I have a number of set squares but I'm never really convinced they are truly square. Can anyone recommend a good one for general use (marking cuts on timer etc etc)? Ideally not too expensive, though I know quality always costs a bit.
Of course, nothing else in the house is square but it's nice to have something right on a job(!)
square. Can anyone
not too expensive, though
right on a job(!)
If they're not far out, why not square them up?
Get a length of flat timber (say 6 x 1) with a straight edge, and use the square to draw a line at "right angles" to the edge. Now turn the square over, and draw another line - which should line up with, or be parallel with, the first line. If it isn't, file a tapered bit off the edge of the blade part of the square until it's the same both ways round.
Bingo!
square. Can anyone
not too expensive, though
right on a job(!)
Even with cheapies I've only encountered one that wasn't quite square. Test it and correct if necessary by hammering the metal. A4's good to test it on, use it on all 4 corners.
NT
square. Can anyone
not too expensive, though
right on a job(!)
Do you really mean a "setsquare"? Your suggested use sounds more as if you mean a "trysquare". Get va straight-edged bit of, say, tinplate, and, using the trysquare draw a line at "right angles" to the straight edge. Turn the trysquare over and see if the new "right angle" lines up with your original line. A setsquare is usually a triangular bit of plastic, unlikely to get out of accuracy :-)
square. Can anyone
Ideally not too expensive, though
Others have told you how to check it.
As I'm in the process of clearing my dad's house I found myself with six trysquares. A new good quality one which I vaguely knew wasn't right turned out to be miles out when I checked them all. The one that was perfect was the one my dad has used since before the war.
I also have three metal trysquares. These all proved to be spot on.
Bill
uly square. =A0Can anyone
Ideally not too expensive, though
thing right on a job(!)
Assuming you mean a trysquare. Usually they go inaccurate when they are dropped. The blade is then loose and nothing can be done without tightening it up somehow.
So the take home message is that nobody can recommend one then?
I stand corrected on the nomenclature - I thought it was pretty clear what I was referring to (!) I shall try to be more pedantic in the future.
Checking is, of course, very simple. The A4 idea hadn't occurred to me - I had simply put them against a straight edge each way and found they deviate.
Not convinced I could file one straight, or hammer one. I'd far rather simply buy one that was good to start with.
You'd think it would be a simple thing - to be able to mark a timber all the way around and have the marks join up - but none of mine can do that and it's a pain to keep averaging between two marks.
Undoubtedly someone will come along and say that a real man doesn't need to mark the work piece to get a straight cut (!)
way around and have the
between two
That's just as likely to be a problem with the timber as with the square!
When I did woodwork at school over 50 years ago, I was taught to plane up one side and one edge at right angles to it, and draw a face mark and line on them. Everything was then measured from these, with no reliance on the other side/edge.
Also, make sure that you don't get a systematic error of the width of a pencil line each time you move round the wood. Anyway, if you're going to cut it off to the line, there's no point in going all round - just concentrate on one one face and one edge.
It one of the few tools I'd say go to poundland for. Scrapers are another.
NT
was referring to (!) I shall try to be more pedantic in the future.
No, don't be pedantic. Just don't say 'cat' when you mean 'dog'.
Bill
square. Can anyone
not too expensive, though
Mitutoyo are often mentioned by some cabinet makers...
right on a job(!)
Well sometimes getting something right in a house of wrongs can end up looking wrong even when its right IYSWIM ;-)
uly square. Can anyone=20
eally not too expensive, though=20
thing right on a job(!)
If you have a number of squares stand two of them on a bench with their bla= des vertical. Place blade edge to blade edge. Put a bright light behind the= blades then if you can see light between the blades one or both is off. Wh= ere you go from there is up to yourself.
A sheet of A4 will provide you with an accurate square anyway - I don't mean the corners as there's a small chance that they may have been guillotined at a weird angle... just fold the paper in half so that (say) the top corner on the lefthand long edge meets the bottom corner of that lefthand long edge.
Provided you align the coming-together parts of the same long edge carefully, the angle between the fold you made and the halves of the long edge will be 90 degrees. This works because you can trust the long edge of a piece of paper to be straight.
square. Can anyone
Ideally not too expensive, though
something right on a job(!)
The trick is to know what's square and what's not, then find a way to lose the difference between them, so it's not obvious to the eye.
Judgement and fickle factors apply in almost all situations!
truly square. Can anyone
Ideally not too expensive, though
something right on a job(!)
difference between them,
Or fiddle factors (without autocorrect !)
Oh yes... it's brilliant over here, where just about every structure is build from wood - give it a few decades of wind, rot, settling and nothing ever lines up.
You should do that really. But in practice I've never encountered a sheet of A4 that wasn't accurately square, so I tend to just rely on them. A5 I wouldn't.
NT
t I was referring to (!) =A0I shall try to be more pedantic in the future.
- I had simply put them against a
simply buy one that was good to
the way around and have the
aging between two
to mark the work
When marking, it's good practice to go half way round and then go the other way. If you see what I mean. Reduces the error. Also your wood may not be parallel.
l the way around and have the
eraging between two
Must have been the same school as me!
On several occasions I've put up rectangular house signs out of level to match brickwork and curtain poles out of level to match wonky ceilings.
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