The combination square speeds up

A 21-year-old Laroy Starrett invented the combination square in 1877, and that basic, iconic layout tool hasn't changed much since then. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

Well, I think a minor tweak here and there might be okay. Kapro Tools agrees, and they were happy to show me their magnetic modification at the National Hardware Show, despite the fact that the Starrett booth was right next door. (It's all patented, they assured me.)

They've used magnets to simplify the way the ruler slides into the tool body.  Traditionally, you re-insert the ruler by sliding it past a delicate catch mechanism (which takes two hands and some fiddling). Kapro's new magnet-filled channel allows the ruler to be inserted from any angle—you can slide it in from the side, or just drop it in from the top. The magnets also grip a little scribing tool housed in the zinc tool body (visible above). Call it the golf pencil of scratch awls.

The Speed square's prevalence on job sites proves that the layout game has changed a bit in the past 130 years. We always have love for the classics, but sometimes a little ingenuity can fix even the things that ain't quite broke.