ABC
OF THE
STEEL SQUARE
AND ITS USES

being a condensed compilation from the copyrighted works of Fred T. Hodgson, author of “THE STEEL SQUARE AND ITS USES,” “PRACTICAL CARPENTRY” and numerous other works on building and construction

The present compilation and new matter is made up into three divisions—A, B and C.

DIVISION A

This Division describes the various kinds of squares, their markings, their uses, and application in the solution of simple problems.

DIVISION B

This Division shows how the Square may be used for obtaining the cuts, bevels, and lengths of all sorts of rafters for roofs of every description. It also shows methods for finding Hopper and other bevels, brace cuts and lengths, and raking cornices.

DIVISION C

This shows what no other work on the Steel Square does, a number of easy solutions of Handrailing Problems, by the square. Something that has not been done or attempted in book form before. This division is made up mostly of questions and answers from practical mechanics.

COMPILED AND BROUGHT DOWN TO DATE BY
FRED T. HODGSON

WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
FREDERICK J. DRAKE & CO.
PUBLISHERS

Printed in the United States of America

THE STEEL SQUARE AND ITS USES.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
Division A.

I will not attempt in this small treatise, to give an historical account of the origin, growth and development of the square, as the subject has been treated of at length in my larger works, as I do not care to pad out these pages with matter that is not of a severely practical nature.

Suffice it to say, that while iron squares, figured on their faces in inches and feet, and smaller divisions, have been made in England and Belgium for 200 years or more, the genuine steel square, as we now know it, is a purely American product, and it has no equal, as no European manufacturer has as yet been able to turn out a square anything like as good or perfect in finish, graduation, or general get-up, as Sargent & Co., of New Haven, Conn.; Nicholls Co., Ottumwa, Iowa; and The Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co., Southington, Conn. Squares made by any one of these firms named, may be relied upon as being as near perfect as it is possible to make them in everything that pertains to accuracy, durability and general finish. The American workman should feel proud of the fact that he possesses a Steel Square of purely Home production which has no equal in the world.

There is nothing of more importance to a young man who is learning the business of house-joinery and carpentry, than that he should make himself thoroughly conversant with the capabilities of the tools he employs. It may be that, in some of the rules shown in this work, the result could be attained much readier with other aids than the square; but the progressive mechanic will not rest satisfied with one method of performing operations when others are within his reach.

In the hand of the intelligent mechanic the square becomes a simple calculating machine of the most wonderful capacity, and by it he solves problems of the kinds continually arising in mechanical work, which by the ordinary methods are more difficult to perform.

The great improvement which the arts and manufactures have attained within the last fifty years, renders it essential that every person engaged therein should use his utmost exertions to obtain a perfect knowledge of the trade he professes to follow. It is not enough, nowadays, for a person to have attained the character of a good workman; that phrase implies that quantum of excellence, which consists in working correctly and neatly, under the directions of others. The workman of to-day, to excel, must understand the principles of his trade, and be able to apply them correctly in practice. Such a one has a decided advantage over his fellow-workman; and if to his superior knowledge he possesses a steady manner, and industrious habits, his efforts cannot fail of being rewarded.

It is no sin not to know much, though it is a great one not to know all we can, and put it all to good use. Yet, how few mechanics there are who will know all they can? Men apply for employment daily who claim to be finished mechanics, and profess to be conversant with all the ins and outs of their craft, and who are noways backward in demanding the highest wages going, who, when tested, are found wanting in knowledge of the simplest formulas of their trade. They may, perhaps, be able to perform a good job of work after it is laid out for them by a more competent hand; they may have a partial knowledge of the uses and application of their tools; but, generally, their knowledge ends here. Yet some of these men have worked at this trade or that for a third of a century, and are to all appearances, satisfied with the little they learned when they were apprentices. True, mechanical knowledge was not always so easily obtained as at present, for nearly all works on the constructive arts were written by professional architects, engineers, and designers, and however unexceptionable in other respects, they were generally couched in such language, technical and mathematical, as to be perfectly unintelligible to the majority of workmen; and instead of acting as aids to the ordinary inquirer, they enveloped in mystery the simplest solutions of every-day problems, discouraging nine-tenths of workmen on the very threshold of inquiry, and causing them to abandon further efforts to master the intricacies of their respective trades.

Of late years, a number of books have been published, in which the authors and compilers have made commendable efforts to simplify matters pertaining to the arts of carpentry and joinery, and the mechanic of to-day has not the difficulties of his predecessors to contend with. The workman of old could excuse his ignorance of the higher branches of his trade, by saying that he had no means of acquiring a knowledge of them. Books were beyond his reach, and trade secrets were guarded so jealously, that only a limited few were allowed to know them, and unless he was made of better stuff than the most of his fellow-workmen, he was forced to plod on in the same groove all his days.

Not so with the mechanic of today; if he is not well up in all the minutiæ of his trade, he has but himself to blame, for although there is no royal road to knowledge, there are hundreds of open ways to obtain it; and the young mechanic who does not avail himself of one or other of these ways to enrich his mind, must lack energy, or be altogether indifferent about his trade, and may be put down as one who will never make a workman.

I have thought that it would not be out of place to preface this work on the “Steel Square,” with the foregoing remarks, in the hope that they may stimulate the young mechanic, and urge him forward to conquer what at best are only imaginary difficulties. A willing heart and a clear head will most assuredly win honorable distinction in any trade, if they are only properly used. Indeed, during an experience of many years in the employment and superintendence of mechanics of every grade, from the green “wood-haggler” to the finished and accomplished workman, I have invariably discovered that the finished workman was the result