Try squares -- The 12" try square is an old one, made by "A. Mathieson & Son, Glasgow & Edinburgh". The 10", 8" and 6" try squares are Stanley with rosewood and brass fittings. I made a 4" and 3" try square and also an 8" mitre square from Canalete (Cordia) and brass. I also have some 8", 6", and 4" metal try squares, all made by Stanley.
I love the rich look of these antique ebony handle try squares. They appear to be very old and I believe they are of English origin.
Mitre squares -- the 10" with brass fittings is an English Marples. The 8" metal square was made by Stanley.
Combination try and mitre squares -- The all metal square is a Stanley #1 Winterbottom's patent combination square. The one with mahogany and brass handle is not marked other than made in the USA.
The ol' timers used to say, "With a hammer, saw, and a Stanley #1 Odd Jobs you can build most anything." With its ruler and scribes it combined the functions of a try square, mitre square, marking gauge, mortise gauge, depth gauge, spirit level, mitre level, beam compass, and inside square for building boxes.
These brass and steel Stanley #2 trammel points can be attached to a long wooden bar and used to scribe an arc or circle of almost any length. A short bar, such as the one shown, is used to keep the trammel points together in storage.
Sliding bevels, mitre layout, and dovetail gauge -- The 10" and 8" sliding bevels are Stanley Rule and Level with rosewood bodies. The 6" has no makers mark and the body appears to be Cocobolo. The dovetail gauge and the mitre trim guide are shop made from Padauk and brass. The depth gauges are shop made from rosewood. This antique 12" sliding bevel was likely made in the late 1800's. A Stanley #18 T-bevel uses a thumb screw which extends the length of the handle to lock the blade.
The Stanley #30 angle divider was often used by carpenters for roof layout. The device would automatically divide the included angle, or could be used much like a sliding bevel to mark mitre angles using the presets on the slider.
My marking knife is an English made steel blade with rosewood handles and a bevel on the right side only.
Marking gauges
-- The rosewood gauge with the traditional brass moustache is
a Stanley #77. The bubinga gauge at the top is a Marples #2154.
Both have a single pin for general layout and an adjustable double
pin beam for laying out mortises. Here are two double
beam gauges. The one with a full brass face and brass wear
plates on the beams is a Stanley #74 which is made of boxwood.
The other is a Stanley #72 made of beech with boxwood screws.
The Stanley #98 Marking and Mortise gauge had two fences and two beams. There are wheel scribes on one end of each beam and steel points on the other end. Here is an interesting Goodell-Pratt 3 beam wheel marking gauge which allows 3 different measurements to be set and scribed.
This
top-of-the-line boxwood mortise gauge
has a fully brass plated head and a brass wear plate on the beam.
The gauge does not carry a maker's mark and was probably made
in the 1870's or 1880's.
The Stanley #92 butt and rabbet gauge has three scribe markers. One could be used on either side of the steel fence, and the other two on either side of the rosewood and brass body. The beam consists of two square brass bars, one inside the other. This gauge was generally used for the same purpose as the common Stanley #95 butt gauge, but because of it's versatility it could also be used to layout mortise and tenon joints.
Many years ago I made these single point marking gauges from walnut with brass wear strips and shoes. Each contains a captured threaded insert and brass thumbscrew. The one with the longer beam holds a small wooden pencil. One has been fitted with a knife edge to be used as a slitting gauge.
The Stanley #85 1/2 panel marking gauge has a beam which is 20 1/2" long. Made of rosewood and brass, it is a strikingly beautiful tool. It was used to scribe a line on large panels.
Two carpenter's rules -- the rule at the top of the photo is a common zig-zag folding rule. The one below it is an interesting variation. The segments slide rather than fold, and lock into position. You press a button at the end of a segment to release it.
The Japanese equivalent of our chalk line is called a sumitsubo. A silk line passes through a reservoir filled with silk wadding saturated with black ink. The line is then snapped leaving a thin dark line.
Rules and calipers -- A 12" Starrett rule, an 18" combination square rule, and a Stanley #136 boxwood and brass caliper are the most used measuring tools in my shop. And here are some Stanley boxwood folding rules, a #64 at the top of the photo, a Stanley #36 1/2 rule with caliper, a #54, and a #62 at the bottom which is very old.
I was given a bunch of old tools recently. Included in the lot was this old compass which has a patent date of August 27, 1872. It was made by Oscar Stoddard of Detroit, Michigan. There were also a Brown and Sharpe #4 6" combination square and a Lufkin #511 depth gauge in the box of old tools.
Calipers and dividers are used mostly when woodturning.
Precision layout tools -- Mostly Starrett, the 8" metal try square is a Stanley #12, and the 6" and 3" Engineer's squares are English made. And some more layout tools, all Starrett, including a trammel point set with an 18" beam and a depth micrometer.
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