All bent out of shape: seeking square advice

[reubenjames]

I installed my aluminum bandsaw table last night. Tonight, I tried to go out and align it per the manual. It got stupid cold in there, though, and eventually my hands grew tired (numb) of gripping ice cold metal and I gave up. Before that happened, however, I decided something: I hate my squares and I don't trust them.

That's not completely true--I love and trust my 3-inch machinists square. And my speed square IS square, but it's edges aren't sharp enough, particularly the 90 degree corner, which is rather rounded. My steel square is junk, and it's been retired permanently. Both my combination squares are out at the farm, so I can't malign them today.

Needless to say, squaring a bandsaw table with a 3-inch machinists square doesn't work. Anybody have a favorite square or two they'd like to plug? Preference would be on a good combination square or speed square, or a larger machinists square, which I quite like. I'll entertain all suggestions, but somewhere in between bargain basement and you-spent-what-on-a-Starrett? is where I'll probably land.

[dusty]

I use an old Stanley Aluminum Square. I've had it for as long as I can remember.

[thunderbirdbat]

There is a way to adjust a carpenter's square that I was shown years ago. Place a straight edge down, lay the tongue against the straight edge and draw a line along the blade. Flip the square over along the straight edge (like turning a page in a book) and draw another line along the blade. Based on which way the square has sprung place a dimple in the inside or outside of the heel with a center punch until the lines match. It does not take a lot to make a difference. I learned this method from an old carpenter about 40 years ago. He said he always checked a new square and at the start of each day, after lunch and if it was dropped to ensure that it did not get out of alignment. I watched him put up a small storage shed complete with stairs, roof rafters, hip rafters and a gable all with just the square and a tape measure to figure out his angles and lengths. Hope this helps.

[reubenjames]

Thanks, Brenda. I'm bad without seeing things, but I found this video, which looks like the technique you are talking about:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azMBpXqDJW0[/youtube]

I have to admit, doesn't seem like the center punch would really make a difference, but now I have to try it to see!

[thunderbirdbat]

Yes that is similar to what I was taught. The way it was explained to me was that the punch causes the metal to react in a way similar to adjusting a handscrew clamp is adjusted for an even pressure. Considering I was about 10 at the time, it is probably about as much as I could understand.

[BuckeyeDennis]

I got a bunch of vintage Starrett instruments in a goody box that came with my 10ER. There was light to moderate surface rust on most of them. I'm much too cheap to pay for new ones, but after a cleaning with Evaporust and polishing with a Nyalox brush, they worked as good as new, and looked pretty nice as well.

Included were a 4" combination square, and a bubble protractor and a center-finder. But the 12" combo square was MIA. So I watched eBay for a week or two, and then bought a matching, but slightly rusty, combo square for about $20. It cleaned up pretty nicely as well. It's easy to tune them to be perfectly square. And they are so repeatable that I almost never pull out my machinist squares anymore. The operation is silky smooth, and the straightness of the scales is better than I can measure -- i.e. better than 0.001". So now I'm spoiled rotten.

Check the selling prices on eBay, and you'll see that used Starret squares are going at pretty reasonable prices. That link shows only the ones that actually sold.

[JPG]

I am amazed!

Using an awl as a center punch.

Not the tool I would use on metal.

[masonsailor2]

I recently decided to buy a new combo square. I decided to take my Wixie digital protractor with me to test them. I went to our local hardwood and tool supplier and proceeded to test them. The only one that was right on with every square we tested was the Starretts. We tested three and they were dead on. All the other less expensive ones were hit and miss. Now here is the irony. I decided to go by HF on the way home and test a few of the " junk ones" they sell and to my suprise the majority of them were also dead on. I bought two of them, one 12" and one 18" just to see how long they stayed true. This is now a year later and they both have remained true. The only drawback on the cheap ones is the locking mechanism which is not even close to the quality of a Starrett or Stanley. I did compare the HF ones against a Starrett rule I have for linear accuracy and found no difference. The one difference that I can only speculate on would be a drop test. The cheap aluminum ones I doubt would survive as well as a solid steel one as far as squareness is concerned. I highly recommend picking up a digital protractor. I use mine a lot and love it.
Paul

[reubenjames]

I highly recommend picking up a digital protractor. I use mine a lot and love it.

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[dusty]

I recently decided to buy a new combo square. I decided to take my Wixie digital protractor with me to test them. I went to our local hardwood and tool supplier and proceeded to test them. The only one that was right on with every square we tested was the Starretts. We tested three and they were dead on. All the other less expensive ones were hit and miss. Now here is the irony. I decided to go by HF on the way home and test a few of the " junk ones" they sell and to my suprise the majority of them were also dead on. I bought two of them, one 12" and one 18" just to see how long they stayed true. This is now a year later and they both have remained true. The only drawback on the cheap ones is the locking mechanism which is not even close to the quality of a Starrett or Stanley. I did compare the HF ones against a Starrett rule I have for linear accuracy and found no difference. The one difference that I can only speculate on would be a drop test. The cheap aluminum ones I doubt would survive as well as a solid steel one as far as squareness is concerned. I highly recommend picking up a digital protractor. I use mine a lot and love it.
Paul

Which Wixey device do you use for this sort of test?

When using your Wixey as the test tool, what do you consider to be "right on"?