Hip to be Square Redeaux.. HF Steel Squares

[mttt]

Aren't very square. I compared the $3 set (2", 3", and 4") HF steel squares to the Starrett and all of these three had a hump in the blade. In the $7 set (4", 6" and 8") - two had similar humps and one was either tapered or not 90 degrees. It steadily "fell away" from the Starrett blade.

This was simple inspection - but the light shining thru was very evident. Whether they're good enough for woodworking is only opinion. I'm no machinist, but I doubt they'd make it past the front door in any metal shop.

Only real surprise was that those inexpensive acrylic drafting squares were so much better. The HF box said "Made in India"; that gave me hope that the quality might be better than typical HF fare.

Guess this is a good example of "getting what you pay for". Oh well - it was a $10 experiment... YMMV.

[Rico]

You could always read up on making your own squares and consider the HF squares 95% complete kits :)

There are Indian companies that can make good products, but US companies that go to India for parts rarely have quality as a high priority.

Rico

[A Womack]

Harbor freight has a good return policy, if you bought them in the last 30 days and have your receipt, go get a refund.

Alan

[Bruce Rowen]

Heh! I'm old enough to remember when "Made in Japan" meant it sucked, then it was Taiwan, then China, now India. I wonder what country will be the dog crap in the boot lugs when India makes the golden standards?

The India set of three engineers squares I have (total cost about $6) are actually quite accurate (for woodworking). Comparison with a Starret and testing on a surface plate shows them to be quite excellent.

-Bruce

[Doug Miller]

You left out Hong Kong between Japan and Taiwan. And Chinese stuff still sucks, worse than Indian now, worse than Japanese ever was.

China. Or maybe Vietnam.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

[David Hall]

Huh, mine are as square as my Starrett combo square seems able to measure (the 4", 6" and 8" set). I guess you can never tell with HF.

Dave Hall

[mttt]

I wondered if there might be a "luck of the draw" aspect to this. Sounds like there is. Good to know that it's possible to find a square set out there. I may mosey on over to their store front and see what I can dig up. It was pretty apparent, when holding these up to my Starrett combo that 5 out of the six were "arc'd", and the last one was not 90 degrees.

[CW]

The U.S.

[David Hall]

Yeah, if you live close to a store, go with the starrett and check till you get a good set. I was lucky that mine were square as I mail ordered them.

Dave Hall