Old fashioned

[bluedog225]

This thing is a seriously underrated tool. I find myself reaching for it way more than I reach for my tape measure for every day little things around the workbench. No fussing with it, no bending, no push or pull slop. Light. Goes in the pocket easily. Snap it open measure to the nearest 16th of an inch. Done.

 

[BukitCase]

Is yours the one with the 6" brass slider that lets you do inside measurements? I've had mine for about 6 decades, LOVE it... Steve

 

[Steve_P]

Funny- I know I had one, but couldn't even remember the last time I used it, or even if I still had it. I went downstairs to change the laundry and yes, it's still there- a Lufkin.
edit- mine has the 6" slider

 

[3rdgendslmech]

I've got 2....one that my grandfather used when he ran a dragline crane long for shooting level with a sight glass. Then I found another aged one when my wife and I went to a flea market in nashville TN a few years ago. I've used mine to level 3 barn pads and a pool

 

[RPH]

I’ve have both in inches and others in metric. They come in very handy.

 

[nadogail]

Steel tapes have no business inside an electrical panel, wood is much safer.

 

[olytdi]

Timely. I just found my two stick rulers the other day. One is like the OP's -- white. My older one I used to use daily when I was a stone mason in the 1970's. It has the sliding brass insert that extends. Just the other day a cleaned them up and lubed all the joints. Forgot how much I prefer them to tape measure for smaller stuff.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I've seen them, know they exist but I've never had one. Can't imagine I would use it. Sort of like a brace & bit. Cool, old school but I wouldn't use them.

 

[bluedog225]

No brass slider on mine. Will need to find one and check it out.

 

[Pen & Wrench]

My father-in-law was a carpenter and a farmer and he always told me the folding rule is more accurate than a tape measure. I have one but I tend to use tape measures, but if i need a really accurate measurement I tend to get out the calipers or at least use a tape measure that I know the hook is not worn out or bent.

 

[snorvet]

I have several white wooden rulers like OP's . Always in my work pouch when I was a surveyor. Now in my woodworking.

Been using them for close to 60 years. Never considered them old fashioned, but maybe they are.

But my Stanley 68 is old fashioned compared to the new white folding rules.

 

[HoosierMark]

My dad was a suburb finish carpenter from the 1930's on and used one basically daily until passing in 1985. They were always good quality with the slide brass piece for inside measurements. They are the reason carpenter jeans have long side pockets on the right leg. I use his rarely as it is special to me but have others I use now and then. My buddy and I were working yesterday on some electric and he handed me the one he carries to measure something. Not only are they accurate but the memories come flooding back.

 

[jack stand]

Modern tape measure replaced these dinosaurs about 40 years ago. I understand them for brickwork (brick scales) and I also worked with guys I looked up to who grew up with them because they're was nothing else. But talk about "fiddling around " with something.... not to mention that 6' of measurements (I know that they have 8') is just silly for anything but bench work and not being able to "hook" the dumb end, no thanks.

 

[housewolf]

I consider it a completely different tool from a tape not something that was replaced by a tape. When I was doing residential plumbing I used both. Rule for laying out screw pipe and tape for San waste & vent.

I doubt I would be able to layout a bunch of screw pipe without one. Certainly not efficiently. A tape would be okay if you’re just measuring one piece at a time but laying out 25-50 cuts, no way! I’m also pretty sure I’ll never be measuring a bunch of screw pipe again.

The real difference is; a rule has numbers on both sides running opposite directions. It’s very handy.

The brass slide out is for scaling and also a good place to write your name under the scale. The masonry models have the numbers so it’s easier to read vertically. An engineers rule has ft/in on one side and decimal equivalents on the other. A handy tool if you don’t know how to convert in your head and need to.

 

[flat350]

Used one for 43 years as a Plumber for layout.

 

[jar944]

I've seen them, know they exist but I've never had one. Can't imagine I would use it. Sort of like a brace & bit. Cool, old school but I wouldn't use them.

Modern tape measure replaced these dinosaurs about 40 years ago. I understand them for brickwork (brick scales) and I also worked with guys I looked up to who grew up with them because they're was nothing else. But talk about "fiddling around " with something.... not to mention that 6' of measurements (I know that they have 8') is just silly for anything but bench work and not being able to "hook" the dumb end, no thanks.

Interestingly the folding rule is commonly used by tradesmen in a lot of European countries. I have a couple new 1m and 2m (imperial / metric) and at least one old wooden one.

 

[alfadan]

Steel tapes have no business inside an electrical panel, wood is much safer.

That's all we're allowed to use in electric substations; well, the plastic ones anyway.. What actually gets used is another matter.

 

[RTM]

. My older one I used to use daily when I was a stone mason in the 1970's.

I understand them for brickwork (brick scales) and I also worked with guys I looked up to who grew up with them because they're was nothing else.

I have a special masons one here somewhere, special markings on the back for different courses or some such.

Interestingly the folding rule is commonly used by tradesmen in a lot of European countries. I have a couple new 1m and 2m (imperial / metric) and at least one old wooden one.

Last few trips to Europe, that’s all I’ve seen the tradesmen carry. We had some Finns doing an on-site installation, and that’s all they carried also.

I probably have at least 8 or more of these. The ones with the slider get used the most, followed by the modern plastic ones the I brought home from Europe. The smaller half sized one is really nice and thin, and marked metric. One is double marked with Imperial too.

For inside measurement, the sliders blow a tape measure away

 

[seber]

I used one in the sixties when the standard tape measure was 1/2". I don't think it has been out of the box since about 1965. Totally obsolete for carpentry.

 

[rust in the eye]

 

[Pinemarten]

I used mine while adjusting the toe-in on my Jeep. I don't think a tape measure would do that job as well.

 

[Aileron]

I was a service pipefitter, used them and went thru them like water. Always had one with me in my service bucket and if i was on a construction job ,one was in my pocket. Mine were all inside read. Throw them damn tapes away! You can find center on a 20ft piece of copper pipe balancing it on your finger.

 

[RAS61]

I inherited about a dozen from my father-in-law who was a carpenter, most like new. Don't know where he got so many, I give them away to relatives and friends. I usually use a tape but they come in handy at times, especially measuring the depth of a small hole with the slider

 

[lardy1]

My dad used them a lot so I've often tried to utilize them. I've had a couple now. One I gave to my bricklayer buddy and I keep one on my bench thinking I'll use it for layout but I never do.

 

[rmack898]

Every good ship fitter I ever worked with had one in his pocket.

 

[dr_clyde]

The pipefitters I've worked with swore by them. Tapes got used often too, but for small layouts and measurements, the folding stick rule reigned supreme.

 

[CGarage]

Very common in Europe.

OP, where is yours made?

I have a few from Switzerland. They are handy.

I even had an eBay seller in Germany send me one free of charge with an order.

 

[dnschmidt]

In Germany these are more common that tape measures as they are considered more accurate. I have several Wiha branded ones.

 

[bluedog225]

Would somebody show me this brass slider that’s been mentioned? I’m not familiar I don’t seem to be able to find it on the Internet. Thanks.

 

[CGarage]

Would somebody show me this brass slider that’s been mentioned? I’m not familiar I don’t seem to be able to find it on the Internet. Thanks.

Will do so in a few hours.

I have one w brass slider in my shop.

 

[RTM]

Would somebody show me this brass slider that’s been mentioned?

Look at second image

Zig-Zag and Slide Rules

In this post I will look at a type of folding ruler commonly known as zig-zag rulers, and an interlocking or slide ruler. Zig-zag rulers are folding rulers made up of a number of short pieces with...

mathesontools.weebly.com

 

[Dig Doug]

I have a few in my tool box. But they are all in tenths for grade checking ….
so easy to snap it open and check elevations ….


I have been very lucky to learn a craft and as it turns out …. I know, a little about A LOT of things….

i used my stick w/ 2 Swedes, My stick was used as the 3rd Swede for leveling sections of parking lots and flow lines while a motor grade was running

 

[HenryAZ]

I used a Lufkin 6ft rule for 22 years, making my living in a custom millwork shop. Once I had it broken in a bit, I could open the entire thing (to the full 6ft length) with one pull. I traded with an electrician friend. When my rule's first joint got weak, I gave it to him. In return, I would receive his old pair of lineman's pliers, which he would not use after the joint became loose. I still have a pair of those pliers, used mostly for cutting screws and nails.

 

[CGarage]

I found these three, I have others.

The Swiss Made model is from Wiha.

 

[CGarage]

Start - Knakke - Der Zollstock, der auch den Durchmesser misst

KNAKKE. Der Zollstock, der auch den Durchmesser misst - Hier informieren und bestellen | Mit individuellem Druck lieferbar, z.B. als Werbegeschenk

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Application guide

 

[Michigan Mike]

Retired union carpenter here. Always had a tape measure 25' and a folding rule. They can be used for the same things but both have uses that are specific to that type of rule. Laying out a 20' wall would be a pain with a folding ruler. Measuring something like soffet panels overhead is less than optimal with a tape measure when you can just put a ninety degree bend in the folding rule and hold it up past where you can reach.

 

[Bubba Fett]

I have a couple. One is a Lufkin (I think) that was my Dad's and the other is a Klein that I picked up used from somewhere a long time ago. I like to think of them as foldable yard stick, and complimentary to a tape measure.