I get a lot of questions on 3 axis squares. These designs do similar things but in a much different way. One design might work better with your fabrication style.
I thought Id put together some information and thoughts on the differences between 2 designs. Lets compare the Fireball Tool square vs the Stronghand Tools square.
Let’s check out the Stronghand version first. The Square is made from cast iron with machined flat surfaces on the inside. The overall size is approximately 17in at its longest point. Keep this dimension in mind if your building a small 4 leg table project.
The bottom of the square is a ribbed design to add strength and reduce the overall weight and cost.
The square has two integrated clamps that pivot and push material into the corners of the casting. The top clamp has a quick adjustment button to slide the screw into position along with a pivot at the base of the arm to help with removing the material once its been welded.
The arm has a vee pad on the end of the screw to help grip round or square material. I’ve noticed the vee pad has a hard time gripping small flat bar or smaller material. A shim would be needed to clamp the small stuff or a plier clamp could be used instead.
The base clamp also has a quick adjustment screw with a 90 degree pusher block. The block can pivot to accommodate different width materials.
The square has a material pass through of 2.5 in.
The Base of the square is elevated off of the table surface. A shim is required to elevate long material to keep it parallel to the table surface.
This is how the square looks with material in place and the clamps holding some 2x2 square tube.
Every joint looks weldable, except the base clamp is blocking the inside corner fillet. Is this the end of the world? No, it is frustrating to not have access to weld joint that likes to pull the most while it’s in the fixture? Yes I think so. I could also see some trouble if you have a large spool gun to gain access around the upper arm to weld.
Overall it’s a cool clamp if your doing repeat setups and you don’t mind shimming the work off the table all the time.
Let’s look at the Fireball Tool 3 axis square. It is a simple design with zero moving parts. The square is a one piece cast iron construction with Dragon scale coated for rust and weld spatter protection.
The foot of the square sits flat on the table. This design doesn’t require shims like the Stronghand design. The Foot has some cool features like replaceable magnets and pins to adapt the square onto a fixture table.
Fireball tool 3 axis vs stronghand 3 axis (9)|666x500
The pins locate the square to match the Fireball fence blocks
You can even add tabs to the bottom to use the square off the table if you wanted
The Fireball square has two options to hold the material. The square has machined surfaces on the outside and inside. Depending on the scenario one side or a mix of both surfaces can be used.
The outside corner vee can be used all by itself to do a post and flange scenario.
Separate clamps are required to hold the material. large cut outs in the casting make it easy to find a place to put the clamp out of the way.
The flat surface on the feet make clamping it to a table easy
The square stiffeners are located out of the way to be able to weld.
The weld access is huge when compared to the stronghand design
Hope all this info helps makes choosing what 3 axis square will work the best in your workshop.