Free 186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook:  
Get 2,000+ tool plans, full site access, and more.

User Tag List

Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Set square

  1. #1
    Supporting Member Philip Davies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Reading, Berks, UK
    Posts
    865
    Thanks
    1,180
    Thanked 1,017 Times in 341 Posts

    Philip Davies's Tools

    Set square

    Set square-8b4767b7-3383-4580-b2e3-516476524957.jpg

    In 1984, Wally Faulkner was teaching Institute of Carpenters C & J class at Reading Tech and told us how, as a young man, when he arrived on site, the foreman allowed the chippies 15 minutes to make themselves a saw stool. This would have been in the Fifties.

    Now, I was quite intrigued by this, because, having made a pair myself, and puzzled over the angles, I thought that was not a lot of time, considering that you cut four housings in the top, a tongue on each leg, and two cleats, before nailing. O and of course the legs are also angled at the bottom.

    Wally took a template to work in his bag. Imagine going to work on a bike, with all your tools on the handlebars! But he didn’t show us this until a later lesson.

    So, I began practising, making quarter size saw stools. I had the advantage of a workbench with a vice. The best I could do was twenty two minutes.

    This set square has the angles you need. Twice the length of the stock is the length of the leg.

    Wally's template is worth a post on its own.

    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook

  2. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Philip Davies For This Useful Post:

    Altair (May 31, 2020), baja (Jun 2, 2020), dubbby (Jun 8, 2020), Jon (Jun 4, 2020), thehomeengineer (Oct 23, 2023), Toolmaker51 (Jun 1, 2020)

  3. #2
    Content Editor
    Supporting Member
    Altair's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    11,650
    Thanks
    1,352
    Thanked 28,999 Times in 9,639 Posts


    Thanks Philip Davies! We've added your Set Square to our Angle Guides and Try Squares category,
    as well as to your builder page: Philip Davies's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:




    2000 Tool Plans

  4. #3
    Supporting Member Toolmaker51's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Midwest USA
    Posts
    5,330
    Thanks
    7,041
    Thanked 2,977 Times in 1,892 Posts

    Toolmaker51's Tools
    I'm thanking the presentation; puzzled by "saw stool", = sawhorse? This gauge represents the compound angles of the legs?
    Sincerely,
    Toolmaker51
    ...we'll learn more by wandering than searching...

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to Toolmaker51 For This Useful Post:

    Philip Davies (Jun 2, 2020)

  6. #4
    Supporting Member Philip Davies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Reading, Berks, UK
    Posts
    865
    Thanks
    1,180
    Thanked 1,017 Times in 341 Posts

    Philip Davies's Tools
    Quote Originally Posted by Toolmaker51 View Post
    I'm thanking the presentation; puzzled by "saw stool", = sawhorse? This gauge represents the compound angles of the legs?
    That’s right. I thought at the time that it would have been a good idea to show pictures of the compound angles marked out on wood, but that would have meant sorting through lumber, so postponed.

  7. #5
    Supporting Member Philip Davies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Reading, Berks, UK
    Posts
    865
    Thanks
    1,180
    Thanked 1,017 Times in 341 Posts

    Philip Davies's Tools
    I used this last week building a rocking horse for my little granddaughter.Set square-img_0564.jpeg
    Unfortunately, somehow the square broke on the bench. A repair was attempted but wasn’t any good. This is the replacement squareSet square-66d4c921-687b-4587-8f26-2dfc11aa2c80.jpeg

  8. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Philip Davies For This Useful Post:

    Christophe Mineau (Oct 24, 2023), johncg (Oct 23, 2023)

  9. #6
    Content Editor
    Supporting Member
    DIYer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    3,057
    Thanks
    771
    Thanked 1,850 Times in 1,652 Posts


    Thanks Philip Davies! We've added your Square to our Woodworking category,
    as well as to your builder page: Philip Davies's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:






    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •