Chapin Stevens Boxwood marking gauge
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>Occasionally I will walk through our local antique mall in Shipshewana after work scanning for tools. Since the mall is right next to the antique auction we tend to get a better variety of stuff I think than the average shops. Unfortunately they are not shutting down my day job so I can attend the auction :( Thursday I found a marking gauge which at first glance looked pretty normal but then I noticed it had the round brass pieces set into the head for wear plates; it is an oval head and has 6 of these about 3/8" round brass pieces around the perimeter of the face. I thought it was a beech gauge when I bought it but upon closer inspection at home I started thinking it might be boxwood because of the weight and the tone of the wood. I found a picture of the gauge in The Antique Tool Collectors Guide to Value that Cooper gave me but the book has no price for that gauge but identifies it as a Chapin Stephens boxwood gauge. Since there are no completed items on the bay for this gauge that I can find I am wondering about the value; it is in good shape except it was missing the little brass piece inside the head and so whoever used it made a mark on the top of the arm every time they tightened it down, which is a crying shame. I'm just wondering if it is a $10 gauge (what I had to pay for it) or maybe a $50- $60 gauge.