Timber Framers Guild Forums Tools Tool Forum Trouble Finding a Framing Square

After leaving my square in NH at the Wason Pond Bridge build earlier this week, I've decided to take the opportunity to shop around and look at some really high quality squares, and consider investing in one. The one I left in NH was a Stanley aluminum, black with yellow filled etchings. I was pleased with it during the short time we were together.

My criteria are:
Stainless
16ths on all edges
Precision etched/lasered/ground...anything but stamped!
Accurately Square

Sadly, I'm finding nothing that meets all of these. There is the Shinwa, but it is graduated in 10ths and 12ths on the back. There is the Chappell, but it's graduated in 10ths and 20ths. All the rest seem to be designed for checking general square-ness of things, not for precision measuring and marking.

I picked up one of those fancy Japanese squares from Lee Valley, but when I went to lay out some datum on a stick today, realized that it's not appropriate for the way I work (the scale runs from the outside edge only, making it inconvenient to mark from the inside).

Should I just bite the bullet and go for the Chappell? My biggest concerns are that it's way more square than I need (though I could imagine growing into it), and when working with others using squares in 16ths (not a frequent occurrance, but I could see it happening more in the future) it could cause some assimilation issues.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide!

PS in my search, I picked up a tip new to me: Apparently, adjusting framing squares is fairly simple using a punch and hammer strategically at the joint of the two legs.

I have no desire to disparage the Chappell square, but if you don't need all that information, I wouldn't go that route. I, like you, just want 16ths on each edge, as well as the brace tables so hard to find on new squares. I am using the same, or similar, square to your Stanley. It is Al, yellow on black, and has a combination of 10ths, 12ths, and 16ths. I think it is the 45-011 model. I'm on the lookout for a better one. I'll let you know if I find one.

I've had the black and yellow alumninum stanley, and the lee valley rafter square. My current square is a $15 steel square that I bought at home hardware(benchmark?). Its got all the markings, and was square off the shelf. I doubt if you will find a square with all the markings and has all the marking surfaces at 16ths. I usually keep 2 squares when doing layout, mostly because I use them as my winding sticks. Sometime I might opt for one of the new ones with only 16th's and no tables because I will have the tables on the other one.

Don't give up on the cheep-O alum square. You can have a number of them and when the get stepped on and bent no big loss. If I paid $100 for a square I would be afraid to use it. The are always dropping on the floor or getting pinched some place the should not be. You can cut them up for patterns and straight edges with out worry. I look for the silly squares all in 1/8th. I can't remember the last time I used 1/16th on the framing square anyway. The light alum. square stick to the pitch oozing out of fresh cut pine so you marks doesn't wander, as a perk, the benefit to working with pine and a lighter square. But as time goes by I think I should saw more of the sap wood off my pine timbers.

I do have a shinwa, too.

Today I stopped at the hardware store and picked up a cheap Ace brand steel square graduated in 1/8ths. I took a small piece of plywood with a factory edge to test them, the first one failed but the second was right on.

I guess it will do for now, and I don't mind trading the weight for a little extra durability. I keep a couple of 18" pieces of Aluminum angle for winding sticks, so I only need one square for winding.

Thanks for the help!

I use two of the Japanese stainless squares from Lee Valley. I like them, but I had to mark the sides that are marked other than 1/16ths with another color so that I don't make a mistake.

I like the 12ths! You want those for laying out roof pitches. When I attach my Starrett 111's I want to get them as far out toward the ends of the blades as possible, so it will stretch across a wide timber. That often means I'll set one on a whole inch, and the other will come out as a fraction, but always some number of 12ths. CB.

I have used the Shinwa american pattern squares for at least twelve years and I am completely happy with them. Since I layout with an awl, no pencil marks, I have placed friction tape down the center on the back side which aids greatly with suppressing movement of the square when striking lines. I also use the tenths and twelths from time to time.

The twelths are a key into older methods of layout in buildings with odd fractional roof slopes. The carpenter knowing only the overall rise and run can layout the roof with the twelth scale without calculation of slope, run per foot or angular degree. If for example, run = 14-7 and rise = 9-2 then hold 14 7/12 by 9 2/12 and step twelve times for rafter length.

Hey Simon -

Nice to see you piping in around here. There were a few uncollected odds & ends and uncollected tools floating around the Rec Center basement last I knew, but neither your chisel nor your Eagle square were among them.

I'm with you, if I had my druthers, stainless squares with 16th's on both sides of both the body and the tongue would be on the racks in every hardware everywhere...

I know a former CE who actually uses the 10th's, the rest of us curse them every time we flip a square. I get the 12th's, taught myself to step off years ago when I learned and briefly used all the tables on better squares. The traditionalist in me even appreciates their being there in some small way – At the same time I'd find my square far more convenient if it had sixteenth inch graduations on all its sides.

I've used Shinwas for pushing twenty years, have yet to try out a Chappell Universal, though I'm itch'in to.