# Folding Ruler



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Some additional advantages:

-you can get it into odd places for measurements (like when measuring for a piece of pipe in a ceiling)
-you can stand on the floor and measure along the ceiling
-works as a bevel

probably more I've forgotten until I need them.....


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

griz said:


> Folding rule, Yankee Screwdriver, Push drill, slotted screws, Stanley swivel Miter box w/backsaw and sharp long handsaws....:thumbsup:
> 
> There has been a great deal of very fine carpentry work done with all that old school stuff....:thumbsup:


Man, everytime I venture into the attic or basement of my house I marvel at the craftsmen of years gone by. My house is handhewn post & beam construction with pegs. Almost 4k sq ft. Built in 1826 (187 yrs ago for you kids that have come through the recent educational system!)

Was owned by a prominent family in our area. Lots of detailed hardwood trim.

Truly amazes me with the fine detail & accuracy achieved - no power tools except what was run by hand!


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

svronthmve said:


> Man, everytime I venture into the attic or basement of my house I marvel at the craftsmen of years gone by. My house is handhewn post & beam construction with pegs. Almost 4k sq ft. Built in 1826 (187 yrs ago for you kids that have come through the recent educational system!)
> 
> Was owned by a prominent family in our area. Lots of detailed hardwood trim.
> 
> Truly amazes me with the fine detail & accuracy achieved - no power tools except what was run by hand!


That is pretty amazing how people build beautiful furniture with simple tools at that time...the craftsmanship was amazing and precises.

My Grandfather was a furniture maker in the mid-late 30's and after the war he had a small furniture shop...I think this is why in my gene and in the back of my mind there was always love for woodworking and utmost respect woodworkers and industry. 

_Your post took me down some memory lane...Thank you for this:thumbsup: _

I remember growing up and the most part of my early childhood I spent in my Grandparents house and all the furniture there my Grand-pops made from scratch using basic tools...I didn't understand then much about it and carved a few things in it, (later when got older, I understood why I got a bad beating for that :laughing

When I started in this industry and started messing around with carpentry, thinking back and vaguely remembering about the old furniture, every single piece in that was cut, shaped and finished by hand.

After he retired, he gave (not sold) all his tools to his apprentice in the shop and kept a few minor tools to have around to do small repairs... I found some in my Mom's house, what was left of it after quiet a few decades and a boat trip from one country to another... It's not much, and (some of it was obtained later, but they were in the box so I threw them in as well) but enough to keep as a memory and I hope my kids will hold on to them as well.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

hdavis said:


> Some additional advantages:
> 
> -you can get it into odd places for measurements (like when measuring for a piece of pipe in a ceiling)
> -you can stand on the floor and measure along the ceiling
> ...


I will add one to it H, which some probably don't know... the first leg with a metal sliding insert is used to add and subtract fractions... I will give an example.

If you need to make a subtraction lets say as an example 
4 5/16"- 2 3/8"... take 4 5/16 on the metal sliding portion of the leg, slide forward and align with 2 3/8" on the lower wooden portion of the leg, the answer is the projected metal portion of the slide which is 
1 15/16" :thumbsup:

There is also a neat little trick an old carpenter showed me a while back... If you take a regular ruler and you stretch and bend it back aligning the tip of the ruler with the current year ( 2013 would be 113") then look at the last 2 digits of the year you were born, lets say 61 the number will align with your age which is 52.


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## Five Star (Jan 15, 2009)

greg24k said:


> I will add one to it H, which some probably don't know... the first leg with a metal sliding insert is used to add and subtract fractions... I will give an example.
> 
> If you need to make a subtraction lets say as an example
> 4 5/16"- 2 3/8"... take 4 5/16 on the metal sliding portion of the leg, slide forward and align with 2 3/8" on the lower wooden portion of the leg, the answer is the projected metal portion of the slide which is
> ...


Whatchya talking about Willis?


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## jamestrd (Oct 26, 2008)

TIGHTER MITER said:


> Just a second while I move my abacus, ink well and quill out of the way to type.....................OK...
> Why do you all use this antiquated measuring device? I have one in a drawer that I inherited from my dad's tools but I just do not see when and where it would do me any better than a tape measure. Please explain what I am missing.


Now that some funny sheeit


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

Five Star said:


> Whatchya talking about Willis?


:laughing::laughing::laughing: I was waiting for that... you just love to break my OO :thumbsup:


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## madrina (Feb 21, 2013)

griz said:


> Folding rule, Yankee Screwdriver, Push drill, slotted screws, Stanley swivel Miter box w/backsaw and sharp long handsaws....:thumbsup:
> 
> There has been a great deal of very fine carpentry work done with all that old school stuff....:thumbsup:


Ill agree with that... All except the miter box.. I tried to cut some baseboard using that back in the day.. I think there was more caulk than wood on the wall when i finished.


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

greg24k said:


> That is pretty amazing how people build beautiful furniture with simple tools at that time...the craftsmanship was amazing and precises.
> 
> My Grandfather was a furniture maker in the mid-late 30's and after the war he had a small furniture shop...I think this is why in my gene and in the back of my mind there was always love for woodworking and utmost respect woodworkers and industry.
> 
> ...


My grandfather handmade a crib for his first child. Only handtools without any power. They had 6 children. All slept in it.

When his children had children (my mom and her siblings), most of the grandchildren slept in it (except for the odd case where 2 grandchildren came along at the same time). 

When the grandchildren started having children, it made the rounds quite a bit. There's too many people vying for it now, so it hasn't made it to everyone 

Conservatively, over the last 80 years, that crib has been all over the US and probably had >100 babies sleep in it. It's got a few bumps & bruises, but try getting mileage like that out of a toys r us crib these days!

Wish I had a pic.


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## boman47k (Oct 13, 2006)

Seems you could look at the year you were born on a wooden ruler, turn it over to the number on the other side and get your age. Can someone conform this or am I am losing it? 

My daddy carried one along with a few other hand tools in his back pocket the whole time he worked in a textile factory.

The other guys would strut around with tool patches bulging with tools and weight. Many time when stumped on something, someone would say, " Get Elgy". He would come with his wooden ruler, 1/2", 9/16, maybe a 5/8" combo wrench, crecent wrench and channel lock pliars and usually solve the problem.

Yeah, a little trip down memory lane.


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## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

My great-great uncle was a finish carpenter for the Library of Congress. I have a few of his old tools. Tough to imagine some of the compound and layered miters used for crown molding with hand tools. These guys were truly amazing craftsman.


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## svronthmve (Aug 3, 2008)

Robie said:


> My great-great uncle was a finish carpenter for the Library of Congress. I have a few of his old tools. Tough to imagine some of the compound and layered miters used for crown molding with hand tools. These guys were truly amazing craftsman.


See, you do have a govt employee heritage. I knew it. You're just an insider in disguise! :jester:


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## ToolNut (Aug 9, 2012)

Use the folder for precise, Stanley for general.


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## skillman (Sep 23, 2011)

When its not in my pocket it rides up front with me .


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

Well tried the ruler today.:thumbsup: Took ten minuates to figure out it unfolds and even longer to try to get it to retract itself. I dont know.:sad: It sure seemed to take forever to unfold it, refold it and do it over again. I dont know what to think about it other then its slow.:sleeping:


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## DaVinciRemodel (Oct 7, 2009)

I have a couple and use for inside measurements. 

But what bothers me about this thread is why Greg is cleaning the basement? He needs to spend some time cleaning his desk :laughing:


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

Gary H said:


> Well tried the ruler today.:thumbsup: Took ten minuates to figure out it unfolds and even longer to try to get it to retract itself. I dont know.:sad: It sure seemed to take forever to unfold it, refold it and do it over again. I dont know what to think about it other then its slow.:sleeping:


You unfolding from the wrong side...try do it from the other side it will be much faster...


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## dakzaag (Jan 6, 2009)

greg24k said:


> You unfolding from the wrong side...try do it from the other side it will be much faster...


Priceless!!!

When I read the first thread, I thought the world had officially ended...able to log on to CT, but not able to use a folding ruler. "ity takes a village to raise and idiot":whistling


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## Irishslave (Jun 20, 2010)

They make a couple of special ones for Bricklayers....inches on one side and a brick spacing scale on the other. The also make one for modular brick. These are called simply enough "brick spacing rulers" 

This thread brings out an observation to me.....All the advances in tools, methods and etc. while it has made things easier .....in other ways it has lowered the bar....For example: Pre hung doors...I know guys who wouldn't have a clue how to build their own jambs and hang a door from scratch


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Also special ones for plumbers - you can read angles off of them.


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