The home workshop can be supplied with a carpenter's gauge without any expense' by the use of a large spool and a round stick of wood. The stick should be dressed to fit the hole in the spool snugly and a small brad driven through one end so that the point will protrude about 1/16 in.

Illustration: Round Stick In a Spool

The adjustment of the gauge is secured by driving the stick in the hole in the direction desired. A better way and one that will make the adjusting easy is to file the point end of a screw eye flat and use it as a set screw through a hole in the side of the spool.