I just want a nice METRIC ONLY comination square

[bushwhaker]

Somewhere i spotted SHINWA metric combination square.

​

 

[Ollie78]

I think the issue with metric/imperial rules are that you have to go to the bother of flipping the rule around. It’s not a complete write off but it is definitely a faff if you have to repeatedly alternate which way round the rule is facing.

Even with most metric only steel rules, if all of the 0s start at the same end of the rule, sometimes you have to remove the rule and flip it around. That’s what I find most useful about the Starrett ones, they lay out the markings so it can never be the wrong way round.

Yes, this is what I mean. It is unnecessary faff and is more likely to cause me to make a mistake.
On my current metric one it doesn't matter which end or side it is facing to I can always get the same measurement from anywhere. Also I know that 50mm lines up with 250mm for example so if the "wrong side" is facing the material it is easy to measure anyway.

Also 150mm is in the centre always, where on a metric/ imperial it is not.

 

[Ollie78]

Look at Pretsch - German made, very good value. , well put together and not very expensive (and metric only)

I looked at them but not keen as they are 306mm long for some reason and the way the scale goes is not what I am after. I do like the orange though.

On mine both sides have the scale running both ways, so on the end there is a 300 on one edge and a 0 on the other edge. If that makes sense

 

[TobyT]

Shinwa carpenters square with stopper work for you?
https://workshopheaven.com/shinwa-carpenters-square-hard-chrome-finish-8-scales-300mm/
This doesn't do exactly 300m on the long edge though. I think a different variant does, but they are sold out at the moment
https://workshopheaven.com/shinwa-carpenters-square-hard-chrome-finish-metal-stopper/
They have the Starrett ones on there as well

 

[Inspector]

I have a forged steel (not the cast heads) Starrett combination set with 1' and 2' decimal/fractional imperial rules and 300mm and 600mm rules that I bought in the late 80s. They were not inexpensive by any measure but I have got my monies worth out of it and I hope to get another couple decades or more from them. Bite the bullet and get a set. It will last into the next generation.

Pete

 

[Rhossydd]

I would be astounded if the Presch tools like combi squares are made in Germany. They may be designed in Germany, but when they are manufactured in Germany they generally have that marked very clearly on them.

It's not unknown for cheap quality tools to made in Germany (See Parkside).
The box Presch tools are presented in only lists their German address. If they were manufactured elsewhere I'd expect that to have to mentioned to comply with UK/EU labelling law.
I recently bought one of their squares and it's a really nice bit of kit, nicely designed and finished, but above all bang on square when tested with a M&W engineering square. I'd certainly look at their range for anything else I needed.

 

[Ollie78]

I have a forged steel (not the cast heads) Starrett combination set with 1' and 2' decimal/fractional imperial rules and 300mm and 600mm rules that I bought in the late 80s. They were not inexpensive by any measure but I have got my monies worth out of it and I hope to get another couple decades or more from them. Bite the bullet and get a set. It will last into the next generation.

Pete

Is it worth it for the forged head? is it less likely to rust or just less likely to crack when you drop it?
looks like about £20 difference with the same rule.

 

[Inspector]

Is it worth it for the forged head? is it less likely to rust or just less likely to crack when you drop it?
looks like about £20 difference with the same rule.

I don't know if it is more or less likely to rust but at the time I liked the cleaner, thiner shape of the forged heads so went that way. They remain clean to this day but they have never been stored in a damp environment either.

 

[Jake]

It's not unknown for cheap quality tools to made in Germany (See Parkside).
The box Presch tools are presented in only lists their German address. If they were manufactured elsewhere I'd expect that to have to mentioned to comply with UK/EU labelling law.
I recently bought one of their squares and it's a really nice bit of kit, nicely designed and finished, but above all bang on square when tested with a M&W engineering square. I'd certainly look at their range for anything else I needed.

I looked into this before, the company was founded in 2017 and the info I could find indicated it was a start-up with less than 20 people. From everything I could see it looked like badge engineering to me.

 

[jcassidy]

I have both types of Starrett, "Made in US" and not-made-in-US. The US ones are a joy to use, if you can find one.

 

[Not-Entirely-Useless]

I would be astounded if the Presch tools like combi squares are made in Germany. They may be designed in Germany, but when they are manufactured in Germany they generally have that marked very clearly on them.

Good point. Mine don't have a country of manufacture marked on them, so they probably are made elsewhere. Thanks.

That said, they are good accurate squares and metric only

 

[Rhossydd]

I looked into this before, the company was founded in 2017 and the info I could find indicated it was a start-up with less than 20 people. From everything I could see it looked like badge engineering to me.

Yes, it's a small new company. That doesn't mean they have to be manufacturing in the far east. I don't see you making the same accusation of Benchdogs.co.uk who are smaller and newer.
As I said in my previous post; If it was made elsewhere it would need to state that on the packaging.
It's not that they are stupidly (Aliexpress Bangood) cheap, the squares are six times as expensive as the Parkside ones.
Bottom line is how good are the products ? I've found them very good and the reviews on Amazon are too.

 

[Not-Entirely-Useless]

but above all bang on square when tested with a M&W engineering square.

Isn't this the main thing? The OP wants a good quality, metric-only square. It seems to me that this is a good bet if Starrett/Mitutoyo are out of reach

 

[Rhossydd]

Isn't this the main thing?

To a large degree.
I can understand why some people might on ethical grounds want to buy from the most sustainable supplier or not buy from places with poor human rights records.

 

[Aligish]

Just had a look at the Banggood version... £8.02 now and has a very good review from Denis at Hooked on Wood. Looks well worth a punt!

I managed to snag a set from Axminster a few years ago. Sold as seconds, I took a punt and was pleasantly surprised that a little rust was the only issue. It's an excellent set.

Good luck with what you decide.

 

[Aligish]

To a large degree.
I can understand why some people might on ethical grounds want to buy from the most sustainable supplier or not buy from places with poor human rights records.

Doesn't stop folk buying BMW - chips from China and M&S - clothes from sweatshops...

Just a thought.

 

[Not-Entirely-Useless]

To a large degree.
I can understand why some people might on ethical grounds want to buy from the most sustainable supplier or not buy from places with poor human rights records.

Sure - I'm just saying that accuracy is the main thing - not that it's the only thing. No point in its being ethical and sustainable if it doesn't work

 

[Rhossydd]

Doesn't stop folk buying BMW - chips from China and M&S - clothes from sweatshops...

It's obviously people's choice as to who they spend their money with.
I brought Presch because of good reviews and the product in hand is excellent.
Just because something is made in Germany doesn't automatically make it good, any more than anything from China is bad, there's good and bad from both.

 

[Jake]

Yes, it's a small new company. That doesn't mean they have to be manufacturing in the far east. I don't see you making the same accusation of Benchdogs.co.uk who are smaller and newer.
As I said in my previous post; If it was made elsewhere it would need to state that on the packaging.
It's not that they are stupidly (Aliexpress Bangood) cheap, the squares are six times as expensive as the Parkside ones.
Bottom line is how good are the products ? I've found them very good and the reviews on Amazon are too.

They sell too many things of too many differing types and techniques to be manufacturing them with the personnel they have. It is notable that the backdrop of their website has a few photos on rotation, something being forged on an anvil by hand, a bloke planing some wood, and a forklift lifting a shipping container. What's absent is any picture of a production facility, moreover nowhere do they ever state that they make in Germany, although they do (unlike Benchdogs who call themselves a distributor rather than a manufacturer) describe themselves as a manufacturer. They obviously design some stuff (and their current vacancies are for a social media graphic designer and a CAD designer) but nothing I see suggests they actually manufacture themselves.

Not sure it matters all that much really if their spec controls and QC are tight, but they do not anywhere on their website make the claim made on this thread that they are made in Germany. I suppose they might be but not by them, but you'd expect German made to be splashed all over their marketing and the tools themselves and it isn't.

I was quite amused that they claim to be a iF design award winner, when in fact it was their branding agency who won it for the branding work they did for them at the outset.

I'm not knocking the tools, I have no experience of them.

 

[Rhossydd]

I'm not knocking the tools, I have no experience of them.

Just poking at their advertising isn't helpful.
On my experience of ownership, you'll not find the tools wanting.