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Steel rule edge nick

mistertheplague's picture

Steel rule edge nick (post #151451)

mistertheplague on Mon, 05/03/2010 - 15:36
in

Recently, I was at my bench checking the straightness of some stock with my 12-inch Starrett combination square rule. The piece was, due to a bout of sloth and stupidity, perched above a bench plane laid on its side, so naturally I dropped the rule and it hit the plane on the way down.

It has a little nick on one edge, which I considered smoothing out on a diamond plate. Good idea, or (pardon the pun) stupidity squared?

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gdblake's picture

Go slow and check often (post #151451, reply #1 of 2)

by gdblake in reply to mistertheplague [original] on Mon, 05/03/2010 - 20:08

Nicking up your tools goes with the territory of actually using them.  I usually polish down nicks with 600 to 1000 grit wet/dry paper glued to a small flat scrap of plywood or MDF.  Regardless of the abrasive you decide to use, check the nick with each pass and as soon as it is smooth enough to not be a problem stop.  Polishing the square out of straight is worse than seeing a blemish everytime you pick it up. 

gdblake

We're all here because we're not all there.

RalphBarker's picture

saintly nicks (post #151451, reply #2 of 2)

by RalphBarker in reply to mistertheplague [original] on Fri, 05/07/2010 - 09:10

You might be able to regrind the edge to remove the nick with an abrasive sheet on a really flat surface (granite surface plate?). But, there's also a good chance that you'll modify your Starrett square into a kinda-square, since differences in pressure along the rule could result in non-uniform material removal. I'd be tempted to simply remove any burr that stands proud of the face of the rule, and leave the nick as a reminder. Alternatively, you could talk to Starrett about a regrind, or simply buy a replacement if the nick is really troublesome.