The details of this 18th-century tool will both please and puzzle you.
By Christopher Schwarz
Pages: 24-25
From the February 2010 issue #181
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A 23 cm steel square with brass and rosewood stock was one of my first tools. Like a supermodel, its nice to look at, but not so fun to deal with day-to-day.
Its blade is too small, it rusts easily when you look at the thing and it takes up my marking knives’ backs. It is too heavy and difficult to grip. But, I figured, thats what they sell in the stores so that must be as good as it gets.
My mother then went through a phase in which she collected antique measuring tools, from log rules to T squares.
Lucky for me, she outgrew this phase and foisted her small horde on me. Most of the tools were useless to a woodworker, but I started using one of her homemade wooden bevel gauges and what I thought was a framing square to lay out my work.
Impressed by the weight and accuracy of the wooden tools, I made wooden straightedges and put away my 61 cm Starrett.
And I found the answer to my problem by browsing through Andr Roubos masterwork Des Arts Et Metiers En Btiment.
Online Extras
* Click here for full-size plans and instructions from the Arts & Mysteries : Andr Roubos Try to Square article.
Issue #181, February 2010.
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Recommendations for Product
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