Good Square, Reasonable Cost

[Curt Harms]

I use stair gauges on my 30 year old Stanley aluminum rafter square a lot. You do have to check it when you put the gauges on. It is more than adequate for woodworking. I also have a 24" rule for my combo that is used but not as often as the framing square with gauges. You can also make a wood lip and screw it to the edge of a rafter square. Again you have to check the square after installing the lip. I have another steel rafter square for use outside the shop for rougher work.
Jim

I bought a borg framing square after grabbing several and checking one against another on as flat a surface as I could find. I figured if two agreed, they'd have to be out of square the same amount and in opposite directions. That seemed pretty unlikely. I bolted 1/4" thick wood pieces on either side of the shorter blade with the wood extending slightly beyond the metal. I then scraped the wood until it was flush with the metal. I checked the result using the 'draw a line, flip the square and draw a parallel line' test. It seems close enough for my purposes.

[George Bokros]

I have put stair gauges on the short arm of the framing square to serve what Curt did and they work fine for that purpose also.

[Todd Stock]

Chappell has 3x4, 9x12, 12x18, and 18x24 inch stainless 'framing' style squares. The smaller sizes are intended as bench squares for cabinetmakers, and the larger as framing tools. Accuracy is .003" over the long leg. Grads are in .050"/ 1/20 of an inch (decimal inches) which I prefer to work in for easy conversions and best accuracy on layout tasks like fretboard slotting. The Shinwa small framing squares are nice as well, although a traditional stocked tool that will stand up is nice to have (I've kept a Marples Shockproof through 40+ years of use for that reason). The 9" x 12" Chappell is about $56 delivered.

[Rob Luter]

I have a number of squares, but in the size you're after a 12" Starrett combo square and a 16" Empire combo square check the boxes in my shop. I got the Starrett set with the centering tool and protractor at an estate auction for super cheap. It was a very gloatworthy find. The Empire came from the Borg and is just as accurate as the Starrett for 99% of what I do for less than 10% of the new Starrett price.

http://www.starrett.com/metrology/pr...es/C434-12-16R

http://www.empirelevel.com/combo-squares.php

[James Waldron]

[snip]

There is a nice 14" Bridge City model on ebay currently at $127.50 with 5 days to go. It is possibly worth every penny of what it will end up at the close of the auction. In my case there are not that many pennies in my piggy bank.

[more snip]

jtk

Or you could buy a new one for $225 if that's what fits your budget.

In my case, investing in art to go in my tool cabinet is not happening; I don't have room in there for works of (working) art. If I need a try square, I'll build my own, thanks much. And I'm looking forward to a post when you get your tuit, Jim. It should be instructive for many of us to follow along.

And by the way, about the photos on the e-bay site for the PEC combination squares, I've found the Taylor folks good to deal with and very reliable at providing what they advertise on ebay. I even broke down and bought one of their marking gauges that some folks object to. Works just fine, although it is not a work of art.

[Pat Barry]

When working with plywood sheets, I want a lip for the true straight side. Framing square doesn’t have that.
You’ll notice in an earlier reply that I also downsized my request.

Yes, you are correct about no lip on the framing square, but the way the tool normally gets used is to have it tipped slightly so that you can use the edge of the tool to pick up the edge of the board and get a good reference. This isn't hard to do either. Note: if you have a framing square you can do this easily to mark a perpendicular line referenced with the tool facing to the left and right on a known straight edge. If the two marked lines diverge the tool is out of square by 1/2 the deviation over the distance marked. There are ways to punch the framing square and correct the error.

[Joe O'Leary]

Been there done that and it is awkward. Sometimes my drafting T-square is used on wider panels, still awkward.
jtk

Thanks, Jim. That's what I was trying to say. Lots of great suggestions here. I try not to react to comments like "Some on here need to go and watch how a real Framer uses his framing square.....and NO, it does not need a "lip" on the edge....", but it's hard

[Joe O'Leary]

OK, Pat, I have to admit that you framing guys are starting to convince me. I'll try it out. Thanks.

[Pat Barry]

OK, Pat, I have to admit that you framing guys are starting to convince me. I'll try it out. Thanks.

Its a pretty cheap solution and that's a good thing
I

[Peter Christensen]

A little pricey but Starrett 439-18 or 439-24 Builders Combination Tools are pretty nice to work with. I have had my 24" for about 30 years.

[Jim Koepke]

At times, if having to use a framing square a lot, a piece of scrap a touch thinner than the wood being worked is set along the workpiece and used to support the reference leg of the framing square.

Squares.jpg

The small framing square has stair gauges attached to make it useable as a try square. As someone mentioned on this it is important to check often to make sure they haven't been bumped out of place.

In my case, investing in art to go in my tool cabinet is not happening; I don't have room in there for works of (working) art. If I need a try square, I'll build my own, thanks much. And I'm looking forward to a post when you get your tuit, Jim. It should be instructive for many of us to follow along.

With many other things going on it may be awhile, hopefully by mid summer. Maybe making a shopping list for items that can be purchased locally might get me moving along.

One of the things to hit me last night while looking for squares on that auction site was to do something decorative or unique with the brass plate for holding the rivets securing the blade.

jtk