| Project by tr33surg3on | posted 10-13-2011 07:11 PM | 1995 views | 1 time favorited | 5 comments |  |
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This is a simplified version of the try square project in Jim Tolpin’s The New Traditional Woodworker: From Skill Set to Mind Set . The handle is soft maple (I think), the rest is thin stock walnut. The finish is six layers of Zissner Bullseye Sealcoat brushed on which I understand is essentially a 2# cut of dewaxed shellac.
I left out some of the embellishments such as curves on the non-measuring surfaces and the pins at the joint.
It’s my first real woodworking project and I learned a lot about squaring the stock and measuring, sawing and planing (somewhat) accurately with hand tools. You can see I cut the slot just a little too deep in the second picture.
It’s lighter and easier to manage than my combination square so I actually put it to use. I liked it well enough that in the future I’d make one or two larger ones if I need a small project.
-- Tim -- Tools to make tools to make...it's tools all the way down.
5 comments so far
woodzy
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418 posts in 2072 days
#1 posted 10-13-2011 07:43 PM
Awesome.
Using those woods was a nice touch.
I like the clean lines and look of the square withthout the pins.
Nice tool!!
-- Anthony
KnotCurser
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1986 posts in 2462 days
#2 posted 10-13-2011 08:06 PM
I agree w/ Anthony – good choice of woods and nice, plain lines.
This will be used a LOT I am guessing. I have to make one myself.
-bob
-- Robert Rhoades WoodWorks / Email: rrww@rhoadesclan.com / www.rhoadesclan.com
WilcoFlier
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57 posts in 2407 days
#3 posted 10-14-2011 07:37 PM
I like it, I want to make a few to. Is is dificult to make him square?
-- www.hobbyhoutbewerking.nl
tr33surg3on
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21 posts in 1818 days
#4 posted 10-14-2011 10:52 PM
WilcoFlier – The technique from the book is to set it up against a known square board (as the book says, yes you need a square to make a square) and mark a line, then you flip it around and mark another line. The midpoint of the narrow resulting V is where you need to adjust to to get it square. You also use a similar technique with a marking gauge to find the center line. It’s one of the points of the “skill set/mind set” approach of the book that it gets you away from absolute measurements (i.e. 90 degrees on a protractor) in favor of relative geometric measurements.
-- Tim -- Tools to make tools to make...it's tools all the way down.
scueplain
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42 posts in 1835 days
#5 posted 10-15-2011 03:22 AM
nice job, you’ll have fun using it .
-- Dave,Portland OR
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