# What is it?



## Billy De (Jul 19, 2009)

This is not so much a what is it but a what is it for?
I picked this up a while back on e-bay no makers name on it.
It`s a square and nuts on that's all I wanted from it.
Its 6 1/2" not 6" that's a bit funny in its self but?

The dots on it go right the way through to the other side,I`v measured them they come out to things like 50° 40° 5° 3° and a very rough 45° but I wouldn't trust it.

I don't know if there was ever markings on the blade but there are none now except for the 1/2" markings that it looks like someone filed in the blade.

So it is what it is and I`m happy with it,but I just keep thinking I should Know what the dots are for but I don't any ideas? Billy


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

A combination square with no rule. Not sure what the dots represent.


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## Billy De (Jul 19, 2009)

LMAO:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: Correct you win the prize Dom.


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

Looks a lot like a Starrett. Either the blade was changed out or altered. Folks often use combination squares as marking gauges. The blade is set to a measurement and the head is indexed to the work, mark the end of the blade for a consistent measurement. A former owner may have had a repetitive, specific use for it and the dots relate to whatever that was. I wonder if those were holes that a pencil point or scribe would have fit in.


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## Billy De (Jul 19, 2009)

Hammer I can see where your coming from but the holes are filled with metal and you could be right about the blade being changed out because it only fits one way round and its 6 1/2" long that's an odd size?


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Billy De said:


> LMAO:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: Correct you win the prize Dom.


Cool!!!! What do I get.


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## Billy De (Jul 19, 2009)

Dominick said:


> Cool!!!! What do I get.


A piece of fuzzy string so when you fold it in two you`ll be able to say it is twice the length of half of it.Or you could double your money and tell me what the dots are for?:thumbsup:


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Hammer1 said:


> Looks a lot like a Starrett. Either the blade was changed out or altered. Folks often use combination squares as marking gauges. The blade is set to a measurement and the head is indexed to the work, mark the end of the blade for a consistent measurement. A former owner may have had a repetitive, specific use for it and the dots relate to whatever that was. I wonder if those were holes that a pencil point or scribe would have fit in.


If the dot are filled holes then possibly they are reference marks for measurement commonly used by the owner. It would take a whole lot of effort to drill holes then just fill them with metal for the joy of it.... It may help to know if it was a machinist's tool or a cabinetmaket's :blink:


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Billy De said:


> A piece of fuzzy string so when you fold it in two you`ll be able to say it is twice the length of half of it.Or you could double your money and tell me what the dots are for?:thumbsup:


Like others have stated, their probably nothing more than reference marks by previous owner. 
I did a search on the dots and found nothing on it. Besides I've never seen dots on them.


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## BigJoe16 (Feb 20, 2012)

It could be 6 1/2 in in stead of 6 in so of the end gets beat up over time, you can still measure 6 in accurately. Old things are made to last.


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

This is my 6" Starrett. I inherited it from my grandfather who was a machinist. The casting looks the same to my eyes. The blade is 2mm thick, the groove is 1mm deep, it can be swapped end for end, 18mm wide, 6" long.

Yours is most likely altered by an owner and the dots are probably reference points. If they were originally filled with the darker material it would make them easier to see and not have to read measurements. Exactly how, or for what, they were used is anyone's guess. They may have been used by aligning the head with one edge of a dot and then the other which would result in two lines 1/8"? apart. Marks of this nature would be useful for a lot of things and different trades.

They would be close enough if the user had a large tolerance. The other side looks like the cross marks are mostly at set increments and owner scratched. There are a lot of folks and tradespeople that will look at you completely dumbfounded if you give them any small measurements. If you mark a stick for them, they are all set, tell them 1 1/4" or finer, fergetaboutit.


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