Offered is a scarce antique TOPPS / Topp & Co. combination roof-framing square, based on the Cook patent dated November 1, 1892.

This is not an ordinary carpenter’s framing square. It is an elaborate late-19th-century combination layout tool incorporating a large steel framing square together with an adjustable wood, brass and steel bevel/protractor assembly.

The face of the square carries extensive engraved roof-framing tables, including a clearly marked “HIP & VALLEY SCALE”, span calculations and numerous rafter-related measurements. The movable attachment incorporates a hardwood stock with brass fittings, steel blade, semicircular angle plate and locking hardware, allowing angles calculated from the square to be transferred directly to the work.

Research located a closely related example in the Cully A. Cobb Antique Tool Museum at Mississippi State University, cataloged as a “Combination Tri-square, bevel, and Topps framing square,” manufactured by Topp & Co. and dated 1892. Another documented TOPPS example has been identified as a Cook Patent framing square patented November 1, 1892.

This appears to be a particularly interesting larger roof-framing version of the TOPPS/Cook system.

Condition: Original antique condition with considerable evidence of actual use. The steel has scattered oxidation, dark spotting, scratches and staining. Some portions of the finely engraved tables are faint from age and wear, while much remains readable. The wooden bevel stock has scratches, staining and finish loss, and the brass has an attractive aged patina. There are also old user-applied/scratched markings visible on the protractor plate.

The adjustment hardware appears present as pictured. I have made no attempt to polish or aggressively restore the tool, which has helped preserve its approximately 130+ years of original character.

Please study the photographs carefully; they form an important part of the condition description.

A genuinely unusual piece for a collection of antique patented tools, framing squares, roof-framing tools, carpenter’s layout tools or early American woodworking tools.