Hi Paul,

> Does anyone have a cutting gauge, with a brass
> retaining wedge that holds nicely, and could
> measure the engle for me?

I've got a recent Marples cutting gauge. 

The original wedge was poor, with a massive casting line down the middle
of the wedge, making the wedge shape more semicircular than flat.  Obvious
casting flaw, so I drawfiled the wedge smooth and square, maintaining
original angle as close as possible

Thickness at toe of wedge = 5.0mm
Thickness at top of wedge = 6.65mm
Length of wedge landing =  25.4mmm (that's 1" Jeff, oddly enough, some
conventions never change)

Angle = 3.7 degrees

Wedge holds firm, too firm on some occasions.

As an aside, I notice that the blade is slightly tapered in width from the
heel to the cutting edge (narrower at the cutting end of the blade).  Not
a substantial amount, maybe 1mm difference over 50mm length.

Cheers,

Andrew