Review on Empire Level E250M: 12-Inch Heavy Duty Professional Combination Square with Etched 📏 Stainless Steel Blade, Metric Graduations and True Blue Vial - Accurate Measurements Guaranteed by Terry Moore

I have a lot of combination squares but I needed a metric one. I don't mean both inches and metric; There's a reason the squares are marked on all four sides. So if you need a metric, you need a metric on all four sides. sometimes you measure inside, outside, left, right and so on. I have an old empire combo square that works fine and a few other squares including a Starrett that slides like clockwork, but no one has told Starrett about the metric system. This Empire Square is terrible. If you've ever disassembled a square, what should you do if they hate slipping, i.e. a steel hook hopefully sliding in the square's steel groove; The base of the hook is square so it doesn't rotate and when you tighten the lock nut it pulls on the hook which pulls the ruler taut, hopefully at right angles to the surface too. On my angle, the groove is usually rough, with burrs from machining, and the hook (which is cast and chromed, not machined) is rough and nubbed, and therefore rough. Since I couldn't find another clean metric combo square, I took mine apart and carefully sanded it as best I could with a file and sandpaper. You can't flatten it completely because you can't hollow it out of a poorly shaped object, but I got mine to slide acceptably. However, I cannot rate it well. It seems square, the moving part of the combo just doesn't work well.