Engineers square - made in England

[Rocketman]

I think people are missing the point regarding country of origin.

It's not simply about quality but why is a good name square £100 yet a faithful or other no-value brand £10 when they're from the same place and both distributed in the uk?
It's as though you're paying several times as much to see a famous name on it.

Exact point. Exact same blurb as the big names who source their squares from the same country and who knows might even be the same factory.

The faithfull has exactly the same spec as any other grade B engineers square -

'Carefully crafted from high quality tool steel, these squares are accurate to BS939 Grade B standard. The stock and blade are precision ground to ensure straightness and accuracy, and the spring steel blade is hardened and tempered for increased durability'

Ronan came up with Starrett which are serious inspection squares which are probably Grade A ?? I don't need that I'm not tool making here. Yes I do check stuff for designs but I'm not fitting tool inserts that need to be flash free when moulding.

BS939 Grade B is fine for my needs so I'm probably sold on the faithfull

 

[zzr1200]

Even Starrett has 2 quality ranges, one made in the USA and their economy range which is sourced from overseas, but even then due to Starretts high quality control specs, the economy a range should be good.

The trouble is most of the good tool brand names have now been bought by the far eastern tool producers.

Just take TechnicalArc they have Portamig and Oxford brands. Some of their Tecarc machines are soured from Far Eastern suppliers but with quality spec'ed internals.

Then there's R-Tech machines

 

[Rocketman]

Well least king dick are still in brum and there is nothing wrong with their spanners. Not a bad price considering UK wages either.

 

[DennisCA]

My combination squares says made in USA. Made by PEC. Not sure what grade of quality it is, it's a blemished reject product I got cheaper, there's a small casting error that's cosmetic only.

IIRC PEC makes squares for Mitutoyo and other companies.

 

[DennisCA]

Here's an engineers square of the same, not made in UK but US, only a single letter off!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blem-Cosmet...275296?hash=item2119976e20:g:7WkAAOSwEeFVNFZw

 

[Richard.]

Buying a square is like buying any tool or kit. What do you want to use it for?? Spending serious cash on a square to throw up against box section fabs is just crackers. Remember very good welding tolerances are +/- 1mm and most are usually 2mm to allow for things like material deflection, small amounts of distortion etc etc. A grade B square will more than suffice for this and it doesn't need to be mega bucks or made in Sheffield. Getting on to more accurate uses like surface ground or milled faces, high tolerances in marking out and rough checking surfaces/faces on accurate equipment (DTI for a proper inspection obviously) then you can justify a better spend. Even go grade A if your pockets are deep enough. I use my mitutoyo combination square for all my fabrication work. At grade B (very good for combination square) it is more than accurate enough for fab tolerances and I can add longer rules to check longer work. I have a very old Moore and Wright grade B 8" engineer square but rarely pick it up now. A square is only as good as its longest length. Buy one for its intended purpose. The best squares are not ones with the most accurate tolerances. The best square is the square that stays accurate through many years of use.

 

[DennisCA]

I got one of these last night, I think it will serve:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/132177966910

 

[Rocketman]

I got one of these last night, I think it will serve:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/132177966910

Good price but would be problematic for some uses I intend it for being flat.