Folding Wood Ruler / Measure : Royal Eagle X-672

[Vintage Veloce]

Found this Royal Eagle X-672 at an antique store and bought it.
I assume these are from the time before metal tape measures? I think my Dad had one and they are cool, and that is all I know...
It has this interesting metal extension part... how was this used and what for?

 

[RTM]

Imagine measuring a window for inset blinds, and you need the inside measurement. This is fantastic for that, door and window trim, shelves etc. where you need a precise inside measurement, when bending your tape measure isn’t accurate enough.

And the US is very tape measure focused, but in Europe, the zig zag rules are everywhere, in contractors pockets, in logos on trucks, hogging shelf space in the hardware stores.

 

[RTM]

These did occur alongside tape measures, for a long time. Some descriptors here.

Lufkin Precision Tools : Catalog No 8 : Lufkin Rule Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

172 p., illus., 18.4 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[housewolf]

We used to use a 6’ folding rule to layout steel screw pipe. We always called the steel slide out a scale & used it for scaling drawings. I still have a couple and use them occasionally. Some things laying out pipe, you can do much easier with a rule because it has numbers on both sides running opposite directions

 

[bmwrd0]

When I was working for the phone company, around 7-8 years ago, we were still issued these. As said, perfect for inside measure, measuring out on a span, and you can also use the little metal extension as a depth gauge.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I have been retired for seventeen years and I would imagine things have changed maybe not. Most of the carpenters I worked with carried one of those and a regular tape measure. They are very handy as bmwrd0 says and they are nice for small measurements above your reach. Just fold the ruler with a 90 degree angle and you can extend your reach to measure above your head. I still use one regularly in my shop.

 

[ecotec]

I remember when I was younger when someone brought a ruler like that, the other guys would tell them that they bought the wrong kind of ruler. We (electricians) use inside measuring rulers.

Those are for carpentry and masonry, I think.

I just remember thinking “oh no…” whenever an apprentice showed up with one…

 

[Davefr]

These are still a "must have" for accurate inside measurements. Using a tape measure and adding the body length is a PIA and it's also hard to see the scale where it goes into the body of the tape measure. Some tape measures don't have square bodies so getting an accurate value depends on how you **** up the tape measure.