Care should also be taken, except in rough pieces, to run gage lines no farther than is necessary for the sake of the appearance of the finished work.
To secure accuracy, all gaging on the surface of wood, should be done from the "working face" or "working edge." [Illustration: Fig.213.Setting a Marking-Gage.] [Illustration: Fig.214.Using the Marking-Gage.] It is sometimes advisable, as in laying out chamfers, not to mark their edges with a marking-gage, because the marks will show after the chamfer is planed off.

A pencil mark should be made instead.

For this purpose a pencil-gage may be made by removing the spur of a marking-gage, and boring in its place a hole to receive a pencil stub with a blunt point, or a small notch may be cut in the back end of the beam, in which a pencil point is held while the gage is worked as usual except that its position is reversed.

For work requiring less care, the pencil may be held in the manner usual in writing, the middle finger serving as a guide, or a pair of pencil compasses may be used, one leg serving as a guide.

A special gage is made for gaging curved lines, Fig.