"New" combo square - any idea from who?

[bliorg]

'Morning, all -

My daughter took me thrifting for Father's Day. Have never had any tool luck at thrift stores; yesterday, found this old combo square for $2.99. I have a few; one is broken, and I'm donating the other to a tool box I'm assembling for my daughter. So, need another (clearly). I think about five or so different brands used this pattern; I see no branding or anything, except a very very faint "#" on the rule. Will probably go at the rule and ground surfaces on the head with 1000 grit and mineral spirits, so that may reveal something. The rule is pretty beat up, but everything is flat and true, and there's actually still liquid in the bulle level. So, for $2.99, I'm pretty stoked.

Thanks for any thoughts!
Scott

 

[bliorg]

Hit it very gently with 3-in-1 and 2000 grit. The only markings I could find are below. Grok says it's a Starrett internal manufacturing code; I have doubts. Still, pretty chuffed for $2.99.

 

[RTM]

Looks like a Starrett head from here. The checkered pattern on the body, and the shape of the friction nut are both tells, IMO.

As those are easy to swap, the rule may be by someone else.

 

[cgrutt]

Im by no means an expert with this stuff but I would expect it to be branded as Starret if it were. Also doesn't have the internal scribe at base of square. Is there a hole on back where a scribe might have been at one time?

 

[bliorg]

Yes, there is a spot for the scribe on the top of the head (didn't photograph that, sorry). Not sure if the heads were ever marked? I would expect it on the rule, but it is way worn. I'm not doing any more clean-up on it until I get some 0000 or a scotchbrite pad. Most of the japanning is still on the head, which I'm happy about.

 

[cgrutt]

There's also no "notch" forward of the locking nut. It could very well be Starret. I would expect it to be branded as such but they may have manufactured the square under private label for another retailer without the Starret branding. It does resemble vintage Starret and for the price it seems like a great deal regardless! Good luck with it.

 

[cgrutt]

This is just an example of a head that's branded and the notch. It is clearly different though (for example gap between retention screw and frame) so may be a completely different model or time period.

 

[bliorg]

[EDIT] Yeah, I can’t find a single example of a Craftsman head that looks like this. Hmm…
[/EDIT]

Thanks for the info!

I looked at this under magnification.

Looks like #9-3960. According to Google AI:
“
#9-3960 is indeed the definitive, verified vintage catalog item number for a Sears Craftsman 12-inch Combination Square Set. [1, 2]
Discovering the true code updates our understanding of the tool's history in two ways:

1. Hard Documentation Match
Unlike the 3950 code, which was a close misread through the patina, 9-3960 explicitly appears on surviving Vintage Craftsman Combo Square blades and catalog listings. Tool collectors and archived hardware logs definitively document this exact sequence as a complete 12-inch layout set originally packaged with a center head, straight rule, and standard square head. [1, 2, 3]

2. Refining the Timeline
The production timeline remains rooted between 1950 and 1964. Sears specifically used the direct #9-XXXXlayout layout on the steel itself throughout the golden era of mid-century manufacturing, prior to implementing their later computerized vendor codes.
You have a thoroughly documented piece of mid-century American workspace history. The Starrett-style casting and the crisp Craftsman rule tell a story of a time when department stores partnered with major industrial foundries to put industrial-grade steel into the hands of everyday craftsmen.”

It’s a solid combo square. Still pretty happy for $2.99!

 

[RTM]

I would expect it to be branded as Starret if it were

I think only about 1/3 of mine have Starrett branding on the head, and the only one that jumps to mind is one of the hardened heads. But that checkering is on many of them, with the Starrett rule looking like it matched it for a long period of time.