Thread: Looking for a square that's actually square

Originally Posted by Evan Pavlidis

G'day funky, I've been using the following for years from Carbatec and very happy with it. It is stainless steel and very well made in Japan; not chindia.
Money well spent.



http://www.carbatec.com.au/measureme...ese-try-square


Cheers, Evan

I got one of thes and I love it very good for machine setup etc.
A few years ago I had a job where I wanted a few squares so I could use more than one at a time and didnt have to move from one work station to another so I made a batch of 5 or 6 out of timber. Had some nice old QLD Maple and faced the rubbing area with a strip of Indian Rosewood. I made them in 3 sizes and 3 pinning methods. All were glued 2 had bamboo tapered pins 2 had brass screws and 2 had brass pins .
Out of the 6 1 was rubbish the rest were at least as good as anything you find in a hardware shop and a lot better looking. 2 were perfect inside and out and still are 10 years later 2 others are near perfect and 1 is perfect inside but not outside.
It was a fun job to make them and they are very serviceable and attractive I reckon you should make a few and see how they work out. If you dont have piles of Indian rosewood laying around a bit of brass would work just as well and look sexy too.

Rgds

Ross

Roger Gifkins sells a great little square manufactured from a resin. Not subject to heat and cold and extremely accurate.

For general work [smallish] I use a Nobex square which I find very handy

www.carbatec.com.au/measurement/try-squares/nobex-multi-squares

For sheet work I use the Veritas guide which clamps onto a framing square and gives an edge to work from. As an extra I also use a Gyprock marking square which is large and dead on, relatively inexpensive and is accurate.

For set up I use large plastic drafting squares which have been purchased from drafting suppliers not the local $2 shop or newsagent.

I find that I use all of them at different times - I can't really see where "one size" could fit all.

Regards,
Bob

Go to the BORG (i.e. Bunnings) with a pocket knife. Pick up a few framing squares. Look at the edges. Do you see that blob of varnish? Scrape it off the edge. This insures accuracy without the protective finish interfering.

Test the framing squares against each other. Find a few that are perfect. They should be different brands. Use these squares to test the square that you are going to buy. You'll be surprised that you can find an accurate cheap square.

Why different brands? Different manufacturers and different factories. If they are square to each other, they are square.

Hmm..Good Replies..

I've now seen the CV squares, very interesting..

As I said previous, I'm going to have a go at making my own square, I'm even going to attempt to make it adjustable..so watch this space

FC

Have a look at Charles Hayward's book on making tools, available for download from Toolemera

Think your best bet is to just get a combination square. Can use it as a good ruff marking guage, mitre checks. depth checksetc. Sometimes you need a small square to check, because somethings in the way.....cause the combination squares adjustable you can easy enough just set it for most situations

Best ones I think have cast bodies, not aluminium...and on the rule bit, the graduations are inset, not just painted on, else they tend to rub off and you can't see them.

I've got a good stanley one like. Cost me 40 bucks I think.

You don't need super accuracy in woodworking. IMO. No need to really spend big bucks on it. As long by eye it passes that square check.

Can do like what been previously mentioned. pocket a piece of wood and pencil and go into the local hardware and test the cheapys...pencil mark check each side of line. uno. Bound to be one that runs square. Buy it and move on to next thing. not a decision I'd spend a lot of time on.

As Mic-d said, the empire combination units are very good. They claim to guarantee accuracy of 0.001" per inch. I have several of them and all are very true. The best part is, they're less than $50.

I have to agree that the empire engineers squares are good value, I also have a cheaper aloy engineers square that isnt too bad either.

I have a couple of those heavy moulded plastic squares, i have had one for years it is the original stanley version and it has worked hard.....it si the one I use the most.
you can drop it of a 2 story building on to cement & it will, stay straight...

there is a cheap version too, I have one of those as well.

I have a pair of performer rafter squares ( big "L" shaled things) cheap as chips and quite accurate.

I will never buy a conventional wood workers square.....so many are rubbish & this includes the "good brands"....& why would you when you can have a much more versatile and accurate engineers sqaure.

cheers

One of my first purchases as a young lad was a nice quality rosewood, brass and steel square. I was under the inpression as it was a good make and expensive that it would be square. It wasn't. At the last count, I think I had six squares (you need a lot of them when making patterns from antiques etc.) and none of the latter five were expensive ones, yet I kept them perfectly square.

A square will go out of true through normal usage and they will need adjusting periodically. I lay each square on the edge of a known straight and true board, first one way and then flipped the other way, marking along the blade with a craft knife each time.

Any discrepancy will be immediately apparent. If the square needs adjusting, tapping the corner of the blade once, gently, on a chunk of wood is all that's required to nudge it back again (you'd obviously need to re-check for accuragy).

Any of you who have seen my work will probably appreciate I am fairly anal about detail and accuracy and this fine tuning of my squares has always been part of the job and is why I wouldn't buy a very expensive square again.

As a registered "gadget man", this has now been added to my collection of "squares".

It is interesting to see which of my "squares" is "square"!

Takes about 2 seconds to re-calibrate, fun tool.

I have a set of 3 engineer squares. Yes they are made in China/India but sorry they are accurate. They are all around $8 to $20 each.

FC, I can get you one from Paddy’s market and post it to you if you want. Just PM me.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

As a registered "gadget man", this has now been added to my collection of "squares".

It is interesting to see which of my "squares" is "square"!

Takes about 2 seconds to re-calibrate, fun tool.

Lucky you. They are sold out. I have had an order for a digital angle finder at Carbatec for many weeks. They haven't come up with the goods. This one looks adaptable to purposes other than just the table saw. eg What is the angle my walls meet at (often not 90 deg)? I sent them an email to see whether they will get more in. We'll see.

SteveMcM

Originally Posted by SteveMcM

Lucky you. They are sold out. I have had an order for a digital angle finder at Carbatec for many weeks. They haven't come up with the goods. This one looks adaptable to purposes other than just the table saw. eg What is the angle my walls meet at (often not 90 deg)? I sent them an email to see whether they will get more in. We'll see.

SteveMcM

You're right, a very versatile tool! I ordered 2 straight after I received their email offer and was lucky to get them both. Gave one away as a gift. I don't think I will use it on the table saw, have the Wixey Digital Angle Gauge for that (told you I was a gadget man). I also have a digital spirit level that I have had for years and use all the time. One of the first digital gadgets I have ever seen. That also tells you what angle/slope is on something but too big to use for the smaller stuff, more for building purposes and it got used a lot when I was building my house. Great for setting up falls on roofs and pergolas and the like.