MJ Platt & Co. B Square Reviews

4.3 Rating 19 Reviews

Named for its shape, the B square is a tool for 'feeling' square as much as seeing it, particularly in situations where you are eyeballing for square in two axis at once. The bows allow it to be held comfortably in a variety of positions and also brace the working faces giving it an inherently rigid form.The square is intended to augment the user's sensory accuracy for the final cuts of a chiselling operation that produce the mating surfaces of joints, after the bulk of the waste has been removed. For example paring the shoulders of a tenon to the gauge line, or trimming the ends of a mortice plumb. You can also use it with a fine saw for the first few strokes that establish a nice vertical kerf, or just use it as a square to check your work.
Approximate dimensions: 53 x 33 x 15mm
Internal diameter: 19.5mm
Tolerance: +/- 0.0007" (total deviation)
Powder coated cast Steel
Made in Birmingham, England

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“This replaces a short square and balancing a chisel and some cursing! It does what I want and I'm pleased with it in the first couple of days.”

Helpful Report

Posted 11 months ago

“When I initially enquired about the new M.J. Platt & Co. "B" Square, it was more out of curiosity than need. I then had a great chat with Matthew at Workshop Heaven, and the penny dropped! As a predominantly hand tool cabinetmaker, I tend to carefully observe the techniques and practices of woodworkers whom I respect and admire. Matthew explained to me that the "B" Square came about from watching the great David Charlesworth, when he would pare tenon shoulders to the base scribe line. David would hold the chisel in his standard paring position and then put the chisel flat on his workbench, thus "registering" the tool in the horizontal plane, then keeping this plane he would bring the tool up to his workpiece and begin his final paring cuts. Keeping the chisel absolutely horizontal for accurate shoulder paring is critical. This is where the "B" Square comes into play for us mere mortals. With two fingers postioned in the holes in the square, the chisel placed on top of the square and one's thumb on top of the chisel (in my case, my left hand holding position), when you place the square/chisel combination against the face of the stock, the chisel will be at absolutely 90 degrees to the face of the workpiece and thus the back of the chisel will be exactly in plane with the shoulder being pared.. Very clever indeed! I also tend to saw very close to my final scribed shoulder lines and using the above technique, I simply place the arris of the chisel into the line and pare... Superb results every time. I love simple, well made tools that work exactly as intended! Well done and thank you Matthew, for producing this excellent addition to my arsenal, it is already in daily use with repeatedly predictable results!”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 11 months ago

“Style over substance! Beautifully made but almost impossible to use. I would love to see a video of someone using it for its intended purposes and keeping control of it at the same time! I’ll keep it as a square but useless otherwise.”

2 Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago