Originally Posted by
Prashun Patel
Due respect to Luke and Patrick, don't UNDERthink square. While not every piece has to be s4s, most joinery starts with and requires 2 square faces. You can get lucky with cheap squares, but you should test them against references that have produced solid results for you. Although I am a long time user of cheap squares, I can tell you that a reliable one is worth its weight in gold. Buying a good quality one now will allow you to reap more years of benefit from this highly important tool. I do believe that woodworking tolerances may be less than machinist/metalworking tolerances. But if you're not using a reliable reference for checking square, you'll make more challenges than are necessary when cutting joinery and jointing edges for glue ups.