A ruler that you can see....AND be seen

[Clifford McGuire]

I often use a 6" or 12" ruler. I like the hook rules the best.

They are flat, but shiny, so I can usually see where I left them. That is until a fine coating of dust settles. Then they are almost un-seeable to my aging eyes.

I've purchased brightly colored ear protection, tape measures, marking knives, etc. I was looking at brightly colored rulers, but I read that they are made of aluminum, and their thickness makes it hard to transfer the marks to the wood.

Any thoughts? Any recommendations?

[Bob Johnson2]

Hanging on a nail next to the entry door to the shop I have roughly a dozen steel rulers, 12", 14", and 24", I also have 6 6 inchers that reside either in the apron or supposedly on a small table by the door. If I can't find the one I'm using I grab another.

If I need to get down to 32nds or smaller I'm finding it hard to see the markings on the rulers. I was just thinking a couple days ago I need even more lights just for this purpose. And I just redid all the lighting last year.

Woodpeckers sells a bunch of red rulers that might be easier to find, I'm thinking of one of their squares.

[Lisa Starr]

I keep a 4" & 6" Starrett Scale in a drawer by my bench. Those are my go tos most of the time. That is also the drawerwhere my combo square and the rules for it live. I keep a 24" steel rule and a 36" & 48" Aluminum rules hanging by my bench. The aluminum rules are much harder to accurately transfer measurements to the wood. I often use a small square with the aluminum rules to help transfer accurately.

[Clifford McGuire]

I keep a 4" & 6" Starrett Scale in a drawer by my bench. Those are my go tos most of the time. That is also the drawerwhere my combo square and the rules for it live. I keep a 24" steel rule and a 36" & 48" Aluminum rules hanging by my bench. The aluminum rules are much harder to accurately transfer measurements to the wood. I often use a small square with the aluminum rules to help transfer accurately.

That's a great idea.

[glenn bradley]

This will sound a little preachy but I solved my problem of misplaced tools years ago. 90+ percent of the time I put a tool back where it goes when I am not currently using it.

Obviously we have tools that were using actively and they tend to sit on the bench but, I don’t leave them sitting on the bench when I’ve moved on to another task. This prevents them from becoming buried. My 6 inch ruler and my 12 inch ruler are most often in the same place when I’m looking for them; they’re right where they belong. I learned long ago that taking a moment to put a tool back when I’m done with it takes much less time than looking for it when I don’t know where it is. See? I told you it would sound preachy :-)

[Jim Becker]

All of my rules hang on the wall when they are not actively in use. A simple and fast way to accomplish what you want, however, is a strip of bright colored tape down the middle of the top...something narrow like striping tape.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I built an outfeed table with a laminate top. At the end of the bench farthest from the table saw resides my two most often rulers each hanging from a nail. Also there hangs the french curves and draftsman triangles I use the most.

[Howard Pollack]

I use black rules with white markings. Really easy to see. Got them on Ebay from Taylor Tools. -Howard

[johnny means]

I just try my best to bury myself in measuring devices. About one device for every three square feet of shop space pretty much guarantees that I can always find at least one of what I need. I also make sure to have several in my car and on my nightstand, just in case.

[Charlie Jones]

This will sound a little preachy but I solved my problem of misplaced tools years ago. 90+ percent of the time I put a tool back where it goes when I am not currently using it.

Obviously we have tools that were using actively and they tend to sit on the bench but, I don’t leave them sitting on the bench when I’ve moved on to another task. This prevents them from becoming buried. My 6 inch ruler and my 12 inch ruler are most often in the same place when I’m looking for them; they’re right where they belong. I learned long ago that taking a moment to put a tool back when I’m done with it takes much less time than looking for it when I don’t know where it is. See? I told you it would sound preachy :-)

That works for me also. Otherwise I would spend all my time looking for tools.

[Edwin Santos]

One word of advice - if you're going to have numerous rulers, tape measures or other measuring devices around, it's a good idea to confirm that they agree with each other.

Usually if they're the same brand they'll be consistent.

I am partial to Shinwa rulers, the 6" 4R machinist rule being my favorite, but as you point out, it loves to hide, so I keep a twin hanging on the wall as a back-up until the missing one turns up at which point the twin goes back on the wall. There might be something to be said for the red Woodpeckers products. I am a big fan of the Delve square and it almost never goes missing.

[Lee Schierer]

The first thing I would suggest is to improve the dust collection system. Having enough sawdust settle to hide your ruler isn't good for your lungs.

My 6" & 12" rulers rest on the top of my table saw fence when not being used.

[Clifford McGuire]

All of my rules hang on the wall when they are not actively in use. A simple and fast way to accomplish what you want, however, is a strip of bright colored tape down the middle of the top...something narrow like striping tape.

I move around the shop a lot. The other day I was skip planing some lumber, then took it over to the bandsaw to resaw. Back to the planer for thickness. Later setting depth of a router bit, and later checking the width of the tenon I was cutting on the tablesaw.

I'm not disciplined enough to put it back everytime.

But I like the idea of a colorful stripe.

[Clifford McGuire]

I use black rules with white markings. Really easy to see. Got them on Ebay from Taylor Tools. -Howard

I like those. Thanks Howard.

[Melvin Feng]

Have you looked into the incra T rules? I have the 3 inch and the 6 inch, and find them quite useful. I also keep them hanging on a magnetic strip next to a .5 mm mechanical pencil, I'm partial to the Rotring 600 and pentel graphgear 1000.