How to Use a Speed Square | the Basics
Introduction: How to Use a Speed Square | the Basics
If you've ever spent much time on a construction site or watching YouTube videos on making things, chances are you've seen a speed square. These triangular devices have been used by makers for decades. Originally invented by <PERSON> in 1925, Swanson Speed Squares (affiliate link)have become a household name and it's the square that <PERSON> grew up learning to woodwork as well. If you are new to woodworking it can be daunting to figure out what tools you may or may not need. There is just a ton of information out there. Which is a good thing, but it's a lot to take in. Hopefully, in this blog, we can show you how to use a speed square to its full potential.
Step 1: The Differences
Here is the image that pops up when you think of a speed square. This one here is an all-aluminum speed square and what made the household name, <PERSON> and currently holds the copyrighted name of "speed square".
There are many differences between speed squares, so let's start there. The one on the left is a 20-year-old Swanson, and the one on the right is a newer one that we use daily. They are basically identical but have a few differences like the diamond cut out in the newer one and the scribe lines in the inner triangle. We are going to show you what you can do with these features here, but keep in mind that a lot of squares don't come with said features.
Step 2: Swanson Speed Square Blue Book
Another thing about the Swanson Speed Square is that they all come with the Swanson Speed Square Blue Book. This book gives you a lot of conversions and shows you everything you need on how to use the speed square. In the back of the book, it gives you all the measurements you need for making rafters, you find the length and width of your building and there ya go. This book goes way more into detail than what we are talking about today, just thought this was super interesting.
Step 3: 12" Swanson Speed Square
Here is a larger Swanson speed square at 12", and this one is made out of a composite material and is their "speedlite" model. Even though these are super nice and light and easy to use, ours has chipped and is broken in the middle. Just something to keep in mind.
Step 4: Empire 12" Speed Square
Moving onto another 12" speed square, this one is all aluminum from Empire. 428
This one large scribe marks designed for using the carpenter pencils, doesn't work so good with a regular pencil or pen. Another thing is on the back, it has a nice common rafter conversion chart with runs and degrees. This one isn't really the best for us, we don't build buildings, so the chart or the larger scribe marks aren't a selling point in our case, but it could totally be for you.
Step 5: Husky Expandable Speed Square
This one is a bit different. This all aluminum speed square from Husky is a bit thicker than most of the squares out there. It's also painted with white lettering which is nice and different, but not to sure about how long the paint will last over time. This one does have nice scribe lines that will work better with a regular pencil or pen. One downside to this one is that it doesn't go the full 7", it goes to a little over 6" which you can barely tell because there isn't a 6 on the square. This can be tricky and will show you why later on. The unique thing about this one though, it extends to turn into the full 12". One thing to keep in mind though is that if you were to drop this on the ground, you might risk bending the extendable part out of square, and then now what's the point. This is super handy though if you are looking into only buying 1, and now you wouldn't have to buy a 7" and a 12".
Step 6: Most Common Use
The most common use of a speed square is creating a square line. Simply hold the square against the long edge, you can draw a straight, square line. You can hold the square either from the top or bottom, really just personal preference, we both typically hold it from the top.
Step 7: Making Multiple Lines
Still in this position, you can use that inner opening to make multiple marks using the guide there, and then move the square down the board to make another line. This would be a great layout tool for putting a wall stud in place. If you have a top and bottom plate, you can just transfer those lines and that's the reason for the length of a square. Now those plates are going to be identical. 220