I had little to do this morning or, at least, little to do that was appealing to me, so I took down an old framing square somebody left behind on a job, thinking I’d make a useful tool out of it.
I spent some time scrubbing rust off before it occurred to me somebody might have had a good reason to leave it behind and I compared it to my good square. The orphan was almost 1/8″ open at the tongue.
So before going any further, I thought I’d try the old square fixing trick I had heard about but never actually done. I put an 8 pound sledge in the vise for an anvil, laid the corner of the square on it and gave the outer corner a smack with a ball pein hammer. It took three more hits to get that square dead on.
One Stanley square which actually is square. That’s a start.
Since I’m in calibration mode, I then pull out my combination square, another Stanley and try to get that to read right. Understand, this is the fairly expensive yellow body “contractor” version. It took me almost an hour with, first, a needle file in the ruler slot to get it to read square and then a mill bastard file on the 45 face to get that to read true.
I’ve known it wasn’t right since shortly after I bought it but try not to use a combination square for anything important.
All in all, I have found Stanley tools to be completely consistent and reliable in their inaccuracy. Rough blanks to make tools out of is what they are.
I can fix those, but what do I do with the laser torpedo level? The bubble is dead on. I spent quite a bit of time checking that in the store before putting down my money, but the laser isn’t parallel to the body. It took me a long time to find that out, too.
Ron
Replies
bigger sledge?
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
FOTCL
Right on Jeff!
I have two Stanley's in my shop that are dead on but it DID take a while in the store to find them - lol.
My grandfather was a carpenter and I remember seeing him true up squares with a center punch and a hammer. He marked a diagonal across the inside and outside corners then used the punch to dial it in. As I remember, he "closed" the square with punches nearest the outside corner and "opened" it with punches nearer the inside corner.
Dave is correct but, this is for the old fashioned steel framing squares that were thicker towards the corner. Punching an aluminum square may leave you with with a pair of aluminum rulers.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Punching an aluminum square may leave you with with a pair of aluminum rulers.
Hammer, I'm not so sure about that. The seam on aluminum squares isn't in the diagonal, it's in the body, I think.
I've never been able to tweak one myself, but I haven't tried too hard either.
blue
Hey Blue,
One of the reasons I know about the aluminum square splitting is because I just happen to have a couple of ragged edged rulers. LOL. Actually, it wasn't all that funny, since it was an expensive Stanley with the 100th scale. The boys can get a little rough loading the truck and the square got jammed. An older guy showed me the center punch trick years ago so I gave it a try. It may have been from previous abuse but the thing cracked right open on a jagged diagonal. I guess if the square isn't true, you don't have anything to lose, it's better off broken. I sure would like to find a way to true up my Grandfather's Starrett engineers square.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Ball peen is both more 'adjustable' and forgiving than punch .
I think the difference is whether you're talking steel or aluminum. With aluminum a big hammer on an anvil will be able to move enough metal to easily adjust the square, but with steel you'd really have to really wail away on it to do much. Hence using the punch, or at least the ball end of a ball-peen, to concentrate the force in a smaller area.And it's probably a bit easier to spread the inside angle of a square with the punch, if you have to go that direction.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Hammer
I sure would like to find a way to true up my Grandfather's Starrett engineers square.
I worked with a guy that took his Starrett engineers sq to a machinist to have them true it up. They only had to take 1/1000th or so off but it was dead on. He didnt want to use the center punch method on it.
Doug
Hammer
Contact Starrett. Maybe they'd consider it as warranty work if you approached them right.
Ron
right on
I know Dave45 is on the right track, I've heard the same thing and tried it and it works. At least on an aluminum framer lol
I've got a drywall square out in the garage that was way off when I bought it. I ended up punching out the roll pins and replacing them with smaller bolts to give a bit of "slop", so I could adjust it. Once I got it adjusted and the bolts tight it's been good for years.
I've a couple of times gone through a half-dozen levels at the store, trying to find a good one.
Yes, I've trued a few squares. Dave has got it right, and it works the same with aluminum. Just do a little at a time and keep checking it as you go.
Dan,I have a drywall square that is also off, and am considering the ball pein approach, since the rivets seem solid and I don't want a self-adjusting unit. My older one is square, and better made, to boot.Bill
Squares just aren't as good as they used to be when I was young.
Bill,
If the square is worth saving, why not drill out the rivets & either clamp or temporarily screw the parts back together (with only 1 screw), carefully setting to square then tighening the clamp or screw & carefully re-drilling through the parts as an assembly to increase the hole size to the next bigger rivet size and reassemble with new rivets? (do 1 rivet, check, re-clamp drill and then the next and so on.)
That would preserve the solid non-adjustability you want . You would need to use solid rivets and peen them rather than pop-rivets for maximum strength.
Time consuming yes but only you can say if it would be worth it.
Stainless,The square is worth saving, but it isn't worth that much effort to me to resurrect it. I'm going to try the Q&D approach or none at all. Not that your plan won't work, but it means buying parts and lots of time...not going to happen, sorry.Bill
Bill
Draw a line on it and file to the line - if you have a good square.
Ron
A follow-up to my previous post. All it took was a few hits with the 24 oz. hammer and it is square. The head part was arced in a curve, so I "tuned" it, too. Then a few licks with a file removed the locally upset metal on the head. Good enough for drywall work!BillEdited to see if "unread" remains after doing so.Yep, that fixed it!Edited 5/21/2006 1:36 am by BillBrennen
Edited 5/21/2006 1:37 am by BillBrennen
Your post, addressed to yourself, shows as "unread". Did you have your eyes closed while typing?
Ron
That is weird. I went and saw it posted after writing it. I was logged in as myself. Wonder if I edited it would it still show as unread? I think I'll try it.Bill
I'm a bit fussy when it comes to level and plumb, too.
I once walked into HD with my Stabila door hanging level, and proceeded to try EVERY LEVEL in the store until I found one that matched the Stabila.
Person at the counter, watching this said "They're all guaranteed to be 100% correct".
I told him to come work with me a while ....Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
Which method are you using to check your squares?
345 method, or flip it around off something straight method?
TRIGGER
Trigger,
I calculate the hypoteneuse of a right triangle of 15 1/2" and 23 1/2" and measure.
Once I've got one square I can trust, I'm all set. Square. So to speak.
It's 28 and a hair under 5/32"
Ron
I use the flip method on something straight. It has to be straight though and you can cherk that with a string - or just snap a string line. Measuring the hypotenuse requires that the second measuring device (tape, ruler, yardstick, etc) be dead on or you're introducing additional error. It's also possible that two errors could cancel one another and fake you out completely.
For example, if the square is closed by 1/16", a tape that measures 1/16" long would make you think that the square is dead on.
I don't have a chalk line that will leave a clean enough line. Maybe I could stretch a fine wire.
I just thought of a variation on the flip method. I was trying to think what I have that's reliably straight and I'm thinking, "Jointer bed." Rest the square on the bed of a jointer or tablesaw with the body upright aainst the fence. Clamp a straight edge to the fence against the tongue. Flip the square around the other way and compare.
Ron
They're probably not up to National Bureau of Standards specs, but I keep a few pieces of aluminum square tubing and angle stock around for when I need something fairly long and "straight" for a setup. That's all they've ever been used for and they hang vertically from nails on the wall so they don't take a curved set.
The jointer bed sounds like a good idea but I woud clamp a board (1/2" ply?) to the fence and draw a line on it then flip my square.