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Thread: Anyone run across a ruler like this one?

  1. #1
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    Anyone run across a ruler like this one?

    Just picked up this little boxwood rule. Seems to be for mapwork as it has a couple of distance scales, protractor and various listings and formulae for horizontal equivalents for various vertical intervals, etc. No makers mark but owner scratched in "J. Keane RCE" Royal Corps of Engineers perhaps? Great condition save a couple of corner chips.

    IMG_0001.JPG

    IMG_0002.JPG

    IMG_0003.JPG

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    Never seen one but, that is awesomely cool.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


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    Te scale of horizontal equivalents is for aiming a weapon up or down a hill. This likely was used with field artillery or naval weaponry.

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    I have seen the scale as in the third image on framing squares for picking off hundredths of an inch with a compass or divider.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #5
    I especially like the accuracy, ...refers to metric as "foreign". ....And they're off ,wheeee!!!

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm Schweizer View Post
    Te scale of horizontal equivalents is for aiming a weapon up or down a hill. This likely was used with field artillery or naval weaponry.
    Malcolm's explanation makes sense.

    What a cool little thing, though. It almost looks hand made using some kind of hand-set type. How long is it? Any makers mark?

  7. #7
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    I have not tried to investigate these scales. But,I have a similar ivory one in a very old architects drawing set. I used it in the film on spinet and violin making to lay out the keyboard of the spinet. I don't mean to infer that this was its specific use originally.

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    I agree, Malcolm's explanation makes sense. The rule is about 6" long, again, no maker's mark. It does look like hand set type.

    Thanks to the Internet I found....

    "RCE" is Royal Canadian Engineers (the Brits were "CRE" Corps of Royal Engineers)

    Of the foreign scales, the sajen and verst are obsolete Russian measurements, outlawed in about 1930 when the metric system was introduced. Similarly the Japanese and Turkish measurements are obsolete. So it likely dates to WWI. I'm no historian but thought Canada's role in the Great War was "only" in Western Europe.

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    Of the foreign scales, the sajen and verst are obsolete Russian measurements, outlawed in about 1930 when the metric system was introduced. Similarly the Japanese and Turkish measurements are obsolete. So it likely dates to WWI. I'm no historian but thought Canada's role in the Great War was "only" in Western Europe.
    Thinking ahead?

    Maybe they thought they might have to work with captured maps?

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Belair View Post
    I agree, Malcolm's explanation makes sense. The rule is about 6" long, again, no maker's mark. It does look like hand set type.

    Thanks to the Internet I found....

    "RCE" is Royal Canadian Engineers (the Brits were "CRE" Corps of Royal Engineers)

    Of the foreign scales, the sajen and verst are obsolete Russian measurements, outlawed in about 1930 when the metric system was introduced. Similarly the Japanese and Turkish measurements are obsolete. So it likely dates to WWI. I'm no historian but thought Canada's role in the Great War was "only" in Western Europe.
    Militaries tend to plan for many possible contingencies (witness for example the US "War Plan Red" in the inter-war years). It seems safe to assume that the markings on the ruler correspond to the world's major powers at the time it was made.

    Japan was definitely reckoned a serious power and likely opponent after the Battle of Tsushima, in which they decisively defeated an existing major power (Russia). They may have been so reckoned in the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95.

    The presence of Turkish markings probably places it before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which happened at the end of WWI.
    Last edited by Patrick Chase; 05-01-2016 at 12:14 PM.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Thinking ahead?

    Maybe they thought they might have to work with captured maps?

    jtk
    Military engineers were/are expected to be able to work with captured/foraged materials.

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    Now all you need is a cannon.

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    Terrific, Jim, thanks for posting the photos.

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    Wow, that is in really good condition. It is very cool!

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Drew View Post
    Terrific, Jim, thanks for posting the photos.
    Glad to. And thanks for the input all.

    Guess this thread turns out to be not exactly WW related.

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