So … now it’s More & Right

MichaelG.

It's such a shame that they do not manufacture an easy-to-read rule as they used to. Personally, I find the 1/2mm markings quite a distraction too.

Pete

In school I was taught never to measure from the end of the rule unless you absolutely have to.

Neil

I always liked the design that Sperry shows. I think it was an NPL (National Physical Laboratory) design. Much easier on the eyes. I had a boxwood rule with that design, but it has disappeared somewhere over the years.

I seem to remember that those 6" rules with the dodgy end were given away as a freebie with one of the magazines a few years ago !!

My dad spotted the problem straight away on his, and told me to check mine out as well which was just as bad.

Maybe M&W were giving them away as a bad batch. Mine only gets used used on the metal cut off saw for rough measurements of bar stock.

Phil

I wouldn't be surprised if the ruler in the first pic is a knock-off. Very poor definition of both the numbers and the lines compared with the ruler in the second pic. Almost as if the first were cheaply etched using a M&W as the original.

There is a lot of it about. Look at all the "Mitutoyo" dial gauges and calipers out there that clearly are not from Mitutoyo. So widespread that Mitutoyo has a page on their website on how to distinguish the fakes. Even buying from a reputable supplier is no guarantee these days. They get fooled too.

Same thing has been happening with fake "genuine" Toyota car parts. Being imported by the container load over here. (Oz)

According to their catalogue these "Saw-Tooth Graduations" were "specially introduced for easy reading by students and apprentices".

That would seem to infer that students and apprentices no longer have such a requirement. (or they no longer exist)

With regard to Ian's post regarding his "crusty old mentors", not all of us have been so fortunate to have such a knowledge base, and have to make it up as we go along.

Pete

I once used a long rule to mark out my loco frames starting from the 1 inch division as I felt that the end of the rule could not be relied upon. Guess what? All went OK until I finished marking out, each time compensating for the "lost inch." On checking it all again, still seemed OK. After drilling all the holes and enlarging the big hole at the front end for the outside cylinder exhaust pipe, I discovered it was 1 inch adrift! Bugger! Then I thought, if patched frames were good enough for that centre of engineering excellence in Swindon (and no doubt elsewhere), then it's got to be good enough for me. I ended up with 2 large adjacent holes. So beware!

A little jokette from the 1960s;

'Ive got a foot but I don't use it as a rule'

I can't bring myself to recall the context

tim