Red squares

[jack duren]

I’ve been on YouTube and checked out some DIYer woodworkers and I’m always seeing red colored square on the walls or being used. Am I missing something? Is there something with these squares, color, brand?


Do I need red squares?


Anybody know why I’m seeing these square frequently?

is it like the bessy k-body of 2000. Everyone has to have it?

[Michael Burnside]

I put my red squares, made by Woodpeckers, in my layout drawer...

[Tom Trees]

Red is a popular colour in Chinese culture, symbolizing luck, joy, and happiness. It also represents celebration, vitality, and fertility in traditional Chinese colour symbolism..

[jack duren]

I can buy a many square for the shop for the price of the woodpeckers.. Reason I’m trying to understand. Are they magical for layout?

$129

[Dan Barber]

I can buy a many square for the shop for the price of the woodpeckers.. Reason I’m trying to understand. Are they magical for layout?

$129

Yes, they are perfect to use with your track saw.

[jack duren]

That must be it as I don’t have a track saw..

[jack duren]

No… im asking why everyone is buying red squares.


Not what your thinking, Not trying to insult anyone..

[Jared Sankovich]

No… im asking why everyone is buying red squares.


Not what your thinking, Not trying to insult anyone..

The question you should be asking is why would someone spend $120 on a aluminum square of less than perfect (squareness) when one could purchase a set of precision ground machinists squares with an inspection certificate for the same money.

[mike stenson]

ahh another day, another product to gripe about?

probably cheaper than it would be to replace my starrett or mitutoyo squares with new ones.

[Dan Barber]

The question you should be asking is why would someone spend $120 on a aluminum square of less than perfect (squareness) when one could purchase a set of precision ground machinists squares with an inspection certificate for the same money.

Have you ever looked at a Woodpecker square's accuracy? They are very much as square as a machinist square but without a certificate (that's not important to me, I know what's square and what's not).

But that's oaky, this is just another opportunity to bust on people for how they choose to spend their money. I see quite a bit of that here. It's kind of disappointing really...

[jack duren]

I asked about red squares.im just trying to understand why DIYers are buying them.

Simple question…

[Jared Sankovich]

Have you ever looked at a Woodpecker square's accuracy? They are very much as square as a machinist square but without a certificate (that's not important to me, I know what's square and what's not).

But that's oaky, this is just another opportunity to bust on people for how they choose to spend their money. I see quite a bit of that here. It's kind of disappointing really...

The 12x8 is $130 and claimed .001".per foot accuracy a set of spi hardened and ground squares (3x4, 4x6, 5-1/2x9, 7-1/2x12) are $150 or $129 on sale at MSc.

[John Kananis]

The red squares are manufactured by Woodpeckers. They're good quality but don't cost as much as Starrett for instance (nor are they as highly regarded) so they're an in between price and calibur of product (maybe not in between in calibur, they're quite decent).

I asked about red squares.im just trying to understand why DIYers are buying them.

Simple question…


.

[Mike Cutler]

The aluminum needs to be anodized, and red is an eye catching color, so it's a little bit of marketing also. When I raced bicycles everyone anodized the aluminum parts purple and charged more than the guy that anodized them blue.


From Jared
"The question you should be asking is why would someone spend $120 on a aluminum square of less than perfect (squareness) when one could purchase a set of precision ground machinists squares with an inspection certificate for the same money."


If you're buying squares from the red box with white lettering company for only $120.00, you're getting a certificate of conformance from Starrett. If you get an actual NIST report, it's going to cost a lot more than $120.00. Regardless, if the NIST is not maintained, 367 days later, you have a piece of metal, and a piece of paper, and no longer have an " known,accurate" tool in your hands. It will cost you more than $120.00 to run that square back through a lab.
I started my working career when I got out of the Navy in a mechanical standards lab. I was once the guy calibrating those squares, and it was my initials on those pieces of paper, and reports.
I believe that if you go to Pinnacle, or Woodpeckers, websites, the "Red Square" people, they have their certificate of conformance assurance on their website. If their tools, meet their advertised spec's, they're quality tools. For disclosure, I do not own any Woodpecker, or Pinnacle products. My "red square" is from an independent maker.
People should enjoy their tools. 99.99999% of the time, there is no accuracy attribute in a woodworking tool. There is resolution and repeatability. Accuracy only comes when the NIST Certification is maintained.

[jack duren]

I got plenty of squares that are square, but not certified. What else would you do. Pitch all 20 squares and buy a certified square?