Woodpeckers Stainless Steel Squares
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For a few years we’ve been experimenting with different stainless-steel plate stocks, trying to find one we could machine as consistently as the cast-and-ground tool plate aluminum we use in our Precision Squares. When we found one, we put many of the features of our aluminum squares into the new stainless-steel design, and then added a few more, too. The result is a versatile square, ideal for project lay out work, material and assembly checking and machine set up.
Woodpeckers Stainless Steel Squares
The heart of the design is a one-piece core. Square isn’t determined by pins, rivets, screws or spot-welds like it is in virtually every other square on the market. It’s determined by our state-of-the-art CNC milling centers. The core is machined square by a computer and verified square by our computer-controlled optical inspection system, which is capable of measuring angularity to 5 decimal places. The 1/16" thick blade gets heat treated and tempered ensuring strength and stability. Finally, they’re bead blasted to create a non-glare finish that contrasts nicely with the laser-engraved scales.
Like our aluminum squares, the cheeks added to the central core are narrower, forming a shoulder that keeps your square registered to your stock even when you let go. You’ll love using our new stainless-steel squares for lay out work. First, the scales are laser-engraved to a tolerance of ±.004". The thin blade puts the scale right next to your work, reducing parallax error. And, we laser cut precisely-spaced scribing notches along the blade. Just drop a pencil into the notch of your choice and slide the square along the edge of your stock. With twin points for each notch, it doesn’t matter whether you push or pull, you’ll get a line perfectly parallel to the edge.
To aid machinery set up, we laser engraved the end of the beam, as well as the edges. The squares stand upright without a hand, giving you both hands to dial in the height of your router bit, saw blade or dado stack. Also like our aluminum squares, we stand behind these squares for the life of the tool. They’re guaranteed to be within ±.0085°. To put that in perspective, on the 1282SS, the maximum error you could find at the far end of the square would be about half the thickness of a human hair. If you ever find it outside that tolerance, we’ll fix it or replace it.
Like all our Woodpeckers tools, the 642SS and 1282SS Precision Squares are precisely machined and carefully inspected in our Strongsville, Ohio factory.
| Country of Manufacture | United States |
|---|
642SS
- Blade Length: 6-1/4"
- Blade Thickness: 1/16"
- Blade Width: 1-1/8"
- Beam Overall Thickness: 3/4"
- Beam Core Length: 4"
- Beam Core Width: 1-1/4"
- Beam Cheek Width: 1"
- Perpendicularity Tolerance: ±0.0085°
- Graduation Tolerance: .004" total accumulated error over blade length
Squares - FAQ
Q: What is the difference between the Aluminum and Stainless Steel squares besides material?
A: The biggest difference besides the material the squares are made out of is the marking holes that are milled into the stainless steel squares that are not milled in the aluminum versions. These holes allow for marking layout lines for projects. The Stainless Steel Square blade is approximately 1/16” in thickness where the Aluminum blade is approximately ⅛”. The thinner blade and the marking holes along the blade of the Stainless Steel Square allows for it to be better used for lay out lines. The thicker blade of the Aluminum Square is better suited for making sure work pieces are perpendicular to each other.
Q: How accurate are your squares compared to others on the market?
A: Our squares are milled and inspected to be within tolerances of .001” per foot or .0085°.
