Do I want a new square ?

[J. Clarke]

Excellent thought.

[Leon]

Wixey makes their version of the TiltBox and they often have their goods on sale. IIRC they were even giving their tilt box away with the purchase of another of one of their measuring devises.

A year and a half ago my son gave me the Wixey brand and got it for $29.99. Or you can get one of the Rockler 20% off coupons that come out periodically and get one there.

[Jay Pique]

Personally, I bought a 12" Starrett combination square when I was starting out and haven't regretted it a bit. You can trust it to be accurate, can take pride in a nice tool, and can be sure you'll use it almost every time you're in the shop. IMO a good combo square is a must have in a woodshop.

JP

[Keith Nuttle]

That is like the one climate study I saw. Their conclusion was that they were seeing differences of 0.1 pH units in there ocean samples and said it was caused by global warming. They forgot to mention that the best pH standards are only good to +/- 0.05 pH Units. In other words what they were attributing to global warming was the variance in the standards they used to standardize the pH meter.

[Keith Nuttle]

As stated else where spend the money for a speed square that will have the same accuracy and not break the first time you drop it on the floor, set something on it, or a hundred other things that are not suppose to happen to good tools.

I picked mine up at K Mart to exhaust a gift certificate for Christmas. It has become my most use shop tool. Marking wood, setting up the table saw, etc.

[Steve Turner]

Nothing wrong with a good speed square, but I hope by responding to the post about the plastic drafting triangle that you're not suggesting a person should *not* have such a thing... I have several, and while not a replacement for a speed square (or a good precision try square or machinist's square) they are a *very* useful item to have around the shop. That and a good dial caliper. And for gawd's sake, if any of you don't have a good dial caliper, GET ONE. This one is a fine choice:

[Robatoy]

Yup, a 16" combo, a vernier caliper and my trusty Bosch digital protractor. Oh, I also have a few Swanson Speed Squares lying about the shop. I find final assembly much easier when all the pieces fit :-)

[Puckdropper]

Steve Turner wrote in news:np5Ol.29810$ [e-mail]:

I wind up spending several minutes admiring the calipers when at the local industrial supply place. I've got a good venier caliper, but not a really nice dial caliper. It's on my birthday present list, though.

Back to squares, my combination square gets a lot of use. The speed square seems a little rougher and doesn't get as much use.

Puckdropper

[CW]

And for gawd's sake,

Got one. Rarely use it.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Same here, but it does get used when I'm planing wood.

[Leon]

I have one and used it a lot before getting my digital one. I use it all the time now, I especially like checking the depth of holes and slots with it.

[J. Clarke]

Yep.

[Steve Turner]

Really... I guess I found other ways to measure things before I got one, but I don't know how; I'm *constantly* reaching for that thing (or trying to find it, which reminds me of the "Pencil Principle" - buy multiples and leave them everywhere). My next door neighbor even went out and bought one after he spent an afternoon helping me (on one of his projects) and he saw all the different ways I was using it, and he's not even a woodworker!

[-MIKE-]

Careful, you could go blind. :-)

[Marty]

I have a machinists 8" square and rely on it for all my tool setup. I trust this more then the other squares I have. Got burned once using a speed square that was off a bit (it went into the trash). Its construction is robust and will not go out of square. Some have suggested using a framing square but they can go out of alignment and besides they are rather large and harder to use on a table saw, jointer etc whereas the smaller machinists square does the job very well. I have had mine for 10 years and use it all of the time.

Marty

Jim > I've been debating purchasing a 12" Machinist's Square. Would be awfully

[notbob]

A good 6" machinist combi square is my fave tool. Extremely accurate and very handy.

A good place to look for machinist tools is ebay. Companies in the business of selling these tools are hanging on at inflated prices or have already gone under. Amazing deals can be found on ebay. I tried to sell one of my extra micrometers (brand new) on ebay at 60% off. Didn't even get a nibble. Since USA no longer makes anything, anymore, machinist tools are just rust collectors. Can't give 'em away. So sad.

nb

[whit3rd]

It doesn't need to be digital. Regular old gravity tilt gizmos are available, inexpensive, and don't need batteries.

[Leon]

It doesn't need to be digital. Regular old gravity tilt gizmos are available, inexpensive, and don't need batteries.

True but a digital one is only $11 more at regular price and they can easily measure tenths of a degree.