MAXPERKX Combination Square Made Of Stainless Steel Angle

I recently updated our kitchen floor and added self adhesive vinyl wood effect planks. This tool came in handy and made light work of the job, especially because it came with a scoring tool that sits just in the top of the main section. It was especially great when needing to cut bits to size, whilst although I only used the measurement parts on the ruler a couple of times to get the sizes I wanted, having this tool that gave me a good right angle so I could score the flooring planks without the metal ruler shifting when scoring. I found I only needed to do 3 times in the same direction each time and then I could gently bend the plank so it would snap perfectly at the line that I scored it, and then lay the plank easily. I did find however for the smaller measurements Ie. 1,2, or 3cm’s once you moved the main part down to those sizes and then screwed it tight to keep it in place it didn’t give you a perfect 90 degree angle, more like 88/89 degrees hence the 4 stars and not 5 but it didn’t massively affect the job that I wanted it for, and made the job a lot easier.

Handy addition to the tool box

Good range of features.

We like the sliding/adjustable square measure

We haven’t scored this 5 stars because where the slidingadjustable square measure locks into place, it’s a bit flimsy and this makes this prone to error – so potentially this could let you down accuracy wise.

I got this to replace an old model and the first thing I noticed was how lightweight this felt, which was confirmed on the scales, the Maxperkx at 134 g and my old (unbranded) one at 225 g. The old body is about 10% smaller though, and the rule is thinner too, although thick enough (for its length), to not feel at all flimsy.

One of the big attractions of the Maxperkx compared to my old model is the rule being marked only in cm on all four edges. The big problem with my old combination square was the mixture of units: with cm, 1/8″, 1/32″ and mm on the four edges, so when working, swapping from one side to the other meant looking for the correct scale (usually on the wrong edge) and interpreting the difference. The Maxperkx avoids this with the four ‘cm’ scales all starting from zero at the same end — I look forward to using it in earnest for this characteristic. It is perhaps the one aspect of the design they got right, much of the rest looks the part (in a photo), but to an engineer, is often found lacking in the implementation.

Regarding rule clamping, this is not at all satisfying due to the lack of tension spring and also that the groove is rectangular, not semi-circular (I’m sure the latter provides an element of self-centring). The similarly rectangular tab that engages in the groove is significantly smaller than the groove width, providing considerable room for misalignment, although, to be fair, my old one is almost as bad. In use, frequent adjustment and tightening, I found it would often clamp finger-tight well, then be impossible to undo without recourse to a pair of pliers to loosen. I just can’t help feeling a tool produced to better tolerances (and detail design) could be so much better.

On the plus side, the scribing pin feels safely retained (albeit by friction only) and is effective on wood, I have long since lost my old one. Personally I wouldn’t rely on the spirit level bubble in such a tool, but it is much easier to see than the one in my old tool and did give the same ‘answer’ in alternate directions on a slightly off-level surface.

Decent quality though not brilliantly finished which is perfectly fine with me as at this price with free Prime delivery included. It’s a bit of a steal as it’s accurate to 0.003 @ 90 and 0.008 @ 45 when I calibrated it so the tolerances are acceptable.

It’s perfectly trustworthy and more than adequate for my needs so I’m happy to recommend it.

Thanks for taking the time to read my short review, I hope you found it helpful.

All the bes