Graphical Construction Glossary >> Tools. >> Hand Tools >> Combination Square

Combination Square

A all purpose all steel square. In it's standard form it is a right angle and a mitre square, and with additional bases it is a multi angle bevel or protractor and a tool to find the centre of bar stock..

A quality engineer's set from Moore and Wright, Sheffield UK. Photo thanks to Wikipedia.

Laroy Starrett invented and patented the combination square in 1873. The tools shown on this page are of engineering quality and extremely well made.

This type of square very soon found quick recognition outside the engineering and metalwork field and many are nestled away in building tradesmen's tool boxes because of their robust quality and versatility. The ability slide the blade to allow it to fit in tight spaces or to be used as a depth or width gauge is a winner. They all of them have a metal scriber also tucked out of the way in the standard base and also they all have small spirit levels in them.

I bought a quality Starrett set years ago but unfortunately I "lost" (stolen) it and I now have the protractor base and the circle centre tucked away somewhere waiting for their mates to return.

A genuine Starrett from Rockler.

There is a proliferation of cheapy copies on the market that are worse than useless IMHO. However some of the mid range ones are quite good and worth buying. Especially if you are working on sites where tools are prone to disappear.

If you live in the US and you like are looking for top quality tool for workshop use then you can't go past the Starrett shown here on the Rockler site page.

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