Machinist's square?

[Papaw]

I bought this little square because it is well made and heavy, almost 12 ounces. No markings.
Long L is 5", and the short one is 3". Short part is 5/8" by 7/8".

[anglesmith]

Nice square, any marking? The 5"x3" is standard size, but the blade is very thick 1/16" would be normal, also the stock is much bigger in section? I'm  thinking a training /trade school project. Are you planning to give it a light clean and check how true it is?
Graeme

[rusty]

Also strangely assembled, what is holding the 3 pieces together? a weld?

[Papaw]

No markings at all.
If I do any cleaning, it will be minimal. I checked it with another square and it seems square.
No sign of welds or rivets.

[Mel Larsen]

Nice little square.  I think that in some schools a square such as yours was a required machining project. 
Mel

[anglesmith]

Duh, I didn't enlarge the photos, now I see how it was made! There has to be two or three counter sunk rivets  down the stock , they might show up when it's cleaned. Usually a square like this would have been a filing and fitting job rather than a machining exercise. I did a few hand tools at high school, square, calipers etc, by hand and we were given black mild steel to work with! You either learnt to appreciate how useful a file was or you learnt to hate filing forever! I still like using a good file!!
Graeme

[Bill Houghton]

I agree that was probably either a school project or shop made.  Durable critter, but your arms would sure notice it if you used it for layout all day long.

English woodworkers (who held on to try squares longer than others) refer to the long L as a beam and the short one as a stock; Stanley, in its 1914 catalog, calls the long L a blade and the short L a handle.  Starrett, over in machinst's territory, refers to the long L as a blade and the short one as a beam.  Nice to know we're all using the same words to mean the same thing.

[Papaw]

Found the rivets! Wirewheel revealed three rivets. Hard to see but I don't think I can pull them out any better without losing resolution.

[RedVise]

I swear I picked up a copy of that today, but got to looking at an early proto tool box next to it and this and that...  missed it.
And when I pickd it up my first thought was that it was handmade.


Brian L.