Why Do You Own A Try Square?

[Derek Cohen]

I built this collection about 10 or so years ago. Tool art ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

A combination square is quite a good tool. In the final analysis though, it isn't quite(a thou or 2) as accurate as a fixed all steel machinist's square. So,I haven't used a combination square for a long time. I rely upon the all steel, fixed blade Starrett squares that I accumulated many years ago. I had to use more traditional squares when I was in public.

Watch out for the no-name Chinese all steel squares. They usually don't quite make it. As Clint Eastwood would have said, had he been a machinist in a movie:"Your steel Chinese square AIN'T MAKING IT" ! (A reference to his boss's mouth wash!!

The amount of out-of-square that a GOOD combination square can be (and I mean the HARDENED HEAD Starrett combo squares) Is so little that woodworkers needn't worry about it. I have had well experienced metal spinners say that a combination square is always out by .002". Now,if that is .001" PER SIDE, in trying to scribe to the center of a cylinder) , it isn't too much to worry about in woodworking. Wood of much size at all can move that much! I don't know how worn their combination squares may have been. They were referencing the part of a combo square that is used to find the center of a round cylinder , anyway. But it shows that moving parts on a square can get worn through use. Bridge City (Is that their name? I own none. Doesn't mean their tools are bad! ) Tools tried to minimize that problem by inserting 2 hardened pins into the groove in the stock that the blade slid in. The all hardened Starrett combination square is still the best tool, though. And, brass parts on a square may look pretty (and you know I have used brass quite a lot, but not on critical surfaces) AIN'T MAKING IT.

Hopefully you can make sense of this rather confusing post!

DEREK: Keep adding on to that square rack, and you will eventually have your own Studley tool box! But, in your case, trying to combine the 2 names, it might be the DUDLEK tool box!

[lowell holmes]

Derek,

Your image did not make the trip.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Lowell

I am not sure why you cannot see it. George and I can.

Perhaps the shine off the steel is blinding you?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[steven c newman]

But, no glare....

[lowell holmes]

Derek, I can see it now. I must have had a bad link.

[Jim Koepke]

oddjobs.pdf

The Odd Job is a strange tool that I have seen in tool catalogs, but never played with. Pretty useful for carpentry work? What about more precise cabinet work?

Mostly mine is used for drawing a line for a rip cut. Occasionally it is used to draw a large circle or arc. Here is a not so great quality .pdf showing its various uses:

oddjobs.pdf

It wouldn't be my choice for precise cabinet work. For framing up a rabbit hutch it would be okay.

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I have an Odd Jobs. I never use it, but I might.

[steven c newman]

Later today, maybe, I will need to mark out some plywood to cut shelves
plywood.JPG
I need 3/4" x 14-1/2" by 29" pieces. Panel is 3/4" x 30" wide, by 48" . Figure I can get a few shelves out of this panel. What is hanging there is my framing square. Will be using that to do layout for a few cuts.
I have a "speed square"
Speed Square.jpg
That I can clamp in place, offset so I can use a circular saw. I tend to use this for long cuts. It was made for use on a jobsite DeWalt saw. Works just as well guiding a router, as well ( I'd have to go and find one, first)
used the Combo square to set a jig on the bandsaw, for width of cut.....have a few cleats to make...

[Andy Nichols]

Have several shop made Try squares with different lengths and blade sizes, built most of them in one afternoon. Made with hard maple handles and Cuban mahogany blades, much cheaper than store bought.

Have two Starrett combo squares, 6 & 12 inch, use them mostly to check my shop made squares, or when I need a measurement, but then it's good to have the wood Try squares so the slide location does not have to be changed.

Also have a few high end Try squares, but still mainly use my wooden ones. My longest is 18" and shortest is around 4" with several in between....I do make both sides square, I know many only do the inside, but I find them more useful with inside and outside square, and it's not that much harder to do.

Andy

[Bill Houghton]

I grew up watching Dad use a combination square, so that's what I used when I started frightening pieces of wood; and I still do.

But I've become aware that the stock (handle) of a try square is often longer than the beam (blade), relative to the analogous parts of a combination square; so, in theory, you would get better registration. I really need to start experimenting with the try squares I've acquired over the years; maybe I'll change my practices!

[Stanley Covington]

Thanks, Jim.

[george wilson]

If you want an excellent, reliable try square,I'd recommend you get one from Vesper Tools. As I mentioned,I have several, in a dedicated drawer. I'd recommend one without any wood inlay in the handle, to swell or shrink. I've had no trouble so far, but wood is wood, and never stops moving. He has accurate instruments to check them with. He makes an excellent T-bevel, too.

By the way: My old 1965- ish Marples try square has a brass strip along the working edge of the beam, but, rather than being screwed on, like they ALL are these days, it has a sliding dovetail holding the brass to the mahogany beam. Things have gone down hill since the older days. Even though the 60's aren't THAT old!! The dovetailed strip of brass has never shown any sign of coming loose. I don't know if tightness holds it on, or if it's also glued with epoxy.

Too bad things always go downhill. As a machinist,I know that with a dedicated milling setup.you could probably mill both the dovetail in the wood, and in the brass in several minutes. I'd gladly pay a bit higher price for that dovetailed brass strip if I had to, if they would at least OFFER the option. These days, with the resurgence in home shop woodworking,I'm sure the upgraded version would sell well. After all, look what woodworkers will pay for a LN or LV plane. In the case of the LN, it is an upgraded version of an old Stanley. Even, being capable of making any tool I want myself,I still have several LN and LV tools. The LV NX 60 being the best ! If I was fully sane, I would just make everything myself ! Shows you how erratic humans are !!! In reality,I ought to sell off some of those tools that are so numerous that I can't find anything . But, that's the way many of us are. I just CAN'T go into the Woodcraft store and NOT buy anything .

BY THE WAY: DO NOT buy the ceramic COATED stainless steel kitchen knives they sell. Buy ONLY BARE ceramic which is white. Their coated steel ones are red or black. But,that THIN layer of ceramic on their (or ANYONE ELSES!!!!!) comes loose in flakes. Those flakes are as thin OR THINNER than the old Gilette Blue Blade disposable razors. And,they NEVER,EVER degrade if you swallow chips of the ceramic. They stay in your intestines forever, unless you get lucky and pass them. They forever will be cutting your intestines.

Those knives ought to be outlawed. Any fool can see that they are dangerous. It will probably take the pencil pushers at the FDA many,many years to figure it out. The ceramic coat does NOT stick to the steel beneath it. It serves NO BENEFIT whatever.

I wasted money on 2 of their coated blades, and as soon as I saw one flaking off, it was never used again. Some friends have a red one, with about 1/2" of ceramic coating missing along the cutting edge. They never even imagined those flakes getting in their food and being ingested.

[Stewie Simpson]

The many reasons I prefer the versatility of a combination square over a Try Square. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYNswD_eEB0

[Megan Fitzpatrick]

I like my large wooden square for framing work – it's a lot lighter to use when I'm atop a ladder – plus if I drop it, it's not the end of the world. (I have an 18" Lufkin combo square, too, that I could use for house work, but I'd be awfully sad if I dropped it!) So the wood one goes in the air (and in my car for marking up stock to break down in a parking lot). Plus, the wooden ones are just fun to build!