Veritas Pocket Layout Square

Veritas Pocket Layout Square

Just as a speed square is an essential layout tool for carpenters and framers, these small squares are similar in both form and function but are appropriately sized for laying out joinery and other common workshop tasks. Each compact, lightweight tool, fits into a pocket, comes to hand nicely, and is easy to handle for precise work on smaller stock. Machined from solid aluminum with a matte anodized surface, they are laser etched on both sides with measurements in 1/16" increments. Each also has a protractor scale on one edge, with angles shown in 10° increments on the smallest square, in 5° increments on the 2 1/2" square, and in 1° increments on the largest model.

The sets of three lets you choose the size best suited to the job. For example, to strike a line close to the edge of a workpiece, it’s easy to set the smallest square over a tape measure to position your mark accurately in both axes at once. The 2 1/2" size, although ideally sized for working with 1 × 2 stock, is certainly not limited to projects on that scale – once you’re in the habit of using it, you may well be surprised at how advantageous it is in many other situations where you might typically use a larger square. Similarly, the largest size isn’t just for larger work; with its protractor scale marked in finer increments, it also affords greater precision in angular measurement.

All three have bases that extend 1/8" from one side of the blade and 1/4" on the other – convenient references that, among other uses, give you an easy way to mark mortises centered on 1/2" and 3/4" stock, respectively. The 1/8" side also permits reliable registration on very thin stock where the benchtop might otherwise obstruct a deeper fence. Where the base meets the blade, the inside corners are slightly relieved to ensure that the square seats well over saw whiskers.