Starrett Combination Set, 12" Blade Length, 4R Graduation Type

A combination square is probably one of the more useful items you can have in your workshop for both metal and wood work. Problem is that the market is swamped with utter garbage which, whilst technically does the job, for those of us who are fairly serious home gamers or work with tools is frustrating. A few years ago I ended up buying three combination squares. The price range was between 10 and 15 quid. Two I binned almost immediately and the 3rd has been in reluctant use since. However, over time when funds allow I have been upgrading my gear to something that just feels better to use in my hands. And thus I arrived here. There are more expensive sets but I looked around and this Starrett set hit the sweet spot. Not so expensive I'd have to consider selling a kidney but in the price range that indicated quality. And I'm not disapointed. This combination set feels perfect in hand. Weighty to give that 'quality' heft so beloved of us engineering types and beautiful to use. The locking dial is smooth to use and the fittment of the sliding parts ensures a wonderful tactile feel. Accuracy is excellent. I compared these with a fairly good set of engieers squares and 1-2-3 blocks and they are spot on. Certainly close enough to be pefectly useable for amost everything apart from maybe precision engineered rockets. Is the price justified? No and yes. You can get much cheaper, but like a decent beer, sometimes spending a bit more takes you beyond the bilge.

Habe das Set als günstiges Warehouse Angebot erworben. Ein dazu passendes metrisches mattverchromtes Lineal habe ich mir noch zusätzlich bestellt. So kann ich den Anschlagwinkel und den Winkelmesser gleichzeitig verwenden. Für den Winkelmesser ist es egal welche Skala auf dem Lineal ist. Es gibt Von Starrett noch das Set C434ME-300 mit geschmiedeten Köpfen, was über doppelt so teuer ist. Den Vergleich habe ich nicht, aber ich denke das für mich als Hobby-Heimwerker mit Holz der Unterschied zwischen geschmiedet und Gusseisen bei den Köpfen nicht relevant ist. Der Winkelmesser ist etwas filigran zum Ablesen, aber mit der Festellschraube kann man den Winkel auch direkt auf das Werkstück übertragen oder direkt den Maschinenanschlag damit einstellen. Ich genieße es jetzt mit diesen Qualitätswerkzeug zu arbeiten und habe mir auch auch noch den kleinen Kombinationswinkel von Starrett mit bestellt. Wegen den mangelnden Hinweis, dass das beigefügte Lineal nur Zoll-Skala hat, überlegte ich mir einen Stern abzuziehen. Mit zusätzlichen Lineal hat man immer noch ein gutes Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis, wenn man die Qualität zu schätzen weiß.

No question, ***spend the extra few bucks on this one*** compared to the cheaper Fowler sets et al. The scale itself lives in my shop coat and will last well beyond my retirement. The demarcations are easy to read, even in poor grimy lighting right down to the 64th's. Each of the heads are easy to attach, hold fast, and have a great finish. I didn't notice it mentioned in the contents, but the square has a scriber hiding inside like the toothpick in a Swiss Army knife! All edges are ground square, crisp, and the quality over-all is what you'd expect from a company like Starrett.

It's difficult to write a review on tools that are so good. They're not inexpensive either, let's be honest. In point of fact they're very expensive, especially when comparing this kit to others in amazon that are litteraly a 10th of the price. I've not bought another set from Amazon, so I can't offer an impression or comparison with any others on this site. I have bought and used other examples of this combination set elsewhere, however. Some examples have been useful for rough work, others I've simply abandoned as junk. None of the others I've used come close to this Starrett set for quality. Properly square faces where they should be, a centre head where the blade (rule) is actually in the centre and a protractor that is smooth in the angle selection. The spirit levels are actually level too, which is not a guarantee in other tools I've used. All of the tension nuts lock the blade and protractor elements very secure without having to use ridiculous amounts of torque. The set comes in a properly designed hard plastic case with foam inserts cut to precisely the right size. Its clear that with proper care, this set will last a lifetime. Buy once, cry once! You'll likely not ever need another set. Even though this premium item comes at a price, it's absolutely worth ever penny.

Exactly what you would expect from starrett