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.
2Ft RuleBtch2 001.jpg2Ft RuleBtch2 003.jpg2Ft RuleBtch2 004.jpg2Ft RuleBtch2 005.jpg
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