Success of a simple marking gauge

Just for fun, I thought I'd try to make a blog post each day this week. (I'm not making any promises, though...)

My Silvertip epoxy arrived yesterday. So, last night I took the next step & removed the forward starboard planking so that I can get to all parts of the stem.

I was happy to see that the marking gauge I'd made from a large spring clip worked very well. You may recall from an earlier post that I'd had some alignment issues when drilling through the planking and into the chine. 

The idea behind the marking gauge is to have a quick and simple method of marking where to drill through the planking so that the screw will go where you want it to in the chine, sheer, frame member... you get the idea.

With the spring clip, I simply placed the clip against the chine and extended one of the tabs. Then, I marked the alignment for the center of the chine with a piece of tape. With the plywood planking clamped into place, I just put the spring clamp over the edge of the plywood so that the clip touched the chine. Then, all I had to do was extend the tab and mark the line indicated by the tape. Worked like a charm.

Forward planking removed, revealing nicely aligned holes along the chine.

Here's the simple marking gauge. The silver duct tape on the other tab is for marking along another area.