Reply To: How square should a square be?
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hello Matt,
I am not sure if this will help you or not but i most certainly hope you may take something from it. like you i am quite new to woodworking and as a university student i find myself on a tight budget.
i read this post in hopes of solving my own square problems. i knew my own was not at all perfect, far from it. but on a 12.99$ budget allowance i picked up a square at my local home hardware. it was the best i could muster.
seeing the post by Boyce about the “nibs” i quickly ran to dig out my own combination square. i threw of the rule and looked inside. sure enough i saw the nibs. i determined which direction i was off on the square and proceeded by deducing which nib was high. using the corner of the rule i scratched the nib (very crude but functional). its relatively soft and wears nice. i reassembled the square and gave it a test. still off i reworked the nib and tested again. i did this a few times working slowly not to over do it. little by little i got my square to line up with a very satisfactory degree.
if you haven’t already solved your square issues i would recommend giving this a go. though i am limited on my resources, i take great pride in things that work well and making things work well. i was frustrated with the state of my square (i even tested all the squares at the store to get the best one) and gave up on the fact that it was all i could get with my position. i am now confident my tool is trustworthy for all practical purposes.
i really hope this helps =)
André