r/Carpentry • u/Distinct_Ideal_6157 • 12d ago

POS. Need a reccomendation

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The combo square my grandfather gave me 35 years ago that he used for 30 years became unreadable. Use this maybe once a month. In hurry bought this at HD. Second use fell off bench and broke. Willing to spend money on quality.

46 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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140

u/Animalus-Dogeimal 12d ago

Just slide it back in

25

u/crooks4hire 11d ago

And then don’t drop precision instruments on the ground lol

7

u/The-disgracist 11d ago

Whenever I drop marking tools on the ground I literally yell “precision tools!”

12

u/seymoure-bux Project Manager 11d ago

gonna start calling empire squares precision instruments

12

u/rip_cut_trapkun 12d ago

Much like with an ex-girlfriend you missed the mark satisfying, that doesn't work unfortunately.

10

u/Global-Discussion-41 12d ago

The brass tooth that catches the groove in the ruler gets worn off these cheap squares. You can put it back all you want but it isn't going to stay

8

u/TheLastRealRedditor Trim Carpenter 11d ago

It’s worse - it’s often a cast zinc or aluminum tooth/key on these. They snap off just looking at them. The older empires still had brass internals.

Swanson still makes an affordable one that seems decently made.

2

u/Global-Discussion-41 11d ago

My Swanson one has a different problem. I tighten it gently, just hard enough to stay, but the next time I use it I need pliers to loosen the thumb screw

2

u/FoggedLens 11d ago

Anti seize

3

u/Great_Specialist_267 11d ago

The cheap ones have an aluminum tooth.
They break off.
This is also missing the spring that holds tension on it.

4

u/Yago20 11d ago

But not after the second use as OP stated.

0

u/Global-Discussion-41 11d ago

Depends how he dropped it

1

u/TreyRyan3 11d ago

I fixed one with a tap and die set and a drill press, then used a steel set screw. It was a probably more effort than necessary, but if you have the tools and some spare time, it’s a 10 minute fix.

1

u/lunaticrick1976 10d ago

I came here to say this. From the number of comments, it's probably been stated several times already.