carpenter's folding rule
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Tagged: carpenter's rule, cleaning brass, cleaning wood
- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 5 months ago by markh.
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I have a lovely old Stanley #54 folding carpenter’s rule, 4 x 6″ sections for 24″ overall. It was some dirt on the boxwood, wear on the brass.
While it is usable now, I’d like to clean it up a little. I’ve seen a suggestion for using Murphy Oil Soap on the wood. How about the brass? And what can I do once the wood and brass are clean, to preserve the condition?
One side of the ruler provides 1/8-ths of an inch divisions, and 1/10-ths of an inch. The other side has 1/16-ths, plus a guide to multiples of fractions. The 0-6″ section shows division and multiples of 1/8 inch; from 6-12 it’s divisions and multiples of 1 inch; 12-18 has divisions and multiples of 3/4″ and the last section, 18-24 has divisions and multiples of 1/2 inch. While long ago labourers might have been intimidated by numbers, I would have thought that 1/4, 1/2 and 1 inch units would be simple enough to not need a guide. 3/4 can be trickier, and multiples of 1/3, and similar numbers, might be more useful.
12 November 2015 at 8:53 pm #132326I love the wooden folding rules. I have a bunch. Most of my planes are wooden planes too. I just love the wooden tools. Anyways, Christopher Schwartz has an article out called “Restore a Folding Rule”. Just google it and it will come up. Spoiler he just uses wood bleach (oxalic acid).
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