Starrett Steel Combination Square with Square Head - 6" Blade Length, Cast Iron Heads, Hardened Steel, Reversible Lock Bolt, Scriber, Spirit Level, 4R Graduation Type - 11H-6-4R

Starrett's 6" inch combination square is regarded by many as a the best on the market. I haven't evaluated any of the other high end squares, but to my mind it is nearly flawless. Why do I think this? It is square, not kinda' sorta' square if you hold it right. I mean square to the point where you can't detect any light between a machinist's reference block and the body or blade even with strong backlighting. Your eye can see light from a 0.001" opening so you know the square is at least this square. You can tighten the thumbwheel using only one hand to achieve the squareness described above. The numbers and lines are engraved so they don't wear off. The engravings are deep enough so that you can put the points of your dividers in them to accurately set the distance between the points. The satin finish on the blade makes it easy to read. The "4R" marking system (1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and 1/64) is more useful than you might realize. It cuts down errors due to misreading the scale and is faster. Reinserting the blade after removing it from the body is easy. On some squares, this is a major hassle. On the Starrett, the protrusion in the body which holds the blade generally stays in place when you remove the blade. If it gets misaligned with the slot, it is easy to rotate it back to parallel with the body so you can reinsert the blade. The spring holding the protrusion has the proper amount of stiffness. Another good thing is that it is rugged. I haven't hit it with a hammer or put a torch to it, but it has suffered a lot of drops onto a wooden floor without damage. Why don't I think it is perfect? It will rust (like almost all steel) if you don't take care of it. By taking care of it I mean storing it dry, free of salt from sweat, and dust. Not a big deal, but this is a precision square so treat it with the care it deserves. A wise man once said, "When you buy quality, you only cry once." Do yourself a favor and buy this square.

In science, one is quickly taught that errors accumulate geometrically, not linearly. So perhaps that is why I felt no buyers remorse in paying the price for a proper Starret square. I now have the confidence that when I strike a line or square an edge, it is true every time. I dumped all my crummy Stanley squares (not before measuring them against the Starret and finding all of them out of square by some degree and with imprecise straight edges) and now, all of a sudden, my marks all line up when I strike lines for through-mortises. Starret IS precision. Everything about it is finely finished, perfectly engineered, and beautiful. It feels heavy and as solid as a block of granite in the hands. There is no slip, no jiggle. The grade marks are impressed and deeply embossed, easy to read, fine and accurate. The forged body and rule came polished and satin, respectively, and no touch of rust, pitting, or scratching has showed up after weeks of daily use, and a few hard falls onto an oak deck that had my heart pounding- until I realized just how bullet-proof an all-forged Starret really is. For the beginner woodworker, spending 100+ on a ruler seems.. prohibitive. Foolish. Surely a 25 dollar Stanley can do the job? Well, I don't think it can. You can make a straight cut with a 20 dollar saw, and plane smooth with a 15 dollar yard-sale Stanley 4- but not if your measures are off. A good Starret is the foundation for all clean, accurate work, the only way to confirm your planes are flat, your chisels are square, and your stock is jointed proper. Save money any way you can- but not on the one tool that everything else in your shop is measured against.

This is one of those unique tools that lives in a special place in my cabinet. It reminds me of a different world where craftsmanship and engineering reign supreme. Why the superlatives? Because it is more than a very well made, very accurate, high-quality combination square: It is because when I take this tool in my hands, I FEEL (add emphasis) different, and I work differently because of it. Corny, you say? It's just a pricey combination square, you say? Perhaps. But for me, there are only a handful of tools in my collection that evoke an emotional response whereby their very use transports me back to my grandfather's shop, where I can feel the textures, hear the machinery, and smell the varnish, dust, motor oil and age. This is one of those tools. It makes me nostalgic for an age- real or imagined- before outsourcing and cheap tools, when quality was the norm. This combi square simply looks and feels different than many of my other layout tools, aside from being more accurate and precise than any of them. It looks... machined. Enough of waxing emotional. this is a high quality, precision tool that belongs in your tool box if you need that kind of precision (squaring-up your miter saw or table saw, for example) and can afford it. I notice that this is now going for thirty bucks more than when I bought it two years ago. Yikes. Is it thirty bucks better? I doubt it. But then, I'm devoting five stars to this tool in part because of how the quality makes me feel, not just whether it is worth the dough for something that is very, very square and well-made. Would I recommend this tool for someone just to use for framing houses or building chicken coops? No, I wouldn't, as there'd be less bang for the buck there versus other combi squares that are square enough and go for far, far less. I would wholeheartedly recommend this, however, for those who need a precise layout instrument that will last, that has smooth, well-engineered action, and is dead level, square, and straight... And that makes you feel good just by holding it.

Classically trained engineer here who has rekindled woodworking as a hobby. I haven’t touched woodworking since high school but I have so many hobbies that require accuracy, I have learned a long time ago that quality tools matter. After some research into brands, Starrett came up all the time as being among “the best” for long term accuracy and craftsmanship. Starrett did not disappoint, when checking for square it was absolutely dead on accurate against every one of my expensive calibrated machinist levels and squares. The 45 degree was also dead on. I bought the forged steel 12” 4R model. It’s nice and heavy. I gave it a light coat of oil that I use to keep my firearms free from rust until a few days before I know I am going to use it, at which point I take off all the oil and apply a thin coat of shop wax to it so I don’t get oil on my project. Some people just use shop wax and call it good. Which I’m sure is fine. I’m weird about rust I want to avoid it at all costs. I live in one of the most humid states so all my tools and firearms get some TLC at least twice a year. Are there less expensive and just as accurate alternatives to this product? Of course! But the reputation (whether it’s a confirmation bias or not is up to you to judge) has been earned by others and myself. Buy once cry once. Or you get what you pay for. Pick your adage. 5 stars in my book!

Starrett produces great, quality products.

True, it cost ten times as much as my Stanley square, but it's ten times better too. I'm a professional woodworker and realized that the only tool I used all the time that wasn't professional-grade was my square, so I decided to take the plunge and I'm glad I did. I'm also very, very big on supporting U.S. manufacturing (though some of Starrett's products are made overseas now). Other than the much more easy to read numbers and the weight, the biggest difference between this and my cheapo combination square is the ruler lock. On the Stanley, I have to really crank down on the knurled knob to lock the slide and even then it tends to move, but the lock on the Starrett has a much more refined and better feel to it and it locks the ruler perfectly every time with much less effort. Being machined instead of stamped, the edges of the ruler on this square are squared off, not rounded, which makes for more accurate use. My old square wasn't square (doing the mark/flip/mark test) but this one is and it's what I use now to square things on my machines. It's really nice to finally know that the square I'm using is actually 100% totally square, which I can't say about the imported machinist square or the cheap combination square I have. If you're just the weekend builder, hobbyist, or occasional squarer-of-things, you don't need to spend a ton of money on this square. I make my living with tools and this one has become the foundation that determines how accurate my other tools (jointer, band saw, table saw, etc.) are, so it's important that I have the best, not to mention it's a business tax deduction. Seriously, if all you do is make birdhouses or build fences or lay tile, this square is a waste of money, but if you either need extreme accuracy or you use a combination square all the time, I highly recommend getting this one.

Nice high quality very accurate not super heavy but definitely not lightweight they slide nice and easy and it tightens down good to keep it in place easy to read very high quality Steel wouldn't buy anything else

When accuracy counts, this is the tool. That being said, I have to go over some issues that are easily solved. When the item arrived, it was covered in oil -- which would be fine if the oil was clean, but the tool was leaving dark marks on everything I used it against. I grabbed a rag and rubbed out all the oil and cleaned every nook and cranny. This of course left the item both clean as a whistle (able to be used on my clean work pieces) but it also left the piece extremely rust-prone. The latter was solved by rubbing some paste wax on it. I first tried beeswax but that did not last very long (a week) while paste wax (such as Minwax) seems to last months. The spring hardened steel is showing no signs of rust, which is good. Not deducting any stars because the functional quality of this unit is beyond anything else. It truly is dead-on accurate and for that, I am willing to buff it and apply some wax a couple times a year. I will note that the more you handle it, the more you'll have to keep it clean. The oils from my fingers seem to be the catalyst for rust. If I wax it, put it away, and don't touch it, it stays pretty. Another trick is to put some painter's tape on the shiny parts before you put it away. You can also use gloves when handling it if you are really averse to maintenance. Of course, after reading this, it really sounds like I *should* deduct a star, but I understand that this is an accepted problem with these kinds of tools. However, it would be really nice if the best combination square would make the best non-rusting combination square.

Ottimi strumenti. Da sempre Starrett è sinonimo di qualità in questo tipo di prodotti. Il prodotto arriva nel suo imballo originale protetto da una pellicola di plastica che racchiude il tutto. LA squadra è oliata a dovere per prevenirne la corrosione. Bel prodotto e molto funzionale

Great feel to it, easy to read scales and very accurate. I have a few different models and sizes, I love them all. They will rust if they are not kept clean and lubed up in humid envorinments.

This is an excellent tool. Its square over its working range and its easy to use since its operation is very smooth. This makes laying out holes and cut lines much easier for wood and metal projects. I use this more than my twelve-inch Starrett square by far.

Expensive, but dead on.

Delivery took a while, but is a quality tool. First thing I did was check the accuracy for square. Appears to be right on. Very smooth operation to slide the square along the ruler. Thought is was a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for. Makes my old combination square from the local big box store look pretty cheap.