WoodRiver 12" Combination Square


RJsumthn

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I got the WoodRiver 12" Combination Square from Woodcraft for $30 and the first thing I do is check to ensure it is square. I strike a line, flip it, and it's not square. In disbelief i repeated the process at least 5 more times and got the same results. When I get back from my trip to New Jersey and New York I will be returning the square. Other than it being out of square it seemed like a well made tool. I hope that it is just a lemon and the majority of their squares are, in fact, square.

I know that some people will say you get what you pay for but I have a Combination Square that I got from Harbor Freight for around $10 and that is perfectly square.

I just wanted to share my experience with this tool. Hopefully someone else has it and is perfectly happy with it.

Here is the link to it: http://www.woodcraft...ion-square.aspx

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Call me cheap but 30 bucks isnt cheap for a hand tool like that. You should expect accuracy for that kind of money. I just inherited an old 6 inch my dad had and I broke the shaft that tightens the blade and im determined to find a quality replacement because they just dont make stuff like they used to. What do you have to pay for a quality combo square?

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I understand the price point for the Sarrett products but I just can't justify the price right now. The only thing that I might consider would be the Starrett 4" double square.

But I agree that is a steep price for a weekend warrior. I think I might just get a Rosewood square since it is around $30 and my Harbor Freight combo is still accurate.

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Im not knocking anyone here but should you have to spend 100 bucks for a simple combo square to get something accuarte? I think thats crazy. Yes I think starret stuff is great but steep for the average weekend woodworker.

Should you have to? Probably not. But apparently you do. If you can give me the name of a company that makes combo squares that are consistently square for $30, I'd love to hear it. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist.

There are other factors that make a quality square better, too...it's not just about squareness, although that's obviously the main deal breaker.

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I have been happy with the squares I have gotten from Lee Valley/ Veritas .

Yeah, I have one of their 4" squares and it's great. I don't think they make a 12" though, do they? That'd probably be the best bang for your buck if they did.

Buying a cheap square and expecting it to be square and stay square is like going to McDonalds and expecting to get something that tastes like food. It's just the unfortunate reality...one of those areas where you truly do get what you pay for.

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Im not knocking anyone here but should you have to spend 100 bucks for a simple combo square to get something accuarte? I think thats crazy. Yes I think starret stuff is great but steep for the average weekend woodworker.

It's more than that. A Starrett is square when you buy it. It stays square no matter where you move the head on the blade and it will stay that way for years. I have a Starrett 12" Combo that I got about 15 years ago and I love it. I also have 2 Starrett Double Squares that I inherited from my grandfather. They are more than 60 years old - still square and true.

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I understand the price point for the Sarrett products but I just can't justify the price right now. The only thing that I might consider would be the Starrett 4" double square.

But I agree that is a steep price for a weekend warrior. I think I might just get a Rosewood square since it is around $30 and my Harbor Freight combo is still accurate.

If you want it a precision square, don't get a rosewood square. It is made out of two different materials that move in different ways as temperature changes. It's almost like they are made to go out of square.

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Products Engineering Corporation (PEC) squares are made in the U.S.A. and considered by some reviews as comparable to Starrett for nearly half the price. Harry J. Epstein sells brand new but blemished ( the one I have has the PEC name scratched out in the center of rule but otherwise fine) 12" PEC 2pc combination squares for $20. They also have the 4" and 6" double and combo squares in blemished models.

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Im not knocking anyone here but should you have to spend 100 bucks for a simple combo square to get something accuarte? I think thats crazy. Yes I think starret stuff is great but steep for the average weekend woodworker.

I was the same way for years. The Starrett is expensive. Once you hold one and start moving the parts you realize why. The marks on the ruler are very well scribed and easy on the eyes. I saved my gift cards and bought one. I was cringing at the register the whole time. When I got home and used it for the first time, no regrets. One more time, no regrets.

Oh and just for accuracy , it is not accuarte. Should have bought a Starrett. hehe Sorry I had to.

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I got back from my trip yesterday and within a few hours of getting home I received an e-mail from Woodcraft saying that they will be sending me a new one free of charge. I posted a review on their website of the square and I guess someone in customer service saw it. So major points to WoodCraft for that. Hopefully this one is square! And they didn't say anything about sending the old one back

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I got the new square in the mail today and I immediately went to check to see if it was square and it was!! I need see on the receipt that came with it that they made a note to check to ensure it was square before they sent it. I can tell that they did have it out because the plastic that cover the rule and the handle in the case was gone and there was no residue on the blade that the first one came with. I believe that they should check every square before it leaves and I wouldn't mind paying an extra $5 or whatever for them to do it. So I give major props to Woodcraft for their customer service. But there is one thing that kind of bothered me. I went back to their website to try and edit the first review I gave and they had taken it down!! I did post another review saying what had happened but it just doesn't sit right with me that they had taken it down. It makes me wonder how many other reviews have they taken down?

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Products Engineering Corporation (PEC) squares are made in the U.S.A. and considered by some reviews as comparable to Starrett for nearly half the price. Harry J. Epstein sells brand new but blemished ( the one I have has the PEC name scratched out in the center of rule but otherwise fine) 12" PEC 2pc combination squares for $20. They also have the 4" and 6" double and combo squares in blemished models.

 

 

PEC makes Wood River squares...  And Veritas, and some others...  So... If a purchaser got Wood River square that wasn't, it's a PEC.

 

That said, I really like my Veritas (PEC) double squares.  Not as nice as my Starrett tools, but close.  It makes me wonder if certain retailers are tougher on suppliers than others.

 

On another note...  There is far more to a good combo square than "is it square"?  A good combo square has excellent "action" as it slides and locks, and has markings that are easy to read over long shop sessions.  The best have widely available interchangeable parts.  I have 6, 12, 18, and 24 inch blades, as well as protractor and center finding heads for my Starrett.  Some of the parts are vintage, yet they all work together perfectly.  Remember, there are at least 10 uses, other than "square", for a combo square.  The good ones do all of them well.

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Products Engineering Corporation (PEC) squares are made in the U.S.A. and considered by some reviews as comparable to Starrett for nearly half the price. Harry J. Epstein sells brand new but blemished ( the one I have has the PEC name scratched out in the center of rule but otherwise fine) 12" PEC 2pc combination squares for $20. They also have the 4" and 6" double and combo squares in blemished models.

I just got a 12" and a 6" combo squares from Epstein ! Nicely made tools, dead square and only the name scratched out that I can find so far. The 6" square fits my hand nicely and has a narrower blade. Great prices and good service from Epstein . I also got a few spare screw/ clamps for some other combo squares I have, they were only $3.50, last time I found the quality ones they were over $15 each to fit my Starrett square. Thanks for the info!

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I ponied up for a Starrett combo that came with a 12" rule, square, protractor and center-finding heads for cheaper than the individual heads and rule would have been.  I also have a 4" Starrett that I love.  That said, if I didn't need a protractor for my wooden plane project, I wouldn't probably have stepped up to this combo, but I'm glad I did.

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  • 4 months later...

I always check a square before I buy it (with the possible exception of the nice stainless framing squares that you can only order).  I'm also an old fan of combination squares.  It used to be that the only accurate ones had regular steel blades that would rust after a while just from handling them.  I keep a 12" combination square in my tool belt.  In the early '90s I found one at Sears that had a stainless steel blade, and good graduations.  I never expected a Sears tool to be this good, but It's been in my tool belt for 20 years, it's still easy to read, and  I use it most days.

 

  Another thing to check in the store is how well the locking knob works.  It should operate easily but still hold without fiddling with it.  I think I checked all the ones on the peg in that Sears store, and only found this one to my liking.

 

I was given 12" and 24" Starretts with the extra dodads.  They stay in the shop and I do use them, but I always keep them oiled with 3.36.  I wouldn't carry one of them in my tool belt.

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I wish someone made the things out of something other than cast iron.... I'm one of the few people who has super salty sweet that rusts cast iron in a second.

I knew a guitar player like that. He rusted strings at an incredibly fast rate. We used to say that he sweated acid! Haha.

You can build a nice wooden square. There are plans in Jim tolpins book called "the new traditional woodworker".

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Starret makes a few different squares. Some are iron and then some like mine are forged steel. The steel ones are smooth and the iron ones have a pattern cast into the sides. I have my square in service for 30 years now and it has never let me down, all parts are still there and original well except for the scribe which I lost :o

 

I know it is hard to pony up that much for a combo square but if you look at it as a tool for life, which it is, it takes some of the sting away.

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  • 3 weeks later...

You just got lucky. Buy a Starrett.

Starrett combo square at my local lee valley is $79!!!

That's a huge price for a small tool but when we rely on accuracy, its a small price to pay.

All the squares I have looked are are of terrible quality- made from resin epoxy or some other garbage plastic..  I'm at the point where I'm going to go big

After all- how many times are we going to have to replace it?? Especially if its Starrett quality? Probably none

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  • 2 months later...

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