Tape measure for a woodworker


Zima3

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1 minute ago, drzaius said:

I've been dealing with metric for decades when it come to speed, weight, highway distances and temperature, but in the shop it's always been imperial. For the last month or so I've been using metric exclusively & it is like my brain has been let out of jail. I spend less time doing math & more time making sawdust. 

Are you starting to drive on the left side of the road , too?:P

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The frustrating thing with metric and imperial in Canada is needing to deal with both systems. I actually don't really find one all that much better, although I tend to use Imperial in the shop because that's what the scales on everything are. I'm an engineer in my day job and constantly have to switch back and forth, since we'll try to work in metric and then have conversations where people give you guidelines in Imperial.

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6 hours ago, Chestnut said:

http://www.leevalley.com/us/Wood/page.aspx?p=65359&cat=53200&ap=8

I linked it earlier in the thread. Lee valley did it as an April fools gag but then people wanted to actually buy it so they now sell it. I'm not sure what the material is but i'd bet that marker would clean off it one way or another.

Perfect! I must have overlooked the earlier link. It would be nice if it was considered reusable, but at that price, disposable ain't too bad. Or retainable for duplicating a project.

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10 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

Perfect! I must have overlooked the earlier link. It would be nice if it was considered reusable, but at that price, disposable ain't too bad. Or retainable for duplicating a project.

I don't know how it's colored but i'd bet a dry erase marker would come off it with some denatured alcohol easy enough.

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You'd think that since I have a machinist's rule marked in 128ths of an inch, it would be easier to find one with tenths of a millimeter! :ph34r:

On a more serious note, anyone ever tried to restore a rusty metal rule? I have several with enough "patina" as to make them difficult to read. I'd like to clean them up, darken the steel with gun blue, and refresh the engravings with white paint. I have one that came in that color scheme, and it is vastly easier to read.

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1 hour ago, wtnhighlander said:

On a more serious note, anyone ever tried to restore a rusty metal rule? I have several with enough "patina" as to make them difficult to read. I'd like to clean them up, darken the steel with gun blue, and refresh the engravings with white paint. I have one that came in that color scheme, and it is vastly easier to read.

I have never done bluing, but that sounds like it might work.  I did refresh the markings on a ruler a couple of years ago.  Cleaned it up with vinegar/water, then used black Rustoleum paint.  Dabbed on a small amount at one end and spread it with an improvised squeegee - a piece of a bike inner tube glued to a shim.  It has held up well so far.

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2 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

On a more serious note, anyone ever tried to restore a rusty metal rule?

I recently spent $76 on a new metric rule for my Starrett combination square & then stupidly allowed glue to get on it & it dried before noticing. I got the glue off, but it left an ugly dark stain. A bit of rubbing with 600 grit wet & dry sandpaper cleaned it right up & looks as good as new. The dark paint in the engravings were not affected though. I like the idea of gun bluing & white paint.

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7 hours ago, drzaius said:

I recently spent $76 on a new metric rule for my Starrett combination square & then stupidly allowed glue to get on it & it dried before noticing. I got the glue off, but it left an ugly dark stain. A bit of rubbing with 600 grit wet & dry sandpaper cleaned it right up & looks as good as new. The dark paint in the engravings were not affected though. I like the idea of gun bluing & white paint.

Thanks for sharing I have one of those marks on my 6" Starrett drives me nuts LOL 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The company that makes that tape measure is called FastCap. I have one of their flat back and I use it a lot. They have several tape measure variations including one that is called story pole. It has a area along the tape that is meant to be written on, however it is not flat backed (floppy). They also have another that is called burn one. I want to get one of those because they don't even use a hook.

 

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