Stanley No. 61 Folding Rule

[Mike Hutchison]

An old fella who lives about a mile away has a metal shed crammed full of
tools, mostly mechanic stuff. He has an auctioneer scheduled to come in
a couple weeks from now but he has been garage selling on weekends.
I made a list of metric wrenches that would fill in gaps after my first visit,
yesterday I went back and picked up a couple wrenches and a holster/pouch
for Wiss Nips and a Stanley No. 61 folding rule. $10 Total.
At this point I would like to make a comment or two about Mr. John Walters book.
I picked up a very good condition paperback copy of the '96 edition for $7.50
in a local antique shop. I told the owner that, in theory at least, the book was worth
far in excess of that. It didn't seem to make an impression so I paid the $7.50. Anyway,
I have found a number of typos in the Stanley Tools book. Also, in the case of the rule,
the line art illustration for a No. 61 does not look like my plainly marked No. 61. The typeface
of the numbers is different. No biggie; I am planning on keeping the rule. It does speak on
whether or not I will keep the book. So far in referring to it, I am opening the book only
far enough to see what I am looking up. Clean hands, no shop use.
457720457719457721457722
What the safest thing to use to try and clean up the boxwood?
"Outside" is much darker than the "inside".

[Jim Koepke]

What the safest thing to use to try and clean up the boxwood?

A furniture oil or mineral oil has worked on mine. My 36" folding rule needed many of the markings touched up with an extra fine point Sharpie. Using a small trisquare when doing this helps. my 12 & 24" folding rules mostly stay in a drawer.

jtk

[Jim Ritter]

I’m told Barkeepers Friend works well on those type of rules, but I have never tried it myself.
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Anything used to clean a wooden rule, or anything else for that matter, should be tried on a small area possibly with a Q-Tip to see how it will react.

jtk