What rulers do y'all use?

[willis stose]

Am trying to find some good rulers for more accurate working than the metal tape. Any suggestions? I do general woodworking and some furniture building. Some of the rulers should be lined with gold they are so expensive. Looking for moderate priced ones. Any input appreciated. thnx.

[David Giles]

The last Starrett 36" ruler that I bought is off by 1/16" on each end. Their fabrication move to the Dominican Republic might have dropped the quality a little. One side is accurate, but not the other. Go figure.

My 36" cheapo Johnson ruler from Rockler is dead on, albeit a little beat up with age. And almost any 12" and smaller ruler seems to be accurate. I also like the Fastcap tapes for accuracy (at least I think they are Fastcap).

It is more important that your rulers be consistent than accurate. The gold standard in my shop is the Incra fence on the saw. Whatever it says is considered "right".

[Dan Friedrichs]

My 6" metal ruler was $0.99 at Harbor Freight. Graduated in 1/64", I have never found it to be inaccurate. But as David said, you don't need "accurate", you just need "consistent". Consistency is easily achieved by only using one measuring device.

[Van Huskey]

I had a longer post but "lost it".

I love all the Incra rules and have one of about every variety they make.

I like the Woodpeckers 24" T square and 24" woodworking rule and use them both a lot.

I also have several of the 6" Lee Valley rules, they make them up to 24" and it is the best value in a mid-quality rule I have run into, the 6" are less than $3.

I would suggest getting a 6" Lee Valley rule, Incra 12" marking rule and the Woodpecker 24" rule, you would be covered for most situations and be in the $55 range. If you want to spend less then just pick up the Lee Valley ones in the sizes you need.

[John Coloccia]

I use a lot of different measuring devices, but the one that never leaves my side is this one:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...66&cat=1,43513

I lost it and I felt awful. I immediately bought a similar one from my local woodworking shop but it wasn't the same. I ordered another one, and then immediately found the one I lost. LOL. I think I know where both of them are. PM me if you want one. I'll mail one to you as I don't need two and I hate to see a fine tool sit around collecting dust.

I have a small subset of rulers that all match with each other. I've checked them all. I have others that don't. If you're going to mix and match, you need to check them. I use that little one, though, for most of what I do.

[glenn bradley]

I have this set. Inexpensive, accurate and they all match . . . I guess I already said that when I said they were accurate ;-)

[Victor Robinson]

The Incra rules are somewhat expensive but pretty awesome. I use the 12" T-rule all the time.

[Scot Ferraro]

For layout work I do not think you can beat the Incra t-squares -- what a joy to accurately draw lines parallel to an edge...before I used to using a combination square and that often yielded inaccurate results. For under $20, I think that it is a great investment. Of course I still have 6 and 12 inch Starrett combo squares and some Mitutoyo Engineering squaresfor extreme accuracy or when checking other squares for square. A little six inch ruler from Lee Valley is great for setting fences on the BS and TS and checking router bit heights and TS blade heights -- having the end graduations is really nice.

Scot

[Elijah Fontenot]

I use a cheap tape measure for most items longer than 12" and i bought 7-8 of them to keep in the shop. I read once from a woodworking magazine that it really doesn't matter what you use to measure with, its just that your measurements need to be consistant. Use the same measuring device for the whole project and you have consistancy.

[Rick Fisher]

I use a Japanese ruler.. Not because its more accurate.. its just not all cluttered up.. Cant remember the name ..

I find it nice to use because I am getting old and my eyes arent what they once where .. lol.

[Don Morris]

The Lee Valley 6" ruler goes in the upper 1" wide apron vest pocket nicely. For longer tape measure needs, I use a plain old Stanley 12' powerlock. I removed the belt clip so it's thin and fits in the lower left apron pocket. Notice how accurately I described where they are located, so I can grab for them without having to go look for them. My #9 automatic pencil line is wider than the lines on the measuring devices.

[Mike De Luca]

Consistency is easily achieved by only using one measuring device.

This...

I use the 12' (small in the apron) Leverlok for working in the shop... 3/4" blade... I like the blade to stay extended automatically for layout.



I was recently at Lowe's and found this little gem by Komelon... love the blade and the action is smooth as glass...

[Kent A Bathurst]

I use these. I realize you were asking about "other than tape measure", but still........

$5. Compact + lightweight - drops into pants pocket easily - I remove and toss the belt clip as soon as I get them. I routinely check the hook accuracy against a Starret combo square rule - they hold up fine as long as I don't "snap" the hook against the case. If one goes out-of-calibration, I just pitch it.

At 5 bucks, I have [had?] a half-dozen, scatterred all over the shop. Easy to locate one in a glance with the Hi-Viz color. But - they still seem to disappear over time - need to get a few more and toss 'em out into the mix.

I have other tape > 10', but honestly, its rare that I need that. I also use the combo square, and a Starrett 4" dbl square.

[Chris Fournier]

I would strongly recommend a 6" hook rule for starters. In the shop I have one of these in my pocket all the time.

Look at a machine tool supplier like KBC Tools for excellent measuring tools at reasonable prices.

I was just in Europe and I noticed that all the tradesmen had snappy looking "uniforms" that would make the laziest hack look professional and most of them had wooden folding rules in their pockets! Old school cool.

[Matt Winterowd]

I use a lot of different measuring devices, but the one that never leaves my side is this one:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...66&cat=1,43513

I use a Japanese ruler.. Not because its more accurate.. its just not all cluttered up.. Cant remember the name ..

The Lee Valley 6" is Shinwa... A very dependable Japanese brand for measuring instruments. I love 'em.

The last Starrett 36" ruler that I bought is off by 1/16" on each end. Their fabrication move to the Dominican Republic might have dropped the quality a little. One side is accurate, but not the other. Go figure.

I'm done paying a premium for Starrett. I have 3 Starrett squares: a 12" combination, 6" combination, and a 4" double square. Only the 4" was anywhere near square out of the box. Granted, they did repair them for free (less my shipping cost), but I probably shouldn't have to return new measuring tools. I have a 12" Mitutoyo combination square set, and all three heads are dead-on. And it was about half the price of the Starrett.