Talk:Set square

Common form of set square
"More commonly the set square combines this with a ruler and a half circle protractor, like on the picture"

I'd dispute this -- I've never seen the combination pictured, but I've owned several of the sort that just has a gap in the middle.... Casper Gutman (talk • contributions) 17:40, 25 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Has the picture been changed? It doesn't show (or perhaps no longer shows) the combo style of set square described in the text, an example pic of which is available on the Dutch (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geodriehoek) and German (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geodreieck) versions of this article. Perhaps the combo style is a Continental/American thing? I also never owned such a thing when at school in the UK, only a plain one with an open centre of the kind Casper describes (and pictured in the article), but here in Belgium at least, where I now live and work, the combo style is pretty much the only style available in high street supermarkets. 81.164.160.148 (talk) 17:43, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

The atleast in germany, netherlands and belgium common triangle with protractor build in, is not the same as the set square described here, but is a subset, variant of one, or a type of protractor? When wikipedia articles describing the geodriehoek/Geodreieck link to another language, this should be clear and the article should mention the subject/device, at the moment this is not the case Webmind (talk) 12:05, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Ok, I'm german, and this is my POV: the combo type as pictured on the german site is by far the variant most used here. In fact it is so common, that here, "Geodreieck" is the name for this variant only, while I don't think the general type has any (widely recognised) name. Yes, we do have the sets as described, but mostly as sets-of-3-pieces-of-plastic-crap. In school, we use only a single small Geodreieck ("geo", short for "geometry" + "Dreieck", german for triangle) for everything. Maybe a longer ruler for longer lines, maybe a short ruler if you if you didn't want to look like a nerd while underlining words in german classes (yeah, that did the trick...), but that's it. When I took semi-professional technical drawing lessons we used a bigger variant, and it's still one of my favorite drawing tools. The ±three times I ever used the simple variant it was only because I needed a longer ruler than normal or something and it was the thing I first found in the chaos of my desk drawer. Btw, one extra thing that distinguishes some of the Geodreiecks from the simple form is an added grip in the middle, where the simple variants have only a hole. It does make a huge difference, but it's not a distinguishing property name-wise.

So: I have no idea how or if to incorporate any of this, and my english is far from perfect, but maybe I've given you some sense of the differences so you can write something up? Regards, 82.113.106.231 (talk) 04:07, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Narrow definition?
This article seems to be focusing on the type of set square used for producing diagrams in maths/engineering. What about woodworking (I'm sure there are other examples..) Tomcrocker (talk) 11:14, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

I got here via the try square page, which shows the woodworking tool that I've only previously heard people call a set square - is that the tool you mean? Perhaps someone should research how common it is for the woodworking tool to be called a set square --90.245.61.6 (talk) 18:00, 2 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Set squares and try squares are different things, with different uses.
 * The set square is for setting out. It is flat and used to set out before work begins.
 * The try square (from trying square or trial square, but never tri-square) is for checking the squareness of squared timber already completed in bench joinery work. It has a thickened stock and a thin blade. Woodworkers do sometimes use set squares, the speed square or carpenter's square are examples, and these too are flat and used for setting out. Andy Dingley (talk) 19:57, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

Masonic aprons
'It is also depicted on the Installed Master apron of a Freemason.' - No, the triangular bit on the apron is the border of the apron flap (which appears on all Masonic aprons, at least in Britain). The triangle this forms might remind people of a set square, but I'm reasonably sure that this isn't an intentional part of the apron design --90.245.61.6 (talk) 18:00, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

"Geodreieck" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Geodreieck. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 March 31 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. D.Lazard (talk) 08:27, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

Geodreieck added again to this page
A section has been added again to this page. I have removed unsourced WP:PEACOCK terms.

This set-square design is indeed rather common. But in many European countries it is not specifically named, and, in any case not named "Geodreieck". For example, in French Wikipedia, the only mention of this design is an image in fr:Équerre, with the caption "Équerre aristo".

Thus, this section is too German-oriented for English Wikipedia. IMO, it must be removed. But this requires further discussion here. D.Lazard (talk) 14:23, 11 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I fundamentally disagree with your assessment and ask you to stop calling my contribution "blatant advertising" and delete the information as you did - this is not only annoying but also a disservice to our audience, which wants or needs to learn about different types of set squares.
 * My contribution was purely facts-based and did not contain anything incorrect or what could be interpreted as advertisment or promotion. We are an international encyclopedia and as such we have the duty to document what exist. The fact, that the design was invented by a German-Austrian company is a historical fact and not promotional.
 * In this case, the specific design of a Geodreieck appears to be relatively uncommon in English-speaking countries (and possibly also in France where you seem to live), but it is extremely common at least in Germany and Austria, and reportedly also in many other European countries (where is has similar names such as Geodriehoek, Geodräieck, Geotrikótnik, which are direct translations of the German term). In fact, this specific design is so common in Germany that you will not find anyone aged 55 or below who has not extensively used it in school. Actually, most pupils and students have never seen one of the other more simple designs or separate protractors which appear to be used in the English world.
 * This specific design was invented by Aristo in 1964 and the name was (or still is) trademarked (up to 1987 by DPMA, later by WIPO). This could be among the reasons for why the name is not very commonly used in the English-speaking world. I have seen it being referred to as "protractor triangle" or "90-45-45 triangle", but there are other designs called this way as well, so they appear to be more generic terms unsuitable to refer specifically to the Geodreieck only. Since there does not appear to be a well established English term for this specific design, we will have to use the original German term. If I'm wrong and there is an established English term for this, we can, of course, change the article to use this instead of "Geodreieck".
 * --Matthiaspaul (talk) 23:18, 11 July 2021 (UTC)


 * I don't have an opinion on whether Geodreieck needs to be mentioned in the article, but I can confirm that in my native Dutch the term geodriehoek (a direct analogue of German Geodreieck) is the common name for this thing. Martijn Meijering (talk) 14:52, 12 July 2021 (UTC)