Starrett tools
#11
Hey, I would like to get 3" and 6"Starrett dividers and and 6" and 12" Starrett combo squares. Is it better to go new or vintage? Thx!

Eli
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#12
(11-06-2018, 07:38 PM)Elijah A. Wrote: Hey, I would like to get 3" and 6"Starrett dividers and and 6" and 12" Starrett combo squares. Is it better to go new or vintage? Thx!

Eli
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I like either one depending on condition....and the budget!!!!!
Rolleyes
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#13
Vintage tools will be fine if in good shape.  For the combo squares, barring horrible misuse, the most important issue's going to be how readable the rule markings are.  If the heads are slightly out of square, that's easy enough to correct.  Dividers, unless bent, will be fine.

BUT: particularly if you're going vintage, don't let yourself be convinced that you can't do good work unless you buy Starrett.  There are many makers of machinist's tools from the back-then days who made good tools: Brown & Sharpe and Lufkin, just to name two - in some cases better than Starrett.  F'rinstance, the Brown and Sharpe center head is superior, in my opinion, to the Starrett center head (easier to adjust to "square").

And, for carpentry, the Millers Falls 1200 combination square is better than Starrett by a distance. You don't need 32nds and 64ths for carpentry, and the M-F square offers better fractional markings for that work.
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#14
What's the difference between a $15 divider on Amazon with good reviews and a $60 starrett?
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#15
Used. I actually prefer the older Starrett stuff. For example, old cast heads had a sort of diamond pattern cast in. New is a wrinkle paint. I like the way the older castings looked.

You will be able to find inexpensive dividers on eBay. I like Starrett’s toolmakers dividers with the round legs. You can buy these cheap because few machinists do hand layout work.

The double squares are pretty expensive second hand. I bought new from Joel at tools for working wood because, at the time, eBay prices were within striking distance of new.

Just reread, you said combo squares? Yeah get these used. Pennies on the dollar. The cast heads are perfectly fine.
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#16
Starrett dividers are US made and the adjusting screws are beautifully made. Very smooth. The precision of the threads makes precise adjustment possible. Tips are properly hardened so they can be used to scratch metal, but not too hard to be sharpened or too soft. You can easily buy these beautiful tools second hand for the price of new Chinese crap. Amazing at how the Chinese can screw up such a simple tool.

That said, most people don’t use or know how to use these tools. So the features of a well made divider are lost to them.
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#17
Adam speaks truth. Some say dividers can be dividers, but there is a difference. Be patient and look for vintage marking and measuring tools; Starrett squares rarely lose their "squareness."
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#18
I've always been able to find good Starrett buys on Patrick Leach's monthly Tool List. The vintage Starretts are far better than the new ones.  He's the best vintage tool resource I know of. 
http://www.supertool.com/forsale/novem2018list.html
If you don't see what you're looking for...email him and he will fix you up.
  

Don
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#19
Dividers go vintage: both Patrick Leach and Josh/Hyperkitten often have dividers, as well as squares.

As far as squares, I have a preference for machinist style small squares, and 6" combo square, either vintage or new. Whichever, treat them with respect and your grandchildren will thank you!
Waiting to grow up beyond being just a member
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#20
I like the double square...the one with the sliding ruler, for woodworking. You can kinda use it as a gage. I think it’s more helpful than the combination square.
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