Thoughts on Vintage Combination Square Purchase

[D.W.]

I would haunt ebay for hardened sets, vintage, and ask the seller if they are tight and in good condition. In my experience, they almost always show up square, the price here generally is about $50 for a good vintage name (lufkin, brown and sharpe, sometimes mitutoyo and starrett are more expensive).

The out of squareness I've had in other heads can be repaired, but their action is not as good as the hardened head squares with a good sharp looking rule, and action in moving the rule is fairly important. The cost is not much different.

I didn't come up with this tip, but just followed George Wilson's advice to buy a hardened head square and use it the rest of your life and not mess with the softer heads and the problems they develop. I have squares I got prior to that tip that are reasonably square, but even so, they don't have action like the hardened squares do - for some reason.

I ended up finding a nice 12" square lufkin vintage for $45, and it is better than any of my other square, which includes two complete unhardened starretts and some of the newer mid-priced squares. All is not lost having a couple of others, though, if you work by hand and travel to the material sometimes, it's nice to have one hanging on each end of the shop.

[yvan]

Ah well Ian, it must have been a longer cry!!!

I purchased a new, marked down combination square manufactured by Moore & Wright, a brand unmentioned in the thread. T'was a medium cry..

yvn