Saddle square

[Lurker]

I caught myself browsing pretty (read expensive)saddle squares yesterday, fortunately I remembered this was hanging on the workshop wall. I really need to make better use of it.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Nice. Is it accurate?

 

[Lurker]

Then I remembered I had another that I acquired in a job lot of tools. Just found it and cleaned it up, covered in gobs of dried putty which took some shifting.

 

[Lurker]

Nice. Is it accurate?

I will get my best square out and check when I have had a clear up. The benches have become dumping grounds the past few weeks.

 

[Cabinetman]

I don’t mind being the one to ask. I’ve never missed not having one but what would I have done with it? Nothing to do with horses as far as I can see and it has Marples on it so I presume it’s woodwork based.

 

[9fingers]

I don’t mind being the one to ask. I’ve never missed not having one but what would I have done with it? Nothing to do with horses as far as I can see and it has Marples on it so I presume it’s woodwork based.

Beat me to it Ian
No such thing as a silly question :lol:
Bob

 

[novocaine]

dragging a square from one side to the next.
I always thought of them as a joiners or framers tool.

 

[Lurker]

Here you go.
Pros = much firmer register
Con = no good for wide wood.

 

[Cabinetman]

Oh yes thanks, Allows you to mark the front at the same time, and it’s larger than I thought actually,

 

[Mike G]

Brilliant bit of kit. I find mine invaluable when I am marking up any sort of moulding, where a normal square can't get a reference on an edge (because the edge isn't there).

 

[Dr.Al]

I've got an inside-out one (with square ends and a mitre bit in the middle), but yes - they're really useful. This is the only photo I could find:

 

[AJB Temple]

Glad I read this. Had no idea what a saddle square was.

 

[AndyT]

Terminology is always changing and flexible, but when you posted about saddle squares, I thought of the Veritas tools - http://www.veritastools.com/Products/Page.aspx?p=84

I wonder if it's a transatlantic usage? I've had a look back in the old Marples catalogues, and they list them with the picture framing tools and call them mitre templates.



Preston did too (but with the older spelling) in their 1908 catalogue



I've got a few wooden mitre templates, probably user-made, but only one for best, shown here in my not-quite finished rosewood box wip



I was using it to trim a sawn mitre back to a neater line, which is one use for them.

Is the red one by Marples or Tyzack?

 

[Lurker]

Never heard of templet would have assumed it was a typo, but it does sound posher.
Also never thought of using it like that but it makes a lot of sense.

 

[AndyT]

Here's another one, in use in a similar way. Quite some time ago I made some glazed doors with a nice stuck moulding. Before you scribe the moulding where rail meets stile, you mitre it, down to the shoulder line. You have to use a chisel - the tenon gets in the way of a plane - and some of us need a bit of help to get the mitre bang on 45 degrees.



Very handy devices.

 

[Lons]

Well that's a co-incidence, I have the twin to yours Lurker only mine hasn't a mark on it, quite roughly cast though. I came across it again only today and stuck it back in a drawer, I've never known exactly what it is or how it's used though did guess so thanks for posting.

 

[AndyP]

I’d never seen one before either but the first thing I thought of is why there is no reference edge to mark both side of a right angled cut where I have crudely drawn in red.

 

[AndyT]

I’d never seen one before either but the first thing I thought of is why there is no reference edge to mark both side of a right angled cut where I have crudely drawn in red.

My guess is that if you want 90 degrees as well, you can shell out the extra for the Preston "Improved" model

Incidentally, it's nice to see that Clifton, who acquired the designs that Record had from Preston, revived that design.