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Thread: Why Do You Own A Try Square?

  1. #46
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    You may need a single pivot point for your mind so that your flexibility improves Lowell. That Galveston Seawall type mind holding firmly against all intrusion is preventing the concept of the Magic Square to flow in.
    David

  2. #47
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    The method I have always relied on requires starting with a straight edge. Take a board with a straight edge and use your square to mark a line. Flip the square over and register it, on the same starting point and mark a second line. If the two lines are identical, then you have a square square. If not, the error of the square is 1/2 the difference in the separation of the two lines. You can then decide if that is good enough for the task. Check all your squares this way. Other ways induce other sources of error.

  3. #48
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    Did you try the test with your try square?
    Yes, with many of them.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #49
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    When I bought my Disston try square, I was so proud of it, I checked everything for square. I would have known if it was out.

    Is the correct spelling trisquare or try square?
    Last edited by lowell holmes; 05-27-2017 at 11:04 AM.

  5. #50
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    Ok, since I had a 1 x 10 to cut into two pieces for a glue up for the Pantry Cupboard's top...happen to have a nice, flat surface to work from
    DSCF0001.JPG
    This is they square I have been using on the project. I don't like to use more than one.....line was marked all the way around, lines met where they are supposed to meet.
    other Try Squares..
    DSCF0002.JPG
    A different size, used according to the size of the project.
    DSCF0003.JPGUseful for setting a depth of cut, that red thing?
    Decided to "test" it for square, marked a line...
    DSCF0004.JPG
    Then, flip over and mark a second line on the first..
    DSCF0005.JPG
    I only marked to the end of the blade, both time.....line is one, single line.
    DSCF0006.JPG
    Finding angles, and centers...
    DSCF0007.JPG
    Top to bottom: Rosewood, Rosewood, Walnut, Plastic. The Plastic one has been around in my shops since the 1980s. Been laying out dovetails with these....

    Red handled square is a Stanley Handyman. Biggest thing is NOT to drop a square..they will stay square just fine, IF you treat them right.

    Afraid my "Speed Square" is a little big..
    Speed Square.jpg
    More of a saw guide/ router guide/jobsite saw fence.

  6. #51
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    Stanley, I keep a Starret Bevel edged Master Square in my tool box in t's original box and paper.
    It only comes out for the checking of everything else I own in tooling, and cleaning, and oiling.
    We seem to think alike in many ways.

  7. #52
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    You can make the lines connect by canceling the error, but a joint won't seat cleanly in hardwood unless the shoulders are very near to square. If the shoulders are out of square in opposite directions then the joint willl seat squarely but present gaps at two corners along the shoulder. If the shoulders are out square in the same direction than the joint will seat out of square.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  8. #53
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    Lost in all the above....WHY does one own a try square? As asked by the OP. Why even have such a square? NOT how to check the squares, not which brand name one "loves". Just a simple "Why?" Why own such a square? This was the question..
    (about like arguing over who should get the One Ring.....)

    Not about HOW to use one, not about how to check one. Merely WHY own one.

    ( for me, the Try square is already set up to use, where as a combo would need to be adjusted for the use needed. )
    Last edited by steven c newman; 05-27-2017 at 5:07 PM.

  9. #54
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    You can make the lines connect by canceling the error, but a joint won't seat cleanly in hardwood unless the shoulders are very near to square. If the shoulders are out of square in opposite directions then the joint willl seat squarely but present gaps at two corners along the shoulder. If the shoulders are out square in the same direction than the joint will seat out of square.
    I was thinking along the same lines, Brian. I guess for some it is comforting to have precision in their instruments that far surpasses their skill as woodworkers, but a regular woodworker would know if a square is not accurate by how his joinery goes. And if you are edge joining two pieces of wood and your straight edge says they are flat but when you align them they are not, by all means check your straight edge.

    Some take great pains to insure a flat sole on a plane, which is good, but the best measure of the fitness of a plane is how nicely and easily it planes a flat surface.

    I have used try squares and a knife to mark wood since 1970, when I started researching traditional technique. Until reading this thread I had not realized that I must have inherited a combination square from my father; I think I could find it if there were a need.

  10. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    Lost in all the above....WHY does one own a try square? As asked by the OP. Why even have such a square? NOT how to check the squares, not which brand name one "loves". Just a simple "Why?" Why own such a square? This was the question..
    (about like arguing over who should get the One Ring.....)

    Not about HOW to use one, not about how to check one. Merely WHY own one.

    ( for me, the Try square is already set up to use, where as a combo would need to be adjusted for the use needed. )
    The purpose of the tool is self evident. Kind of a "if a tree falls in the woods ..." type of question. Squareness is a convention used to simplify construction. Things don't 'have' to be square after all.

  11. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    The method I have always relied on requires starting with a straight edge. Take a board with a straight edge and use your square to mark a line. Flip the square over and register it, on the same starting point and mark a second line. If the two lines are identical, then you have a square square. If not, the error of the square is 1/2 the difference in the separation of the two lines. You can then decide if that is good enough for the task. Check all your squares this way. Other ways induce other sources of error.
    I have never been convinced this is a good method because it relies on the knife being held exactly at 90 degrees or the same angle each time and that is difficult to do.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  12. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    I have never been convinced this is a good method because it relies on the knife being held exactly at 90 degrees or the same angle each time and that is difficult to do.
    It also relies on the board's edge being truly straight. T'aint always so.

  13. #58
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    Not about HOW to use one, not about how to check one. Merely WHY own one.
    As said in an earlier post in this thread, the feel better in my hands than a combination square. Plus as you also said, fiddling with a combination square to set it up isn't my cup of tea.

    I have never been convinced this is a good method because it relies on the knife being held exactly at 90 degrees or the same angle each time and that is difficult to do.
    If the knife is following the edge of the square's blade it should only require the same angle against the blade through the stroke. The lines should then be parallel if the square is true. My tendency is to space the lines a small amount. Usually a visual confirmation is enough. If a higher degree of confirmation is desired the lines can be viewed with an inspector's loupe to see if the lines vary. (An inspectors loop has a scales on its glass base to measure in the range of five thousandths of an inch.) Of course most people do not have one of those:

    https://www.emsdiasum.com/microscopy...measuring.aspx

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  14. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    As said in an earlier post in this thread, the feel better in my hands than a combination square. Plus as you also said, fiddling with a combination square to set it up isn't my cup of tea.



    If the knife is following the edge of the square's blade it should only require the same angle against the blade through the stroke.
    https://www.emsdiasum.com/microscopy...measuring.aspx

    jtk
    And you can guarantee to do that without any shadow of a doubt and measure the parallelism of both lines? I know it is an extreme argument but that is where this thread has gone to. If you really want to check a square properly you need a surface plate and a square cylinder to compare it to. As to why we need a try square, we don't, in previous times they were the only square I guess and could be made by the user relatively easily. I inherited mine from my Grandfather, never use it and I suspect he never had a combination square at all. I seem to recall someone telling me when I was very young that they did not trust the combination square to always be accurate but a try square always stayed accurate. I must have asked the question I guess. Our preference in tools lays with the individual, why own a track saw for instance or a Lie Nielson plane instead of another brand and then some people think buying any new plane is an outright ludicrous thing to do.
    Last edited by Chris Parks; 05-28-2017 at 3:14 AM.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  15. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Parks View Post
    I have never been convinced this is a good method because it relies on the knife being held exactly at 90 degrees or the same angle each time and that is difficult to do.
    If the suggested method is difficult it might be that square isn't the biggest issue you have to deal with.

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