Senator
Established Member
Has anyone got any opinions on Starrett combination squares
Starrett
- Thread starter Senator
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MattRoberts
Established Member
Since buying one, it's been the only measuring tool I own that I feel completely confident is absolutely accurate. It's very well made and a pleasure to use 
beech1948
Established Member
Bought mine in 1995 secondhand. It was spot on square and has been faultless ever since. Pretty good.
Honest John
Established Member
Mines my go to square. Totally accurate and made to a quality that just feels that it is made right. Buy with confidence you won’t regret it.
thetyreman
Established Member
I love mine, a step above anything else I've used, I like the tri square a lot as well as the combination square, it has a very solid feel to it, they are well worth it.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
My post disappeared into the ether once again. If you've an hour to waste this is worth watching, although their stuff sold in his Country is Chinese afaik.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7JqXbm-Nwo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7JqXbm-Nwo
custard
Established Member
phil.p":37m4nw8x said:
Do you have any evidence for that Phil?
Moore & Wright have definitely introduced a cheaper range of Chinese made tools, and Mitutoyo source some tools from Brazil, but I thought Starrett stuff was still made in the US and Scotland?
Not that it makes any difference, if it says "Starrett" on the tool then you can stake your woodworking reputation on it.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Evidence? No. I've heard it from several people who know more about engineering than I do.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
I've never had any objection to Chiwanese or even Indian made stuff per se - they make what their customers will pay for, most of course will be indifferent but the best is brilliant. I had a friend who was a rep for an international multi billion firm who was struggling to sell compressors when the manufacture was moved to India. He told his boss (whom I also happened to know) and his boss said well, they don't know what they're buying - the Indian stuff is way better made than the stuff made in the UK.
custard
Established Member
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
How old are they though? I'm only talking of the last couple of years, but as you say I'm only going by what I was told and that could be wrong. I did also hear that much of the Snap On sold here is Chinese as well.
I have a "Buck" knife that came with a little booklet telling how Buck was a famous American company, how it espoused quality, freedom, the history of the ole frontier etc. and how fortunate I was to have purchased a bit of real America ................ no mention of where it was actually made, though - you had to see "China" stamped on the blade to know that. Apparently many American brands manufacture in China for the international market but still manufacture at home for their own market as the Yanks won't accept high end Chinese goods.
Appologies for the thread creep.
I have a "Buck" knife that came with a little booklet telling how Buck was a famous American company, how it espoused quality, freedom, the history of the ole frontier etc. and how fortunate I was to have purchased a bit of real America ................ no mention of where it was actually made, though - you had to see "China" stamped on the blade to know that. Apparently many American brands manufacture in China for the international market but still manufacture at home for their own market as the Yanks won't accept high end Chinese goods.
Appologies for the thread creep.
I have no objective justification for this - just loyalty to something that has served me well - but I wouldn't buy a starret over my Moore & Wright CSM300 square
DBT85
Established Member
Bought one from amazon last year. Use it every time and its been perfect every time. Well worth it.
Also have 2x 6" Moore and Wright engineering squares that get used for royal visits.
Also have 2x 6" Moore and Wright engineering squares that get used for royal visits.
I've got a cheap stanley combination. I still use where it might get trod on by the builders etc but it's pretty much just about okish. Then I bought one of the cheaper Moore and wright ones and that's nice and more than accurate enough for me really. I think (weirdly) I bought it online from an engineering firm round the corner from my house when I was online in Devon on ma holibobs. I phoned them up and said 'don't post it, i'll pick it up because you are on the same industrial estate as my lasses nursery'.
Ahhh, the sweet memories of green fields and pastoral scenes she will have to remember when she's older. That was classed as 'woodworking standard' and it's more than accurate enough for me.
Then one mad, random weeknight I went on ebay when everyone in the world decided to have night offand I picked up TWO starrets. the big one with all the 3 heads and a small one with just the centre and square heads along with a bang load of other engineering tools for some mad price. V clamps, centrefinders, depth gauges, 1 moore and wright and 1 starrett height gauges for about £30. For all of it. After a mix up on payments and delivery the seller then sent me a load of other gear, feelers,etc etc etc, just whatnot. I can still remember getting this huge box and unwrapping all this bubble wrap at the table thinking OMFG its F******* Christmas.
If you've ever seen Band of Brothers, it traces the now fairly legendary exploits of the 101st US airbourne from training to dropping over France on D Day, through Normandy, Eindhoven, Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge, Strasbourg then finally down to Berchtesgaden. To The Eagles Nest. Quite literally. If you haven't watched try to see it. It's a magnificent and epic piece of television. I'm not a fan of the historian who popularised the feats of the 101st literally, although I have read some of his books I find him a little jingoistic and centralised. Still, the series is without peer in my opinion. Particularly touching is how at the end of each episode the directors, Hanks and Spielberg make time to allow the original veterans time to share their thoughts and memories. If you're not careful it will have you in tears.
So anyway, if you've seen it, you'll know there was a fella called Lewis Nixon. He fought through that whole campaign now in one way or another. Liked a bit of the old Vat 69. Sooooo, anyway, the 101st eventually land up at Berchtesgaden. Home of the Nazi elite. And there's this bit where understandably they are all a bit weary by now and the Guvnor, Winters takes Nixon to Herman Goerings gaff. Herman Goering mind. And he opens the doors to the wine cellar and there is all the best booze from Europe stacked up. Thousands of bottles of the best wine, brandy and champagne of all vintages.
Help yourself said Winters.
That's pretty much how I felt unwrapping that box of Starrett and Moore and Wright that I bought for £30. You don't get many of those buys in your life.
TBH I was probably a bit pi**ed as well but the day would have had a Y in it after all. So. You know.
I've tested them against my Kinex squares and they seem to be ok.
It's a beautifully crafted tool. Lovely thing to hold in your hand.
If you're gonna swing your big one. Make an effort and do it properly.
Ahhh, the sweet memories of green fields and pastoral scenes she will have to remember when she's older. That was classed as 'woodworking standard' and it's more than accurate enough for me.
Then one mad, random weeknight I went on ebay when everyone in the world decided to have night offand I picked up TWO starrets. the big one with all the 3 heads and a small one with just the centre and square heads along with a bang load of other engineering tools for some mad price. V clamps, centrefinders, depth gauges, 1 moore and wright and 1 starrett height gauges for about £30. For all of it. After a mix up on payments and delivery the seller then sent me a load of other gear, feelers,etc etc etc, just whatnot. I can still remember getting this huge box and unwrapping all this bubble wrap at the table thinking OMFG its F******* Christmas.
If you've ever seen Band of Brothers, it traces the now fairly legendary exploits of the 101st US airbourne from training to dropping over France on D Day, through Normandy, Eindhoven, Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge, Strasbourg then finally down to Berchtesgaden. To The Eagles Nest. Quite literally. If you haven't watched try to see it. It's a magnificent and epic piece of television. I'm not a fan of the historian who popularised the feats of the 101st literally, although I have read some of his books I find him a little jingoistic and centralised. Still, the series is without peer in my opinion. Particularly touching is how at the end of each episode the directors, Hanks and Spielberg make time to allow the original veterans time to share their thoughts and memories. If you're not careful it will have you in tears.
So anyway, if you've seen it, you'll know there was a fella called Lewis Nixon. He fought through that whole campaign now in one way or another. Liked a bit of the old Vat 69. Sooooo, anyway, the 101st eventually land up at Berchtesgaden. Home of the Nazi elite. And there's this bit where understandably they are all a bit weary by now and the Guvnor, Winters takes Nixon to Herman Goerings gaff. Herman Goering mind. And he opens the doors to the wine cellar and there is all the best booze from Europe stacked up. Thousands of bottles of the best wine, brandy and champagne of all vintages.
Help yourself said Winters.
That's pretty much how I felt unwrapping that box of Starrett and Moore and Wright that I bought for £30. You don't get many of those buys in your life.
TBH I was probably a bit pi**ed as well but the day would have had a Y in it after all. So. You know.
I've tested them against my Kinex squares and they seem to be ok.
It's a beautifully crafted tool. Lovely thing to hold in your hand.
If you're gonna swing your big one. Make an effort and do it properly.
phil.p":2exhjloh said:How old are they though? I'm only talking of the last couple of years, but as you say I'm only going by what I was told and that could be wrong. I did also hear that much of the Snap On sold here is Chinese as well.
I have a "Buck" knife that came with a little booklet telling how Buck was a famous American company, how it espoused quality, freedom, the history of the ole frontier etc. and how fortunate I was to have purchased a bit of real America ................ no mention of where it was actually made, though - you had to see "China" stamped on the blade to know that. Apparently many American brands manufacture in China for the international market but still manufacture at home for their own market as the Yanks won't accept high end Chinese goods.
Appologies for the thread creep.
they sell those knives over here in the states, too.
Sams club (which is a bulk buy store) sometimes gets overshots in production, and the chinese stuff and the USA made stuff isn't a lot different in price (buck's quality is sort of "do it quick" these days, but they're still honest knives in the old patterns - just finished a bit more coarsely and only an actual hunter would like the 420HC knives that they make, because they'd use and resharpen them). Fantastically inexpensive american made stuff, though, thanks to the magic of dedicated machines.
about ten years ago, I found an "alpha hunter" with cocobolo scales on it made of 154CM steel with BOS heat treat for $45.
At any rate, I think they're just trying to figure out how to stay in business, and we have just tons and tons of chinese made goods on the knife market at that price level ($25-$50 for a mid level knife).
The old american pattern pocket knife (old lockbacks and slipjoints) is alive and well here, though, and the knives made in titsville, PA are probably the best of that type ever made, at least of the factory made knives. About $100-$150 for the nice patterns. People do complain about the price of those knives here in the states, but I doubt anyone who does has ever made anything of note).
patrickjchase
Established Member
custard":23apx9hy said:
There are some such tools that a woodworker might use. For example this machinist square: http://www.starrett.com/metrology/produ ... res/3020-6
It's about half the price of the equivalent US-made square (#20-6) but also half the precision.
They tell you which tools are which via the "Global Series" icon in the tool description. You get more detail if you click on that.
I have never seen a bad Starrett tool, US-made or otherwise. I have a set of 3020 squares as well as a single 55-6 (US-made) master square, and they're both extremely precise and well-made. The master square actually is a bit more accurate btw.
