My grandfather's old framing square was off by a 16th, learned it the hard way

I used his 1950s Stanley square to mark 40 stair stringers in Portland, and every single riser came out uneven by about 1/16 of an inch. I only caught it when the homeowner noticed the last step felt different underfoot, so now I check any inherited tool against a digital angle gauge before I trust it. Has anyone else had a vintage tool quietly betray them mid-project?

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riveradams2mo ago

Wait, hold on. A 1/16 inch over 40 stringers isn't just the square being off, that's a tiny error that gets multiplied by every single cut you make. A square that's off by a hair will show up way bigger than that when you're stacking cuts on top of each other. You definitely should check old tools, but a digital gauge is good for angles, not for checking if the blade is dead square. You'd get a better read by drawing a line, flipping the square over, and seeing if the line matches up. That old Stanley might be fine, but your marking technique or a slightly warped board could have caused the same issue.

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