Best 36" - 48" accurate bevelled straight edges?

[asanoha]

Hi there,

Been looking for a good straight edge for cabinet work - I have an Axminster 12" straight edge which frankly was not straight - needed to grind it down myself, but really don't fancy doing that with a big one.

I've tried second hand sources but not found any well made old school British tools that way, so pouring over the internet have found: Starrett and Maun. Can't seem to find a 36" Starrett available in this country - am I being stupid, are there many more sources for a good bevelled edge than I'm finding?

Really want this to be fine for the job - any experience of this?
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... =1&jump=44

Please help!
Cheers.

 

[Mr Ed]

The one you have shown would be fine for woodworking. The Veritas ones are also a good balance of price and claimed accuracy.

Cheers, Ed

 

[dunbarhamlin]

I had one of the Axminster ones - only the bevelled edge was straight.

 

[OPJ]

I've got one of the cheaper 1m bevelled straight edges from Axminster. It seems okay to me but, there are plenty of others on here who aren't happy with them... :?

I'd also be interested to hear from anyone who's bought of these newer "Super Precision" straight edges?

 

[bugbear]

Hi there,

Been looking for a good straight edge for cabinet work

How straight do you need - what's the maximum error over the length you can tolerate?

BugBear

 

[ivan]

An engineering workshop straight edge is required to set up machinery (ie planer tables) or test tools for flatness. The "tester" should be about 10x more accurate than the error you want to check. the relevant standard is DIN 874/2 (/1 is much too accurate and expensive!). You'll find some here:

http://shop1.actinicexpress.co.uk/shops ... _Measuring

and at J&L Industrial supplies website.

 

[Anonymous]

I have one at DIN 874/1 (it is a Moore and Wright) and it is worth its weight in gold when setting things and for the peace of mind it gives - I bought an Axminster one and they gave me a refund when I showed them how far out it was.

'mine' is on a long-term loan from an engineering friend but J&L sell them

 

[gidon]

I've got one of the cheaper 1m bevelled straight edges from Axminster. It seems okay to me but, there are plenty of others on here who aren't happy with them... :?

I'd also be interested to hear from anyone who's bought of these newer "Super Precision" straight edges?

I have one of those too and I also have a Veritas 24" steel straight edge that is guaranteed to 0.001" (IIRC). I used the Veritas to check the Axminster and some builder's levels and some clamp guide thingies (an Axminster and a Trend) and they were all straight too - couldn't get my 0.05mm feeler gauge under (or perhaps 0.1mm). Still reassuring to have something that has a spec on accuracy - the cheap Axminster straight edge doesn't.

Cheers

Gidon