Which Square?

[Kirky]

I have a sneaking suspicion that my Marples Square is anything but square!

So I want to buy a new one, but which one? Rutlands have many from which to choose ranging from a few pounds to 40 quid for an incra square. Is that really worth it or would the dakota engineering squares be OK (30 quid for 4 different sized squares)?

And when my new square arrives, how will I know it's square?

Cheers
Kirky

 

[mr]

You can check your square by butting it up against a straight edge and drawing a line along the blade. Then flip the sqare over and draw another line next to it. If the lines are parallel the square is square.

Cheers Mike

 

[Mike.C]

Kirky, I have the Incra square and it was spot on when I received it and it is still that way.
They claim that it will not go out of square if you drop it, but how true this is I don't know because I haven't it dropped yet.

There are cheaper squares but I have always like Incra products and as yet I have not been let down by them.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Nick W]

My guess would be that most people here have/use engineering squares (now watch for the pile of replies saying 'Not me mate'). They can be had reasonably cheaply and are (supposed to be) square on all 4 major faces, which woodworking squares generally aren't.

 

[engineer one]

how about the trend /3m's one which has "wings" to allow you to mark
round the sides, they are also adjustable.

mine is one of the original yellow ones, and still seems pretty good after 5 years or so.

paul :wink:

 

[johnnyb]

i use a rabone combination square. £3 from a boot sale. best and squarest square i ever owned. very versatile to.

 

[Matt1245]

I bought a new stanley/rabone combination square...wasn't square, then i bought a marples square and that wasn't square. So i now use engineers square, grade B.

Matt.

 

[underused]

I had a marples, wasnt square.
Then bought an engineers square, wasnt square...
Also bought a stanley carpenters square, wasnt square
:roll:

Finally bought a cheap, Japanese brand square, and its preety good.
Also got some Woodpeckers clamping squares. They are good for setting up fences etc.

I know a few old school carpenters here (Japan) just cut a corner off a sheet of MDF or Ply, and use that as a square. When it gets damaged they toss it and cut another.

 

[RogerS]

I was in the local tool shop looking for a square. I took down the three they had and lined then up against each other.
None of them matched any of the others so I asked the counter guy if they had any more as these weren't square. They didn't.

Do you want these, I say? No, mate, stick 'em back on the rack.

Nuff said.

 

[johnnyb]

my rabone is fairly old. as an apprentice i made an adjustable square with a pivot and two screws for adjustment. without a cylinder square and lots of patience it was difficult to set i found. i set my scms with my rabone tried the five cut and it was practically perfect! that doesnt usually happen!! try buying a toolroom combi square probably v expensive but worth it in the long run.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

This one I've got is not very big

But it's spot on, and will always be square, it's adjustable \/

 

[Paul Chapman]

I have a 6" Marples square which I bought in the 1970s. It's one of those with an "L" shaped blade that goes down the length of the wood and brass stock and is riveted. It was called something like "Eversure" or "Eversquare" but the name has worn off after years of use. That has been good and seems to have remained accurate. I also have a 12" Marples of similar age but with the ordinary blade which seems a bit "off" so I tend not to use that one now. I also have a few small engineers squares which I inherited. They seem accurate, particularly the Moore & Wright, and I now tend to use those most of the time. I also have a couple of adjustable ones - horribly inaccurate as squares but quite useful for other tasks as they have built-in rulers.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[woodbloke]

I have a 6" Marples square which I bought in the 1970s. It's one of those with an "L" shaped blade that goes down the length of the wood and brass stock and is riveted. It was called something like "Eversure" or "Eversquare" but the name has worn off after years of use. That has been good and seems to have remained accurate. I also have a 12" Marples of similar age but with the ordinary blade which seems a bit "off" so I tend not to use that one now. I also have a few small engineers squares which I inherited. They seem accurate, particularly the Moore & Wright, and I now tend to use those most of the time. I also have a couple of adjustable ones - horribly inaccurate as squares but quite useful for other tasks as they have built-in rulers.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Paul - I had a set of those 'Eversure' squares when I started collecting :-$ tools in the 70's and they were good. I now use a selection of engineers squares from Axminster, cheap and cheerful but accurate - Rob

 

[Scrit]

My guess would be that most people here have/use engineering squares (now watch for the pile of replies saying 'Not me mate').

I use some very old Stanley woodworkers squares; cast iron stock and steel blade, which I suppose makes them like engineers's squares in a way :roll:

I know a few old school carpenters here (Japan) just cut a corner off a sheet of MDF or Ply, and use that as a square. When it gets damaged they toss it and cut another.

That isn't guaranteed either - first thing you do on a panel saw with sheet stock is to make a dust cut on two edges to make sure you've got two square edges. a lot aren't

Scrit

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:16 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This one I've got is not very big


But it's spot on, and will always be square, it's adjustable

You Lordship, who makes them?

 

[George_N]

Paul - I had a set of those 'Eversure' squares when I started collecting :-$ tools in the 70's and they were good. I now use a selection of engineers squares from Axminster, cheap and cheerful but accurate - Rob

I also have a set of engineering squares from Axminster. Mine range in size from 100 mm to 250 mm and the prices are from £6 - £25. They are square by the tests given in the previous posts and seem very robust, being all steel.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:16 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This one I've got is not very big


But it's spot on, and will always be square, it's adjustable

You Lordship, who makes them?

They are made by crown and available at Axminster Power Tools

 

[Kirky]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have to say I didn't want an adjustable one, I want something that I can use as a reference for square, always square every time.
Same with doing a dust cut; how do I know my fence is square unless my square is square?
Needless to say I've ordered an engineers square set from rutlands. I'll report on the squareness when they arrive, hopefully tomorrow.

Needless to say, if my new squares are square, then I'll have to find something else to blame my, seemingly endless, disasters upon. #-o

 

[engineer one]

well good luck, but you have kind of ruined it by talking about using it as a reference square.

a reference square is the one you use to check all the others, and you NEVER use it for actual work!!!! :-k

you set up other squares with it so that they are true. :twisted: :lol:

as for the rest, maybe you should re-set your scms and see what that does for square ends :roll:

paul :wink:

 

[Kirky]

Hi Paul

well good luck, but you have kind of ruined it by talking about using it as a reference square.K

As you might have guessed I'm a newbie, not only here but to woodworking fullstop.
I haven't read anywhere that I needed a square to not use...I thought tools that weren't used were for c#ll#ct#rs
K