I am rather pleased with the results on this square! The combination of  the circle, triangle and bar make for a nice composition.  It has the feel that I aim for and is quite practical.

My goal was to replace the orange square with a more appealing tool, just as useful and hand made.

Here is the back side of the square, If I hold it in one hand and tap the button, from this side, with the mallet, the bar will be released.

Here it is with the button in release positionl.

A little detail on the button.

When the button is forward, the bar can slide freely.   The hole was drilled at a ten degree angle.  The notch in the button is at a 12 degree angle.  This makes for a pretty nice grip!

With the button back, the bar becomes locked in place!  The curve at the back is so when it is released, the button does not fly off and get lost.

This is a very solid, reliable and I think pretty mechanism.

And the square is indeed reasonably square!

The square can make a 45 degree mark.

The square can make a 60 degree mark.

The head is mesquite, the bar is mesquite and the button is ash.  I wanted a softer wood  for the button so that bar would not get all marked up.

After I mark the measurements onto the bar, I think it will be a more than adequate substitute for the orange square.

My daughter has named it a button square.  I kind of like the term.

Bob

Here is the block part of the new mesquite square.

Notice how well the patternmakers vise will grab odd shapes with the dogs up.

I have sawn a series of rows where I plan to chisel out the channel for the sliding bar to go.

Here is the block after sawing.

The chisel shown is just the right tool to fit in the channel and clean it up.  It is however too big to initally remove the waste.  It will just scratch up the sides at this point.

This one is better for the task of clearing waste.

One problem that can easily happen when chiseling, is blow out.  When you reach the edge, you can take loose a bigger chunk than you wanted to.  The way to prevent this is to either make an incision first to reduce the chances of it happening or miter the edge.

When cleaning up, a nice sharp edge is required.

I prefer a western style chisel for some finishing work.  A flat back lets me make a smooth flush cut.  I can plane with a flat backed chisel.

After getting the channel right, I check to see if my square is going to be square.

The bar has to be straight as well, so I ground it on the kanaban as well.

Here it is beginning to look like a useful tool!

I still need to put a clamping system in it, true the angles, and mark a scale on the bar.

Bob