All Replies on Looking for a quality combination square.. Any recommendations?

Not to bad mount four brands, but can you tell us who made the squares you currently have and what it is about them that you’re unhappy about? Personally this is what I’ve been using recently and I”m pretty happy with it.

I have an old Bridge City square that I depend on regularly.

Cost more originally, but I have used it for 15 years.

-- Randy "You are judged as much by the questions you ask as the answers you give..."

I’ve got a Fowler combo square that’s awfully good. Made in the USA, rugged, accurate…

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Will, I think two of them are Craftsman, one of them I got at Home Depot not sure of the brand and the other one I am not sure.

Two of them do not lock down square making them almost useless. The other two I have tuned myself to make them more accurate but I have problems locking the ruler in place and sliding it. Its actually just minor things and I can work around them and have but I just use them so often that it would be nice to have one with out having to work around it. Also the faces on the square get scratched up pretty easily by my blades (I often use the squares to check my hand tool blades) and this leaves me having to sand them back to flat after a while.

-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"

Mitutoyo makes good stuff too. Depending on the level you go with you can get it cheaper than Starrett, however, some of the higher end ones make Starrett’s prices seem cheap.

-- www.newageneanderthal.blogspot.com . @NANeanderthal on twitter

Dan—I have 5 Empire True Blue combination squares (1 – 12”, 2 – 7”, and 2 – 6”). One of the 6” stays in my apron, the others do TDY all over the bench and shop.

They are NOT on a par with Starrett, Fowler, Bridge City, or other premium tools, but I beat the heck out of them yet have never had a problem. They get dropped, stepped on, lost & found and still stay true. I even ran one through the laundry with a load of rags … made an awful noise in the drier but came out unscathed.

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

I’d ask Philip Marcou and August about this one. Starrett, Mit, and Bridge City are no-brainers but PM mentioned another brand that’s escaping me. My technique is to own one Starrett and keep it in a box. I check it against other squares & see if I can peen them/grind them to use. I’ve had lousy brands (Swanson) turn out dead on. I’ve had more expensive (Gladstone and Crown) come out junk. Aside from the big$$$ guys, I think they’re all hit or miss. The most square thing I found in my shop using my Starrett is a plastic CD case!

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

knotscott’s combo square is here

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=fowler+square&_frs=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m359

looks pretty nice

i bought some fancy dancer
it wasn’t to bad
(don’t know the brand)

then ordered the longer blade for it
and it won’t tighten right
turns out the slot is a square edged dado
and the holding pin is rounded
now i can’t find the 1’ blade for it

must have been two different company’s

-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle

I scored a Starrett 12” combo with the regular and protractor head for $40 on ebay in very good condition. Wonderful tool. Beats the pants off my cheapies. Since it’s only $40, I use it every day. I’d recommend it.

I’m sure a Browne and Sharpe, Fowler, Bridge City or Mitutoyo are very good.

mitutoyo can’t be beat in my book .I love their stuff and recommend it highly.

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

There is an unfavorable LJ review on a Starett combo square. One particular product line has been moved to China, and the quality has apparently suffered. However, in general, Starett gets high marks.

Bertha : I am not up to speed on this one but the established quality makers that I know of are Mitutuyo (spelling?), Starret, Moore&Wright, Rabone Chesterman-and there are more I am sure.
But I have noticed also that there are new names coming out of China that are producing excellent tools too such as Vertex, costing less and easily of comparable quality.
The point is if you can actually see what you are buying first, and can recognise good quality then there are definitely other options which can be better than the established names.

I’m about to replace my 40 yr old Starret. The etchings are getting too faint to read, or eyes too dim to see.
I’ve used Starret and Browne and Sharp over the years and have not been disappointed.

-- Sawdust and shavings are therapeutic

KsSlim if you send the square back to Starrett they will recondition the set for much less than you can replace the set with the same quality. Other brands are Millers falls – mid range and quality. Brown and sharpe.

-- BobG, Lowell, Arkansas--------My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am! Make more saw dust!!

>BobG Thanks, I didn’t know Starret would recondition.

-- Sawdust and shavings are therapeutic

The best combo square I have I paid 25 cents for at a flee market. It was rusted so bad it was hard to say what it was. It cleaned up very nice. I still don’t know the brand, but its heavy and solid, and locks tight. The blade was pitted bad enough on one end that it still shows, but Its the first one I grab, ever since i restored it.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

I’ve been buying SPI squares recently. I’ve had a couple Starretts walk off when teaching workshops. The SPI squares are, in some ways, nicer than Starrett and not as good in other ways. There are some on eBay now at pretty reasonable prices. SPI stands for “Swiss Precision Instruments” but I’m sure they’re made in China or India.