Hip to be Square

Gotta be a Starret, not cheap, but definitely the best.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

Danny Boy,
I think one of the earlier issues of Woodworking Magazine covered that tool. Tonight when I get home (if I remember, of course) I’ll thumb through my old issues and see if I can’t pull up the tools they reviewed (and the results) for you.

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I agree with Damian. Everything I’ve read and based on my own experience, nobody does it better. The craftsmanship on Starret tools just jumps out at you.

-- Hailey, ID

You can’t get any better than Starret.

You should be able to fix the ones you have. It’s not that hard to do.

With a steel carpenters square it just takes a hammer and center punch to make it perfect.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Any tips on fixing a combo square?

-- Happy Ripping!!!

Here is a link to an article about framing squares http://www.homefocus.com/410/framing_square_know-how.htm
scroll down to the section “Tuning Up Your Square” to learn how to get your square back into “square”

-- Growing older but not up!

Danny,

This topic came up about a year ago….

Correcting a Machinist Square

I’ll repost a portion of my summary here:

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1 – You get what you pay for.
2 – if you can only have one square, save you pennies and buy a Starrett or Brown and Sharpe combination square, you’ll never be sorry.
3 – if you cant afford a high end square try a cheapo from your local big box hardware store. You might be surprised, I was.

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I know the old saying, it’s wood working, not machining. But the reality is if you want your joints to come together clean with the least muss and fuss then having your tools setup properly and starting with boards and joints that are square and true will only help. A 32nd out in 6 inches is an 8th out in two feet, and a quarter out in 4 feet. Try to get those joints to line up.
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The short answer on best combination square would be Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, or Mitutoyo. Check ebay before you buy retail.

As for the second question: Can you correct a combo square? Absolutely.

First question: is it worth it? is the square you are trying to correct worth your time and effort or would you be better served just getting a new one?

Second question: do you have a known reference to check against so you actually know when it is square?

If you can say yes to both questions then all you need to do is work the seat in the head where the blade rests until the blade ends up square with the face. You work the bottom of the blade seat, typically with a needle file, being careful not to work the sides of the seat, until the blade sits square. Often there will be a button or ridge near one end of the seat that can be filed, carefully and gently. Just take off a little at a time, just a few strokes between each checking. Remember the error is magnified out at the tip if the blade farthest away from the seat, so just a little change at the seat will result in a large change at the tip of the extended blade.

Another snippet from this post

Correcting a Machinist Square

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3 – Starrett hardened combination square. This thing is dead on. I checked it on the surface plate at work against multiple references. It was pretty pricey but I’d recommend it hands down. It operates smooth, very accurate, and you can do a lot with it. If I could only have one square in my entire shop it would be this one.
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Recently at Woodcraft, I saw a combination square set for $25. It included the protractor and angle gauge. I’ll bet you can’t guess where it was manufactured.

I decided to save-up and wait for their next sale and I’ll buy a Starret – made in the USA!

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

DB,

Not sure why I bothered checking… I figured it would be the Starrett and it was.

Buy the best and only cry once, man.

Cheers,

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/