great combination squares - at a great price

Hi Denis;

They look like they’re good quality.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Agreed. I have the smaller one. I use it more than my 12” of another make. I use it for laying out crosscuts at 90 and 45. Haven’t used the screwed in scribe much. I’ve stuck with mechanical pencils for the most part.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Where is the empire brand normally sold?? It sounds like a good deal, but I havent seen many empire products around. I have an empire tape measure and it is really good, but I got it at Sears a few years ago and I dont think they carry that brand anymore.

-- Steve-o

Untill today, I would agree that the Empire are good squares, they are even more substancial than the Stanley versions that are available. I bought a 12” Starrett today and the first thing I did was use it to check the accuracy of the two Empires and the one Groz that I own. The 6” Empire was not too bad, but I could see the slight runout. The 12” Empire was the worst! I did notice my cuts were a little off (the reason I went for the Starrett) but I did not know it was that much. (and these have never been dropped)

I’ll keep the Empires for carpentry, but I’ll now use the Starrett for machine set up and checking my cuts for squareness. If you do have any other brand of square, including Starrett, check them against a known square occasionally for your own piece of mind.

Tom

-- Anybody can become a woodworker, but only a Craftsman can hide his mistakes.

I also use the Empire Combination Square, and It works great for me, I checked for squareness (scribing a line at the edge of a board, then flipping the square and scribing another line at the same spot to check if they match- and they did.

compared the ~$12 of an Empire to a ~$70 for a Starrett I never really figured why there was such a huge price difference between the two…? is the Starrett THAT MUCH better ? THAT MUCH more accurate? to what degree? 600% better?

so far I’m happy with my Empire square… does what it needs to, and at a fair price.

PS. I noticed that your 6” square if of the ‘higher end’ line of squares Empire makes (guaranteed to within .001”) but the 12” is of their ‘lower-end’ line of squares… did you notice any difference other than how they feel in your hand?

-- My Drinking Club has a Woodworking Problem...

Never purchased a Starrett square probably because of the great cost difference. After all how square is good enough, I mean in 12” can the less expensive squares be that far off? Does it really matter unless you are cutting a wider panel, say for a cabinet side, and then you would be reaching for a carpenters square? I have only recently purchased a 6” square and find myself reaching for it a lot more than the 12”. I also bought one of those 12” metal rules and wonder how I did without it!

-- Don, Pittsburgh

Remember that Empire has several levels of Quality. Is the Pro the one in the review? The square is steel instead of aluminum in the Pro model. I can’t remember the price difference but I got a 16” Pro from Sears that is very nice. Fairly hefty compared to the cheaper aluminum models out there.

Here’s a thread about correcting a machinist square from a while ago. I made the comment that I had purchased a cheap combination square from the big box and was pretty happy with it, it was the Empire 12 inch. I was happy with it then and I’m still pretty happy.

BUT, is a Starrett that much better? In an answer, yes, yes a Starrett is that much better. Hardened faces, smoother operation, better accuracy, long term confidence in the tool. So while I use the Empire, quite a bit actually, I feel it does not compare to a Starrett.

I picked up the Empire square at Home Depot.

both my 6” and 12” are the empire pro, and sure at times I wish they would slide smoother, and lock tighter, but hey – they were $7 and $9 at home depot (which I really don’t like shopping at , but sometimes there really isnt much choice) – but If I had an extra $60-$70 to spend – I’d rather get a good quality saw blade, or a ROS, or some other tool/material that is averaging at that price…

I know the starrett is top-notch quality, but it seems like sometimes people forget that there are more affordable solutions out there, that are still pretty damn good.

I really enjoy (as much as you can enjoy a combi-square) my empire squares, and find them accurate and pleasing.

-- My Drinking Club has a Woodworking Problem...

This is a nice review. Thanks for the post.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

When I Can find somethinf as gppd as a sterrott I will buy it

-- WOOD/DON (...one has the right to ones opinion but not the right to ones own facts...)

Don, You can buy it through the Lumberjocks Amazon link. FYI… Amazon states it can’t be shipped out of the US.

Buy the good stuff and only cry once!

Tom

-- Anybody can become a woodworker, but only a Craftsman can hide his mistakes.

I usually buy mid-range squares, including Empire. I check them religiously on Friday afternoon against an engineer’s square, which is accurate to .0001/4”

Good review, you should be happy with them.

-- The only easy wood project is a fire

I’ve used there framing square and the combination squares… it’s convenient that I can run over to Home Depot and get them, without spending a fortune.

Thanks for the review!

-- Ryno

I like that 6” one. I have the 12” version and love it. I use the ruler by it self a lot and have found that this square is very precise.

-- Tyler, Illinois

Nice info to know… Thanks!

-- Chris