Multi-square

[craigb]

Saw the add for this square in this month's Wood Review.
Anybody own one of these squares?
Are they worth the $45?
The Missus was asking me what I wanted for Christmas. :)

Craig

[Rocker]

I would spend an extra $30 and buy a 200 mm digital caliper from Carbatec instead.

[Stuart]

I've been reviewing one for a couple of weeks now, and am quite impressed with it. Ok, it's not made out of ebony or other exotic material. It looks like a flat piece of brass, but.....

1. it is accurate. do the basic test (draw a line & flip it, and draw a second line)

2. it is not fragile- it will not go out of calibration, even if dropped.

3. the markings are etched into the surface- they won't just "rub off"

It can be used easily to check blades are at 90 degrees, it can be used to accurately set blade height.

It can be used to easily check the accuracy of other squares (and it has already caused me to return one!)

Once you have it, it gets used Often!

It will not be my only square that I own- but it will definitely be the one I turn to, to calibrate others, and in the meantime, I am happy with its performance.

It has other features, but I haven't made use of them to comment.

Just my 2 cents.

Bottom line- what do you want a tool such as this to be? One word- accurate. Everything else is secondary. So it may seem like a lot for a piece of plate metal, but what you are paying for is that accuracy, and it isn't that much to pay :) Good stocking filler ;)

[craigb]

Thanks Stuart for you comprehensive reply. Looks like I know what Santa is bringing me :)

Cheers
Craig

[Sir Stinkalot]

I have just read the ad in Wood Review .... my concern is when converted to a regular square with the addition of a 10x10mm timber rail ..... wouldn't the effectiveness of this be determined by the straightness of the timber being attached?

[Stuart]

I'm sure it would. Given that screwing a block of wood to an edge increases the likelihood of inducing an error into the device, at this stage I am tending away from using the multisquare in that fashion, and am preferring to use it as supplied. When I want a set square (fill in the equivalent woodworking term here), I will use one built as such (and I am intending to make myself one), and use the Multi-square to check its accuracy, both during construction and occasionally during use.

One use that I found the multisquare particularily suited to was setting saw blade height (as mentioned), and drill press depth- as it is accurate, and happens to confirm everything is square at the same time. Before having one, I was tending to rely on the eye-crometer too much. Now, I tend to pick up the multisquare as my preferred 1st option, and this is already improving my working habits!

[Sir Stinkalot]

I would agree that many of the functions will be extremely helpful ... such as setting planer fences, depth of router cutter and blade heights .... but on the other hand it seems as if they have included other things, such as the dowel sizer, additional fence, just to make it appear to offer so many features that we couldn't previously live without.

A cynical Stinky.

[craigb]

The main reason that I was looking at this square is because I don't own an engineers square and this looked like a good alternative with the bonus of the aformentioned features such as setting depths.

I agree that I probably won't get a lot of use out of the dowl sizing function, nor probably the dovetail angler as it's easy enough to set a bevel for marking out a dovetail, but 45 bucks for an accurate Australian made square seems like a good proposition.

After all the wife has to have something to wrap up for me Christmas so I'm doing her a favour really. :p

[chris_hewett]

Guys,

Do yourselves an absolute favour and buy yourselves a starrett combination square. For years I put of getting one and now it is THE tool I ALWAYS use for EVERY job. Sorry for the shouting, but I hardly use any other square, measuring or marking guage since getting this tool. If all my tools were stolen, this would be my FIRST purchase. Yes it is expensive, but it is the one tool that is used constantly, no matter what the job at hand. I would recommend a model with a satin steel rule.

It is worth checking ebay for used items...

Cheers,

Chris

[Markw]

Whilst I have followed this thread with a little bit of interest, I am still confused over the differing types of squares mentioned.

Coming from an engineering (Mech.) background, I am familiar with the engineers sq. but for the others I am at a loss.

How about some pics please

Mark

[Rocker]

The Multi-square has two drawbacks, which IMHO make it not particularly good value for money. First, it is made of brass, and is therefore faily easily dinged, nicked, or bent; and, second, it is rather small (140 mm x 140 mm) for some of the tasks for which a woodworking square is needed. I have the Shinwa 16" x 24" carpenter's square, which Lee Valley sells for US$39.50. When I checked the hypotenuse against the length of the sides, I found it was within 0.1 mm of the correct value according to Pythagoras, so the accuracy of the right angle must be essentially spot on. Timbecon sells a slightly smaller (500 x 250 mm) Shinwa model for $69.90 Australian. That would be my choice if I were in the market for a good square. The Starrett square has a good reputation, but it is very expensive (US$142 for the combination square), and, since it is a 2-piece instrument, it is inherently more prone to error than the one-piece Shinwa carpenter's squares.

[Wood Borer]

I was fortunate enough to be given a Colen Clenton square as gift by SWMBO some time ago and I find it spot on. They are a little bit expensive but excellent in that they can be re-calibrated easily.

Made in Australia by Colen Clenton (fantastic bloke), and they look good. I would not hesitate in buying another one. You can get them through MIK or Colen directly.

Colen also contributes to Australian Woodworkers by donating some of his instruments as prizes which is a very good reason to buy his products.


- Wood Borer

[Stuart]

Terry Gordon showed me one at the show while I was handing him a pile of the hard earned for one of his planes. Must admit, I was very tempted- poss next year! I did like the recalibration aspect.

[Iain]

Sotto Voce
Rocker must be lying, Pythagoras died over 2000 years ago :p

On a serious note though, Gifkin has a square made of (I think) phenolic resin. I have not seen one but the claims are that it is extremely accurate and reasonably priced.

[Robert WA]

Bridge City, in Portland, Oregon, USA, make a range of squares and other tools. Accurate, and cheaper than Starret. Check them out at http://www.bridgecitytools.com/ok_default.html
I have a 7" square from them, metric scale, that can be recalibrated if it ever goes out. The planes on the site will make you drool.
I was there earlier this year and had a look at the factory. It was like an operating theatre, minus the germs, and included some auto machining equipmant that was impressive.
Nice people, easy to deal with and a good quality product.

I also have the little Triton square, made of poly-whatever. That is a great little tool when it comes time to square up blades etc or to check internal and external angles before the glue sets. It has no scale so is no use for setting blade or router bit heights. Very accurate and virtually indestructable.