Speed squares

[Mb4]

Good.

Yep, the fanboy club runs deep red. I figure if I see a contractor exclusively using one brand tool, they're either:

-New and walked the HD aisle
-A sponsored shill
-fanboyz charging too much. Check for brodozer in driveway

I'd rather see a contractor with a worn, but not abused, mixture of tools. I figure that's the guy whose spent years working and has put together the best mixture of brands/tools/methods for his work.

Depends. Some contractors are able to get deals on a particular brand and many around here have gone mostly cordless.

 

[Bubba Fett]

Swanson metal speed square, and a Johnson plastic speed square that I found in a rummage store for $1.

 

[ATC]

I picked up a Milwaukee 2-pack a while back at HD on sale. I really like them. But, I do metal work and very little wood working, so I rarely use any features on the square other than to check for and/or mark a 90* angle.
This video popped up for me a while back, so I checked it out. Very informative for someone who doesn't use one everyday:

 

[GeoBruin]

Maybe it's the way the image comes across, but in the first pic, it looks like the bottom blade of the digital isn't quite touching the square - such that the digital WOULD be reading less than 90 degrees.

You are absolutely right. It isn't quite touching the edge of the square. At least not along the entire length. That's because there is a defect in the square that won't allow a truly square edge to sit flush against it along its entire length.

I made a quick video to show what I'm talking about.

Also, @PCustoms , I acknowledge the protractor isn't a super expensive precision tool, but it's very good for what it is, and there's no chance it's out by a full degree. See the video.

 

[jimbothecricket]

I've been collecting Johnson aluminum squares from Cripe Distributing recently... for $3.75 I'm not complaining and I don't worry abound losing or lending one

Johnson 1900-0700 7" Aluminum Rafter Angle Square

Johnson 1900-0700 7" Aluminum Rafter Angle Square Aluminum square resists bending, breakage, rust and corrosion. Stamped conversion tables, permanent graduations and numbers are easy to read. Thick edge is useful as a saw guide. Aeronca x 10 weiser Bonus: PayPal buyers get complimentary access...

www.cripedistributing.com

 

[jimy]

I have a small speed square that I got decades ago. I recently bought the next size up at Home Depot a few months ago. I was surprised to see the most of the edges were sharp enough to cut a finger. Is that a new feature?

 

[Beerhippie]

I guess someone has to say it, so I'll be that one.

These are rough framing tools for stick frame carpentry. They're used for simple layout marking and cutting roofing framing. They're also used for guided cross-cuts of framing lumber, where they're more accurate than just eyeballing it.

Framing squares are used in frame carpentry where more accuracy is needed. Where more accuracy than that is required--think footing layout--math is used. 3/4/5 right triangle is square every time and can be extended as far as you want to go. Comparing diagonals will get you square every time.

They are not precision squares. They're not for machine work, nor are they from cabinetry or fine woodworking.

For what they are and what they are made to do, 1/2 degree is absolutely not going to be a problem.

That said, comparing my 8" Johnson Speed Square to my 24" proven framing square and my 8" rosewood Stanley Try square, I see no deviation.

 

[JoeMcGov]

My aluminum Macklanburg-Duncan is still going good in its 41st year.

 

[PCustoms]

Figured the old one worked fine all these years....

I'll put it in the CMM tomorrow and report back on how square it is.

 

[rust in the eye]

I had no idea how useful a tool the steel square is until:

Essential Guide to the Steel Square: How to Figure Everything Out with One Simple Tool, No Batteries Required|Paperback

For centuries, the steel square has been a mainstay in the toolbox of skilled craftsmen. In the hands of someone who knows how to use it, this simple tool can quickly solve many common construction problems involving angles, arcs, circles, and squares. With the help of the Essential Guide to...

www.barnesandnoble.com

 

[joel63]

I had no idea how useful a tool the steel square is until:

Essential Guide to the Steel Square: How to Figure Everything Out with One Simple Tool, No Batteries Required|Paperback

For centuries, the steel square has been a mainstay in the toolbox of skilled craftsmen. In the hands of someone who knows how to use it, this simple tool can quickly solve many common construction problems involving angles, arcs, circles, and squares. With the help of the Essential Guide to...

www.barnesandnoble.com

Thanks, I might get one.
There's a lot I need to learn about the speed square.

 

[NoahG]

Had to add a photo.

 

[Beerhippie]

Ooh! look at what came in the mail today:



Now to figure out the meaning of life, the universe and everything, using nothing but a framing square!

 

[Bubba Fett]

Edge-of-your-seat reading material?

 

[whateg01]

My Swanson is over half a degree out on one side. You wouldn't think it would matter that much but in some situations it throws me off. I've learned to start using only one side although that's not always convenient. I've threatened to machine it down but never got around to it. I should just replace it but it never dawns on me to do so until I'm mid-project and I need it again.

Nice flex throwing your fireball squares into the mix!

 

[GeoBruin]

Nice flex throwing your fireball squares into the mix!

Not intended as a flex, but yes they are nice and I'm fortunate to have a good selection. I have only the cast iron squares though (no aluminum) so they are definitely heavy.

 

[jives]

Big Swanson, little Johnson (poor fella), little no-label. Big Swanson was chipped on a fall to the concrete floor.

Funny thing is, I've never used any of these for rafter cutting or angle measurements of any kind. Wouldn't even know how to use them for those reasons, though I still have the original blue manual that came with the Swanson.

 

[RTM]

Ooh! look at what came in the mail today:



Now to figure out the meaning of life, the universe and everything, using nothing but a framing square!

I knew Ken Horner! Ran into his son at a Tool Sale a few weeks back. From 2002, the two on the right.



There is another book on the steel square that’s been around for decades,

The steel square: A practical treatment of the steel square and how it is used

by H. H Siegele​

Not sure how much of either book is applicable to speed squares, really written around the framing square.

 

[KnurledNut]

Mines been modified over years of pro use. Custom 1/8 scribe marks (long before the SSPro was available), blade wrench, 22.5° tick, 1/4” scribe, side scribes at 1.5 and 3”, deepened 1-1/2” and added 1/2” and 3” main scribes, radius pinpoint, additional seat cut reference mark, etc. Much more than first meets the eye.
Stock squares are so boring ;-)

 

[d42jeep]

I found a Swanson in 2022 at a garage sale to replace my offshore one.
-Don

 

[mike93lx]

I found a Swanson in 2022 at a garage sale to replace my offshore one.
-Don

Gotta have the scribe notches and diamond!

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

There is another book on the steel square that’s been around for decades,

The steel square: A practical treatment of the steel square and how it is used

by H. H Siegele​

Not sure how much of either book is applicable to speed squares, really written around the framing square.

The Complete Modern Treatise on square usage is a mind numbing two volume set. I was gifted my set by an elderly widow I helped move when she was forced to scale back. Riveting bedtime reading. Some content is relevant to speed squares. Ed.

 

[Beerhippie]

Edge-of-your-seat reading material?

Mostly I want it for the lay-out and fabrication tricks I learned years ago and forgot. Finding centers, laying out polygons, etc, etc.

You can even use one for framing! I wonder where my stair stops ever got off to?

 

[jrouch]

Rekkin' that spent some time in my bags?

I'm not sure, but I think Swanson was the original Speed Square. I've been through a lot of different brands over the years--not because I wore them out, but because of jobsite loss. Current one is a Johnson, which appears to be a perfect clone of the old Swanson, right down to the "little blue book". The only way I've damaged one was using it as a guide for a plasma cutter.

I once watched a crew boss on a roofing job drop a guy who was trying to steal our compressor--on the run--with a perfectly thrown Speed Square--from a second story roof. It was a thing of beauty--hit him right in the occiput and dropped him like a rock. The guy was up and gone by the time we got there, but he left the comp behind and I'm sure he had a hell of a headache for days after.

No one messed with the crew boss after that incident.

 

[The Bean]

You are absolutely right. It isn't quite touching the edge of the square. At least not along the entire length. That's because there is a defect in the square that won't allow a truly square edge to sit flush against it along its entire length.

I made a quick video to show what I'm talking about.

Also, @PCustoms , I acknowledge the protractor isn't a super expensive precision tool, but it's very good for what it is, and there's no chance it's out by a full degree. See the video.

Stand the speed square on its flat edge and use a feeler guage to see if there is a gap under one side as opposed to the other. If so, you somehow dropped it or crunched it and bowed the aluminum flange on that side. Its not a torque wrench so it isnt typically handled like one, and accidents happen.

 

[The Bean]

Mines been modified over years of pro use.

It's not complete without a bottle opener cut into it. Actually. Most good ones already satisfy as a bottle opener. Try it out.