tool or the work

• Beam-to-fence looseness developing with use. Schwarz on his older gauge (2009): "The beam flops around in the head, no matter how Conan you go on the thumbscrew." Hamilton redesigned against it: "the more you used the gauge, the looser the beam became, until it really didn't lock well." Lee Valley's own choice of beech for its beam is stated as being "for stiffness (which, in turn, improves accuracy)." A long beam amplifies slop in the lock.
• A registration surface that is not straight over its full length. Reasoned extension of the parent entry's reasoning, not separately sourced: a longer fence face has more edge to ride and more chance of a surface that looks straight but is not.
• Treating the roller as the reference (Lee Valley model). See anatomy; the fence reference face against the edge is the datum.

Beginner-trap: mistakes that look fine until they aren't

• Gripping a long beam like a short one. Lee Valley states the tool is "used with two hands," which implies a one-hand grip is the habit carried over from a short gauge. Reasoned inference, not a sourced beginner account.
• Buying ahead of a project. Both named amateur builders came to theirs because a project demanded it. No source calls early purchase a trap; it is simply how they came to own one. The tool is beginner-usable with instruction and an intact, well-locking gauge; it is not automatically a first or second purchase.

Lineage-misuse: treating it like its ancestor or descendant

• Running a standard 6 to 8 inch gauge out to panel-width offsets, where "the fence becomes a pivot" (Marking Gauge); Rozaieski's beam-flex and registration mechanics explain why.
• Carrying the Lee Valley wheel's through-slicing allowance over to a pin or knife panel gauge.

correct use

(brief — the workbench holds deep operation)

Fixed-wheel model (Lee Valley): the maker's sequence. Quoted or closely paraphrased from the care-and-use instructions, read in full this pass:

• Assemble correctly: fit the fence shoe into the beam hole in the fence and capture it with the fence locking knob; slide the fence on with the stepped side facing the horn; install the fence stop screw at the end of the beam.
• "With the workpiece securely clamped in position," set the gauge on the work with the reference face against the edge and the step resting on top.
• "first set the roller on the workpiece, then tilt the gauge until the wheel cutter makes contact with the workpiece."
• Hold the fence firmly against the reference edge and score in a trailing motion, using the horn to control the cut.
• "Multiple, lighter cuts will yield better results than one heavy cut." Build the line with light passes.
• Through-slicing, this model only, material up to 1/4 inch thick. "take several passes until the cut is halfway through the wood, then flip the workpiece upside down" and score from the other face, registering from the same reference edge. Do not extend this capability to pin, pencil, narrow-knife or shop-made variants, or to thicker stock.

Across the family.

• Two hands, and secure the work, once the board is wide. Rozaieski: the gauge can be used one-handed for boards up to about 8 to 10 inches wide; marking really wide stuff usually means securing the panel to the bench and using both hands. "I press the fence into the edge of the panel, which is restrained by the central planing stop. Then I make the mark toward the planing stop." The far end of a long beam is controlled by bracing the work, not grip strength alone.
• Use the whole reference face and step. The broad, rebated fence is built to seat against the board's edge; riding it on a corner defeats it.
• Cutter orientation is variant-specific. Where the design and maker permit it, a knife gauge is commonly set with the bevel facing the waste so the line gives a vertical slice (Lost Art Press reader exchange on the Hamilton gauge, 2011: "With gauges in general you want the bevel facing the waste so you have a nice vertical slice on the knife line"). That cannot be assumed unchanged across variants. Rob Cosman states his cutter is mounted to pull the fence tight against the reference face, and Lee Valley specifies a trailing cut with a reconfigurable horn (per the reviewer, not independently re-read for Cosman). Follow the approved mounting for the exact gauge; do not flip a cutter for the sake of a rule.
• Use the pencil end for rough sizing. Schwarz, 2009: "I prefer a pencil gauge when rough-sizing boards because it's so much easier to see than a scratch line," switching to the knife end for a final reference line.
• Stroke direction. The beam sets the perpendicular offset; the gauge is then moved along the edge. It does not draw a crosscut line from side to side.

✦ matching

for the app's read, matching a user's owned tools to their project

• does: scribes a line parallel to a known true edge at an offset beyond an ordinary marking gauge's reliable capacity, working along the edge (carcase sides, tabletop widths, shelf widths, sheet-good width lines reaching toward the middle of a 4 x 8 sheet from either edge when the beam is long enough, Lee Valley's 25-inch beam being sized for that). Reversible forms can also do rough pencil layout. Through-slicing of thin material is a capability of the Lee Valley fixed-wheel model only, up to 1/4 inch, by the halfway-and-flip method; it is not a general panel-gauge function.
• match on: required offset, quality of the reference edge, work support and clamping, cutter type, line visibility and depth, repeat count. Schema fields suggested by the reviewer: maximum marked offset; overall beam length; fence reference-face dimensions; rebate geometry; beam material and section; lock type and pressure shoe; cutter type, bevel and approved direction; fixed vs rotating wheel; cutter replaceability and sharpening method; cutter-end roller/skid/horn; pencil reversibility; minimum work support; through-slicing permission and thickness; current product status with an as-of date (per the reviewer, not independently re-read).
• suits: casework with multiple parts sharing a width; tabletop and wide-panel layout; repeated identical widths across pieces.
• kit-fit: pairs with a panel/rip saw or jointer plane, since the gauge only lays the line. Alternatives: a chalk line and awl; a straightedge through two or more measured points; a large square or guide rail depending on accuracy, surface and line visibility. A track saw or table saw is a cutting system, not a direct substitute; compare complete workflows, not "cannot replace."
• small or occasional work: usually unnecessary, not excluded.
• access: usable by a beginner with instruction and an intact, well-locking gauge, with the clamped-work and light-pass controls above. A cheap or worn secondhand gauge is more likely to show the beam-looseness failure Schwarz names, and a beginner is less likely to check the lock before buying.
• revival: the sourced case is Blandford's 1985 and a 2018 reader's: direct dimension transfer from the workpiece removes a measurement-transcription step. No source found contrasts it with a track saw by name; that gap stays open.

anatomy

Terms used consistently: fence (also "stock" or "head"), reference face (the fence face that bears on the board edge), step/rebate (the stepped inside corner that sits over the board's top), beam, lock, cutter, and any cutter-end support (roller or skid). "Roller" means a support bearing on the work surface; "wheel cutter" means the sharpened marking element. The Lee Valley gauge has both.

• Beam: longer and thicker than a standard gauge's, "typically up to about 28″ long," built heavier "to better resist flexing when extended out far from the fence" (Rozaieski). Some forms are reversible, with a scratch/knife tip on one end and a pencil holder on the other (Blandford 1985; Lie-Nielsen; Hamilton).
• Fence: wider and thicker than a standard gauge's and commonly rebated at its inside corner (Rozaieski). Lee Valley: a 1-inch rebated step on a fence 9 inches wide by 3 inches tall (page read this pass).
• Lock: thumbscrew, knob, or wedge (Blandford 1985; Hayward's 1945 plan per Lhotka). A loose beam-to-fence fit even with the lock tight is a documented failure (see damaging).
• Marking end: a scratch pin, a single-bevel knife, a pencil, or a wheel cutter. Each is a separate variant with its own approved mounting.
• Three contacts, kept separate (Lee Valley model). (1) The fence reference face against the board's edge: this is the datum. (2) The step resting on top of the board. (3) The Delrin roller on the panel surface near the cutter, which supports smooth travel and helps control depth. The roller does not replace the fence and is not the reference; relaxing the fence against the edge because the roller is "rolling" ruins the line.

variations

Wheel-cutter dimension and replacement sale are from the review and Lee Valley's replacement-cutter page [manual, relayed]; beam, fence, roller, horn, hardness and price were read on the product page this pass.

For each variant, record: cutter flat/bevel side, push or pull direction, horn or handle configuration, and the approved mounting. These differ and are not interchangeable.

trades

• Cabinetmaking / casework: home trade, per two teaching sources, for pre-power-tool width-ripping of carcase sides, shelves and tops.
• Furniture making generally: tabletop width layout, repeated-width parts (the Lost Art Press bookcase example).
• No timber-framing-specific use confirmed, same as the parent entry. Nothing panel-gauge-specific was found for coopering or wheelwrighting.

lineage

Ancestors

• The standard pin/scratch Marking Gauge, directly. This is a scaling fix, not a new mechanism: Bob Rozaieski (brfinewoodworking.com, 2018) states the relationship plainly: "The traditional marking gauge typically has a beam of about 6″ to 8″ long... when you need to mark wide surfaces, you trade your marking gauge in for a panel gauge. A panel gauge is basically like a marking gauge on steroids." Tools For Working Wood corroborates independently: "A panel gauge is basically a long marking gauge with a beam that can go from a foot to several feet long."
• The failure being fixed: Rozaieski names three linked changes aimed at one problem, a short beam cantilevering and tipping the fence off the reference edge at long offsets: "The beam is longer, typically up to about 28″ long... The beam is also thicker to better resist flexing when extended out far from the fence. The fence is also thicker and wider... The fence of a panel gauge also typically has a rabbet cut into its inside corner to allow it to sit over the corner of the board being marked. This provides for real solid registration."
• Marking Gauge's own text already frames this failure in its lineage-misuse class: "Standard gauge doing panel-gauge work. Run a 6" beam out 14" to scribe a panel width and the fence becomes a pivot." This entry cites that as an internal cross-reference, not independent evidence.

Descendants

• The fixed-wheel panel gauge exists. Lee Valley's panel gauge (item 15N0601) carries a non-rotating, single-bevel wheel cutter on a 25-inch beam (see variations). An earlier version of this entry called a wheel-cutter panel gauge "not found from any maker"; that was wrong and is withdrawn. The Wheel Marking Gauge entry's long-beam question is therefore answered by an existing product. No structural limit on wheel cutters at long beam length is claimed.

Contemporaries

• Stanley No. 84, a roller-bearing slitting gauge. A 1914 Stanley catalogue lists the No. 84 as a 17-inch beech "Handle Slitting Gauge" with roller bearing, large handle and adjustable cutter [manual, relayed] (the reviewer's description of the catalogue). Lee Valley states its panel gauge was modelled on the No. 84 ("roller and tote on the blade end," per the earlier read of its page). That is evidence for this one modern product's design inspiration. It does not make the No. 84 the ancestor of all long-beam panel gauges: panel gauges were named in period books alongside slitting gauges (see history).
• Stanley naming, bounded. In the dealer listing checked (Bob Kaune, Antique & Used Tools, a modern dealer page, not a Stanley catalogue), no Stanley model is named "panel gauge," and No. 74 is listed as a boxwood double marking gauge. That corrects a specific model-number guess. It does not show that Stanley never used the term. No Stanley-branded "panel gauge" was located in the specific catalogues and listings checked.
• Chalk line + straightedge through two marks: the manual fallback the panel gauge is framed as replacing in the teaching sources found (Percy Blandford, 1985; a 2018 reader comment). Slower, and it reintroduces a measurement-transcription step the gauge's direct transfer avoids.

history

Honest framing: the period record is partial and this entry reports only what was located.

Earliest documentary anchors are earlier than first stated. William Goss, Bench Work in Wood (1888), section 34, "Panel-Gauges": "Panel-Gauges, Fig. 44, are for use in making lines at a considerable distance from the working-edge," with the head made longer so it gets good support from the working edge (read directly in this pass; the PDF is a modern scan hosted by Woodworkers UK). George Ellis, Modern Practical Joinery (first published 1902; the scan checked was the 1908 third edition), names and illustrates a panel gauge and explains the large rebated fence and the support below the marking point [manual, relayed]. Paul Hasluck, The Handyman's Book of Tools, Materials, and Processes Employed in Woodworking (1903), gives a detailed illustrated construction description (stock materials, rebate, mortises, wedge, a stem of roughly 2 feet 6 inches) [manual, relayed]. The earlier claim that the earliest named, illustrated source is Hayward (1945) is withdrawn.

Holtzapffel, indirect only. The parent Marking Gauge entry cites Holtzapffel (Turning and Mechanical Manipulation, dated "1843–46" there) as listing "marking gauge, mortise gauge, panel gauge, cutting gauge, router gauge, and bisecting gauge" as distinct types. That comes through the parent entry, not a directly quoted page. Volume, edition, page and exact words are unchecked, and the multi-volume publication dates need precision. It is not called the earliest confirmed occurrence here.

Hayward, later and secondary. Charles Hayward, How to Make Woodwork Tools (1945), contains a plan for a wedge-locked wooden panel gauge, known here only through John Lhotka's 2015 build post (jlhotka.wordpress.com), which reports building one in cherry (fence, wedge) and quarter-sawn red oak (beam): "The tool works pretty well, but takes a little adjustment to get it all square as you tap the wedge to secure the beam." Secondary evidence; the book itself was not accessed.

Patent record: none located in the search performed. The one index checked was DATAMP's slitting-gauge patent-type index (15 patents, 1828 to 1932, by title and category), which lists none titled "panel gauge." The closest category is slitting gauge (e.g., Kinney, "Marking and Slitting Gage," US 229,258, 1880). A title or category search cannot support an exhaustive negative: The reviewer notes that GB 2,354,964, titled "Scribing device," itself discusses replacing separate marking, mortise, panel and cutting gauges. Not searched: full-text, classification, assignee, other jurisdictions, or other terms (marking gauge, scribing device, rule). Slitting-gauge patents are treated as adjacent art only; their claims were not read for a specific relationship.

Museum objects. Cully A. Cobb Antique Tool Museum, Mississippi State University, holds a catalogued "Panel Gauge," digital ID C_FR_CC_2010_0004, 7 cm (H) x 15 cm (W) x 44 cm (L), described as a gauge "used for making scribe lines for board ripping" (page read in this pass). Separately, snippet-level searches of Science Museum Group, the V&A, the Smithsonian and the Museum of English Rural Life returned no accession-level hit; those are limited, institution-specific negatives, not a general absence.

What changed mechanically, once modern makers took it up. Three dated accounts (1985 to 2011) converge on one design problem. Percy Blandford's 1985 "Dual Panel Gauge" (Fine Homebuilding #24) reverses the beam: a nail-point scratch tip on one end, a beveled pencil on the other. Christopher Schwarz's 2009 review of the Lie-Nielsen panel gauge (Popular Woodworking) names a recurring failure in his older gauge: "The beam flops around in the head, no matter how Conan you go on the thumbscrew. And so the gauge's pin tends to move around as you make your marks." His 2011 Lost Art Press account of commissioning a replacement from Jeff Hamilton describes a radiused beam/mortise and a two-direction pressure plate built to stop the looseness: "the more you used the gauge, the looser the beam became, until it really didn't lock well."

✦ human side

Traditions & trades. Two teaching sources tie the panel gauge to hand-ripping boards to width before power tools made that routine. Tools For Working Wood: "In the old days, before table saws and accurate rip fences, after planing one edge of a board true you would use a panel gauge to scribe a parallel line for the width of the board. Then you'd saw and plane to that line." Rozaieski corroborates. No timber-framing-specific use was found; the parent Marking Gauge entry records the same for the family.

Named hands.

• Christopher Schwarz is the best-documented living voice on this tool, across first-person accounts (2009, 2011). In 2011 he lost his panel gauge for most of a year ("sometime during the last year my panel gauge took a walk"), met maker Jeff Hamilton at Woodworking in America, ordered a replacement after "a couple selfish suggestions," and stamped it twice with his shop mark "just to be sure that this one doesn't take a walk."
• Jeff Hamilton (Hamilton Woodworks/Toolworks, Tontitown, Arkansas): an active named maker, 28-inch beam. His father, Harry L. Hamilton, left a comment on Schwarz's 2011 post: "Son, I'm really proud of you and your work..."
• Percy W. Blandford (Stratford-upon-Avon): designer of the reversible "Dual Panel Gauge," Fine Homebuilding #24, 1985.
• Rob Cosman: a second active named maker (18-inch torrefied-maple beam, wedge lock). Named customer reviews confirm ownership; one says, "The panel gauge solved a problem I had marking large stock."

Stories. Two amateur builders give project-triggered texture. Lataxe (Fine Woodworking Forum, Dec. 2020), a UK hobbyist, built a 75 cm multi-function gauge using a fabric-cutting wheel as the cutter and reports a real injury while making the fixture: "in making the gubbins holding the cutting wheel, I sliced my fingers three times!" That account is about building, not using; it is kept as texture and as one more reminder that the cutter is sharp, not as a substitute for the use-time hazards in the danger section. Grant Crawley hand-built a 24-inch cherry-beam, walnut-headstock gauge because he "never needed anything wider than about 6"" until one cabinet project (grantcrawley.uk, 2020). These are anecdotes of how two people came to own one, not buying guidance.

✦ proof of existence

• Earliest documentary anchor read in this pass: William Goss, Bench Work in Wood (1888), "Panel-Gauges, Fig. 44," lines at a considerable distance from the working edge. Ellis (first published 1902) and Hasluck (1903) are carried from the review [manual, relayed].
• Holtzapffel (via the parent entry): the term appears in a list of distinct gauge types. Indirect; page and edition unchecked.
• Later build plan: Hayward (1945), via Lhotka (2015), secondary.
• Museum object: Cully A. Cobb Antique Tool Museum, Mississippi State University, "Panel Gauge," digital ID C_FR_CC_2010_0004, 44 cm long. Four other institutions searched at snippet level with no accession-level hit; limited negatives.
• Patent record: none located for "panel gauge" in the one index checked (DATAMP slitting-gauge index, title/category only). Not an exhaustive negative; see history.
• Stanley: a 1914 catalogue lists No. 84 as a "Handle Slitting Gauge" [manual, relayed]. No Stanley-branded "panel gauge" located in the listings checked; not a global claim.
• Commercial record, as of dates given: Lee Valley panel gauge, item 15N0601, $119 USD, 25 in. beech beam, fixed wheel cutter (page read 2026-10-16). Hamilton standard panel gauge listed at $325; the separate Cocobolo variant is a different gauge, $450 with a 28 in. reversible beam and a 6 to 8 week lead time [manual, relayed]. Rob Cosman panel gauge, 18 in. beam, $375, offered for purchase (no longer shown sold out) [manual, relayed]. Lie-Nielsen: priced $85 in Schwarz's 2009 review; the old catalog and review do not establish current production, and the replacement-blade page is online and unavailable [manual, relayed]. Prices and lead times change; treat all as dated.

references

• [PG1] Rozaieski, "Panel Gauges," brfinewoodworking.com (2018-03-12). Full text read in the original run.
• [PG2] Tools For Working Wood, "A Short Guide to Mortise and Marking Gauges." Full text read in the original run.
• [PG3] Wikipedia, "Marking gauge." Full text read in the original run.
• [PG4] John Lhotka, "Panel Gauge after Hayward," jlhotka.wordpress.com (2015-08-23), citing Charles Hayward, How to Make Woodwork Tools (1945). Blog read; book not accessed.
• [PG5] Bob Kaune, Antique & Used Tools, "Stanley Gauges." A modern dealer page, not a Stanley primary catalogue. Read in the original run.
• [PG6] Jim Bode Tools, Stanley No. 84 slitting gauge listing. Dealer listing, snippet-level.
• [PG7] Lee Valley Tools, Panel Gauge product page, item 15N0601. Re-read 2026-10-16.
• [PG8] Fine Woodworking Forum, "Building a classic panel gauge" (2004), "Scrit," citing Bob Wearing, Woodworking Aids and Devices.
• [PG9] Fine Woodworking Forum (2004), "Ricky_Yu," on beam deflection.
• [PG10] Blandford, "Dual Panel Gauge," Fine Homebuilding #24 (1985); reader comment "Waterflogger" (2018).
• [PG11] Schwarz, "First Look: Lie-Nielsen Panel Gauge," Popular Woodworking, Feb. 2009.
• [PG12] Schwarz, "The Hamilton Panel Gauge," Lost Art Press, Dec. 2011, with reader comments.
• [PG13] Hamilton Woodworks/Toolworks panel gauge page. Live-checked in the original run; current status per the reviewer [manual, relayed].
• [PG14] Rob Cosman panel gauge page with named reviews. Live-checked in the original run; current status per the reviewer [manual, relayed].
• [PG15] Lataxe, Fine Woodworking Forum thread (Dec. 2020).
• [PG16] Grant Crawley, build post, grantcrawley.uk (2020).
• [PG17] DATAMP, slitting-gauge patent-type index, including Kinney, US 229,258 (1880). Title/category search only.
• [PG18] Marking Gauge (this corpus), [MG4]/[MG25]/[MG22]. Internal cross-reference, not independent evidence.
• [PG19] Lee Valley Panel Gauge care-and-use instructions (PDF, manufacturer manual). Read in full 2026-10-16.
• [PG20] Lee Valley replacement wheel cutter page (110789). [manual, relayed].
• [PG21] William F. M. Goss, Bench Work in Wood (1888), section 34 "Panel-Gauges." Passage read 2026-10-16 (modern scan, Woodworkers UK).
• [PG22] George Ellis, Modern Practical Joinery (first published 1902; 1908 third edition scan). [manual, relayed].
• [PG23] Paul Hasluck, The Handyman's Book of Tools, Materials, and Processes Employed in Woodworking (1903). [manual, relayed].
• [PG24] Cully A. Cobb Antique Tool Museum, Mississippi State University, "Panel Gauge," C_FR_CC_2010_0004 (scholarsjunction.msstate.edu). Read 2026-10-16.
• [PG25] Stanley 1914 catalogue, No. 84 Handle Slitting Gauge (blackburntools.com archive). [manual, relayed].
• [PG26] GB 2,354,964 A, "Scribing device." Cited by the reviewer as evidence that panel-gauge function appears under other titles; not read here [manual, relayed].
• [PG27] Hamilton Cocobolo panel gauge page. [manual, relayed].

forge images needed

• Scale comparison: a standard 6 to 8 inch gauge beside a 24 to 28 inch panel gauge, showing beam thickness and fence depth/rebate.
• The three contacts (Lee Valley model): fence reference face on the edge, step on top, roller on the panel near the cutter.
• The failure this tool fixes: a short-beam gauge pivoting off the edge at long offset versus a panel gauge seated flat.
• Clamped-work, trailing-cut setup: panel clamped to the bench, cutter trailing, free hand behind the cutter path.

The reviewer's corrections (12)

• BLOCKER — 1. — Exact claim: “This class is genuinely unfound for the panel gauge specifically”; the only injury found occurred while building one, so the entry declines to state a use-time hazard.
• BLOCKER — 2. — Exact claim: A knife-tipped panel gauge can slice thin material “through with repeated passes given enough pressure”; the correct-use block gives only the broad “two hands” rule.
• SHOULD-FIX — 3. — Exact claim: “No wheel/disc-cutter panel gauge ... was found from any maker”; the entry asks whether “the wheel gauge’s grain-direction advantage genuinely doesn’t scale to a 24+ beam.”
• SHOULD-FIX — 4. — Exact claim: The “wheeled/rolled-foot panel gauge” uses “a rolling guide at the blade end rather than a plain rabbeted fence corner” and provides “rolling rather than sliding registration.”
• SHOULD-FIX — 5. — Exact claim: “The earliest confirmed named, illustrated source for a wooden panel gauge as a buildable object is mid-20th-century,” specifically Hayward in 1945.
• SHOULD-FIX — 6. — Exact claim: “No museum accession record was found” after searches of four institutions.
• SHOULD-FIX — 7. — Exact claim: “No patent specifically for a ‘panel gauge’ was found” is treated as a checked negative with high confidence because DATAMP’s slitting-gauge index contains no patent titled or claiming that phrase.
• SHOULD-FIX — 8. — Exact claim: “There is no evidence Stanley ever sold a tool called a ‘panel gauge’ under any model number,” supposedly verified against “a primary dealer catalog (Bob Kaune, Antique & Used Tools).”
• SHOULD-FIX — 9. — Exact claim: The tool scribes “all the way across a board,” produces “width lines across boards,” and fixes a short beam that tips “before it reaches the far side.”
• SHOULD-FIX — 10. — Exact claim: “The bevel-toward-waste rule carries over unchanged from the parent tool.”
• SHOULD-FIX — 11. — Exact claim: “Small or occasional work” is a job the panel gauge “should never do”; it “cannot be substituted by” any standard gauge run past “safe reach”; and every guide frames it as a non-beginner second purchase.
• MINOR — 12. — Exact claim: Current maker prices, lead times, and “sold out” status are presented as stable proof and access facts.