Traceur T-Square HONGDUI MT2465 PRO

This t-square is beautifully made, completely stiff, and has a reassuring weight to it that provides confidence when using it to scribe lines on your layout. The integrated layout & guide features are very well considered and are for me an excellent addition to a conventional t-square.

Near as I can discern, the t-square is dead-on optically square and the connection between the tee and rule is robust and has zero play.

You can unhook the tee and use the rule as a trammel, I won’t be doing that for fear of jeopardizing square between the tee and rule. So far as I can tell, there’s nothing to adjust square to recalibrate the square if you took it apart… so I won’t be taking it apart.

If they’re committed to the trammel feature, I think they could integrate the pivot and a runner to prove this feature without taking it apart… but I don’t think it’s one of the more important features of this tool.

Lastly, packaging was very secure, always important when shipping something that is supposed to be precision.

I’ll start this by saying that I am a professional woodworker and have used my share of tools, both good and bad, over the years. So my main criteria in evaluating this are: A; will it speed up my workflow? B; can I trust its accuracy? and C, if both A and B are true, is it enough to justify the high price?

Now onto the review: What can I say about the Hongdui T square that isn’t apparent by looking at it? Let’s start with a simple pros and cons list:

Pros:
1. absolutely top of the line design and construction; as you’d expect from Hongdui.
2. It’s dead nuts at 90°
3. It has multiple options for scribing, including both static holes by the mm, and dynamic scribe holes by adjusting one of the ‘scribe adjusters’ (for lack of a better word) to the exact point you want.
4. Has a removable head for use as a straight ruler and/or trammel unit, without affecting its squareness.
5. The head can be used as a setup block with 1/2” and 3/4” sections for quickly setting fences, as well as being used as 45° angle gauge.
6. It has an integrated pin to allow the drawing of large circles (trammel head)
7. Comes with multiple sizes of guide bushings for drilling holes

Cons:

1. is only available in metric with no imperial option
2. Has a bunch of extra features that raise the price
3. It’s expensive, at approx $200
4. It doesn’t including a bracket for hanging it and/or storing the additional bushings.
5. it has so few negatives that I’m out of ideas

I have two fine Woodpeckers scribing T-squares, 24” and 32”, costing $149 and $189 respectively. Is there a reason to pick the more expensive Hongdui square instead? My answer, to my own surprise, is yes. As nice as the woodpeckers squares are, the Hongdui is nicer. The build quality is superior and its construction is stout. It has the ability to easily remove the head, without affecting the squareness. The locking system they’ve come up with is genius, as it utilizes a 360° lock which allows no room for error. Squareness was tested against my Woodpeckers square both before and after removing/replacing the head, and each time the results were dead nuts, with zero play or deflection.

While the ability to use the head as a setup block is nice, I have other tools to do that without needing to separate this square into two parts. The ability to use it as a trammel, however, is very nice. If you look at the various adjustable bushings on the ruler, you’ll notice the top one is a little different from the rest. As opposed to being a guide bushing, this one has a pin that can be deployed by rotating the brass ****. You may raise or lower the height, as desired, deploy the pin into your surface, and then adjust one of the scribing bushings to set the size of your large circle. The ruler pivots flawlessly on the pin, allowing exact, repeatable results. Could you do the same with a thumbtack and a piece of yarn? Yes, but it wouldn’t be as much fun, and yarn can stretch.

The T square includes multiple adjustable bushings. There are two adjusters that allow you to easily set a measurement and then scribe through the center hole (using a lead pencil (0.9mm or smaller). This allows, simple, repeatable, user defined settings, instead of having to locate the same tiny scribe hole multiple times, as you would without the adjusters, and as I must do on my woodpeckers squares. Because there are two of the ‘scribe adjusters’, you are able to set two measurements and scribe two lines on multiple pieces without having to remeasure.

Then there are the drilling bushings. Adjustable, like the others, these allow you to drill a straight hole at an exact measurement, repeatable as you glide across your workpiece. The T square comes with (I believe) 4 mm, 5 mm, and 6 mm swappable bushings, allowing you to choose your size. I foresee this being especially useful for tasks such as locating shelf pin holes. While you would still need to watch the interval as you slide across the workpiece, you can easily drill, accurate and consistent holes without needing to resort to a shelf pin jig or investing in an expensive router system like LR32 from Festool.

Though I wish this had been available with imperial measurements, this square will certainly be used as often, if not more, than my imperial T squares. As I typically don’t use metric, the scribing holes will probably not get used, but the scribe adjusters are game changing.

I forgot to say that while I do not know the exact metric size of the square, it is approximately equal in length to my 24 inch T square.

The directions included are comprehensive, detailed, and easy to understand. And as much as I dislike spending even more money, I discovered that Hongdui does indeed sell a rack to mount both the square, and all the extra included bushings. While this does not appear to be sold on Amazon, I was able to find it on Banggood for about $45. I do wish it had been included for the grand price of $199, but I’m not surprised that it wasn’t.

Hongdu...

I have been a professional joiner for many years, I'm not easily impressed, however, this T square is phenomenal quality and bang on accurate, lovely helpful tool to make one's life easier!

Its a great T-square to use, and the quality is equal to Woodpeckers T-square, but with more useful features.

Arrived sooner than expected, which is always good. Excellent quality and very accurate. Check square with a machinist square and dead nuts 90. Would highly recommend.

this ruler is well made. hongdui tools all seem like legit takes on tools. and highly recommend anything they produce.

The package arrived quickly and undamaged. At first glance I'm satisfied with the quality, I haven't checked the accuracy yet.

I am glad to have bought it and the shipping very fast

holds an angle, is very versatile. execution at the highest level.

precisely 90 degrees. The other adjustable angles are also very accurate. Marking is super easy. Highly recommended. ??

Arrived quickly and neatly packed! _Nice piece of equipment!

Top quality and for much more less then Woodpeckers product. I did couple tests the check for square and was spot on! every time. Ship from US and just took 3 days

Excellent T-line, made very well. The materials, aluminum etc., are excellent. Very well packaged to avoid damage during transport.

Everyone knows that the success of a project is directly related to the quality of the tools used on said project, and that is from the design to the finished product. This T square is accurate and dead on 90*. Comes anodized for durability. The numbering is contrasted clean and easy to read. This is a quite functional tool capable of being used as a square or a straight edge or for laying out circles or arcs. Integrated sliders with interchangeable inserts for marking, punching, or drilling precise holes along the axis. The head is removable and is designed so that when assembled it can only be truly square. Two major pitfalls to this quality instrument is it is marked only in millimeters and for the average worker it will not be cost effective.