January 27, 2025
Interesting facts
Dry storage of angles with wooden legs
Why you should definitely store a carpenter's square with wooden legs dry!
Wood works, meaning it expands or shrinks under the influence of changing humidity. With increased humidity, its volume increases, and with dry air, it decreases.
The metal tongue of a precision carpenter's square from ECE is riveted to the wooden leg without play to ensure lasting precision. If such a square is stored in a damp environment and the wooden leg expands, significant forces are released that cause the square to become inaccurate. You can check for yourself if this has happened to your square: After riveting, the wooden legs are sanded again by the manufacturer ECE to achieve a flat surface. If the wood has expanded due to moisture, the rivets will feel noticeably lower than the wood surface.
The manufacturer of our precision squares (ECE) does everything possible to minimize the effects of this. It starts with the selection of the wood. It must be fine-grained and straight-grown. Careful storage and drying before processing are an absolute must. Finally, the coating prevents moisture from penetrating too quickly, even under adverse conditions.
After purchase, it is up to you to ensure the precision of the square through dry storage, although a short-term exposure (several hours) to high humidity is harmless. An unheated or only occasionally heated basement is definitely unsuitable, and an unheated wooden shed is usually not either. If your workshop has such conditions, it is better to store your valuable measuring tools in the apartment.
Do not always rely on subjective feelings regarding humidity. You do not necessarily need a measuring device to come to a judgment. Any non-stainless iron is a good indicator. If rust forms on bare metal parts, the air is too humid!
One more tip: Check the square right after purchase. The simplest method is the flip measurement. Find a surface with a straight edge. This can be a table or the side panel of a cabinet. First, check with a taut string and by visual inspection whether the edge of the reference surface is really straight (you wouldn't believe how many supposedly straight edges are simply not!). Now place the square: wooden leg against the edge, steel tongue on the surface, and mark along the steel tongue with a pencil. Now flip the square so that the other side of the steel tongue lies on the surface. The pencil line must now continuously follow the edge of the steel tongue. Repeat this process to correct any inaccuracies in the execution of the test (holding the pencil!).
Wood works, meaning it expands or shrinks under the influence of changing humidity. With increased humidity, its volume increases, and with dry air, it decreases.
The metal tongue of a precision carpenter's square from ECE is riveted to the wooden leg without play to ensure lasting precision. If such a square is stored in a damp environment and the wooden leg expands, significant forces are released that cause the square to become inaccurate. You can check for yourself if this has happened to your square: After riveting, the wooden legs are sanded again by the manufacturer ECE to achieve a flat surface. If the wood has expanded due to moisture, the rivets will feel noticeably lower than the wood surface.
The manufacturer of our precision squares (ECE) does everything possible to minimize the effects of this. It starts with the selection of the wood. It must be fine-grained and straight-grown. Careful storage and drying before processing are an absolute must. Finally, the coating prevents moisture from penetrating too quickly, even under adverse conditions.
After purchase, it is up to you to ensure the precision of the square through dry storage, although a short-term exposure (several hours) to high humidity is harmless. An unheated or only occasionally heated basement is definitely unsuitable, and an unheated wooden shed is usually not either. If your workshop has such conditions, it is better to store your valuable measuring tools in the apartment.
Do not always rely on subjective feelings regarding humidity. You do not necessarily need a measuring device to come to a judgment. Any non-stainless iron is a good indicator. If rust forms on bare metal parts, the air is too humid!
One more tip: Check the square right after purchase. The simplest method is the flip measurement. Find a surface with a straight edge. This can be a table or the side panel of a cabinet. First, check with a taut string and by visual inspection whether the edge of the reference surface is really straight (you wouldn't believe how many supposedly straight edges are simply not!). Now place the square: wooden leg against the edge, steel tongue on the surface, and mark along the steel tongue with a pencil. Now flip the square so that the other side of the steel tongue lies on the surface. The pencil line must now continuously follow the edge of the steel tongue. Repeat this process to correct any inaccuracies in the execution of the test (holding the pencil!).