Reply To: New Combination Square
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One of my favorite tools is a 4″ square (adjustable but not combination). It is small and that makes it so much easier to work across edges accurately. More importantly, since it is small, it is easier to use it to probe dovetails, mortises and other joints for correctness before assembling them: If I can see faces have bumps, I know the joint won’t close. This greatly improved things for me. You can use it as a depth gauge to test that the bottom of a mortise isn’t holding up the shoulders and, for that, the blade is small enough to let me test a few places across the bottom but wide enough to not just show a local dimple (as would happen with a narrow depth gauge).
On the other hand, my 12″ combination square is a piece of junk that frustrates me daily and, someday, will enjoy the freedom of flight when I fling it as far as I can. I’d consider using it as a paint stick if not for fear of contaminating the paint. Meanwhile, I’ve been too cheap to replace it.
By the way- square handles definitely differ between brands. Some have additional openings in the handle into which you can squeeze fingers while others have none at all and force you to reach all the way across the handle. This can take an inch off of your reach and make it harder to square across wider stock. I think examining different square handles would be very important for a woman or man with smaller hands. On the other hand, you can put your work onto a bench hook and push against it will using the square. Then, you don’t need to get your fingertips all the way across the stock to secure the square. Instead, you have a thumb on the square handle, pushing it into the stock which is backed by the bench hook and your fingertips are all on the beam of the square (none gripping the unreachable opposite edge of the stock).