Your favorite rule (the measuring kind)

1 – my 12” Starrett combination square.
2 – An Empire 12” rule from the combination square my son unscrewed too far and lost the spring and locking hardware.

For larger stuff, one of the dozen or so 30’ stanley powerlocks does the trick

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts

I’m going over to metric, but for many years I’ve usually
had a little Imperial 4” double square I use a lot for laying
out joints, drill holes, depth gauging, and so forth.

The Veritas sliding square is another fave.

Ahhh metric. I wish we (the US) would switch over. I use metric at work for everything…except dimensions of physical parts (for everything, I mean for satellite trajectories, stellar distances, photon travel…fun stuff like that).

-- Jason

36” Starrett with 4R graduations….

Paid a few extra bucks for a NIST certified edition…. so I can be sure to win all fo the “your rule is off” measuring arguments at work :^)

-- Matt, Pine is fine, but Oak's no joke!

If it’s the one my father has (he’s a machinist) it costs more than my table saw and every blade I have.

Edit, and yes you will won that argument every time. It’s guaranteed accurate to one then thousandth or something ridiculous.

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts

I keep 2 in my shop apron, a 6” Starrett flat steel ruler and a 4” Starrett double square. Both are great.

If I need to go bigger I’ll grab my 12” Starrett combo square or my 36” T-Square (Pinnacle I think).

Over that is my tape measure.

-- John

6” Empire combination square.

-- - The mightiest oak in the forest is just a little nut that held its ground.

I know many of the advantages for using the metric system in arenas such as science, but being able to divide a foot by halves, thirds, fourths, and sixths, and being able to divide an inch in halves, quarters, eighths, sixteens, etc. sure seems to make woodworking a little easier.

-- More tools, fewer machines.

When I was in construction I was an avid fan of the Stanley FatMax or a Lufkin Folding Rule.
Around the wood shop I use what ever I find, but I usually buy either Stanley of Lufkin. I dont want to burst any bubbles, but at less than 10 feet, your not really going to find more than a 1/64th out of calibration in any decent tape measure.

-- Isaac- Decatur, GA - "Your woodworking....NOT machining parts for NASA!!!"

6” Starrett flat rule, using mostly the metric side. Got a couple of them since I tend to leave them lying where i don’t look…or my wife finds them in the rear pocket of my jeans in the washer.

-- Paul, Tennessee, http://www.tsunamiguitars.com

Brett, I agree that dividing by 2’s does make things easy for woodwork. At work we use decimal inches, ex. 1.375in. Sometimes I use that feature on my Incra for intricate parts (Incra has .001” holes). When dividing odd stackups, decimals are easier than fractions – and even though they aren’t “exact” like a fraction, they are close enough for woodworking.

Lotta folks like Starrett, I need to check them out.

-- Jason

IIRC it cost about $100 and an extra $100 for the NIST cert. letter.

I felt we needed the NIST cert. as we use the rule to calibrate tape measures.

My biggest beaf with steel rules is that so many of them do not have the ends accurately ground so you can reference off of it.

-- Matt, Pine is fine, but Oak's no joke!

Starrett 12” combo square … have three heads, square, 45° centering, and angle!

After that, a metric/American calipers that my uncle in Germany gave me about 40 years ago.

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

My Starrett combo square and double square get a lot of use. I also have a set of steel cabinetmaker’s rules I bought from Lee Valley, and I use the 18” & 24” versions frequently.

-- John, BC, Canada

I started using metric measurement a LOT when I embarked on my Blum Tandembox drawers for the kitchen. I have to admit that when I’m doing ANYTHING now that doesn’t have to directly reference off of something already in inches, I go metric.I have a metric rule (that also has inches on it) and a metric tape measure (that also has inches on it) and they’ve become my favorite measuring tools. Unfortunately, the rule is 36 inches and the tape measure is for longer stuff as well. I would love to find some nice metric measuring rules in shorter lengths.

I don’t buy into the “dividing inches is easier” thing. Anything you’ve always done is easier than doing something new. MIXING metric with inches gets confusing for me. But starting a new project from scratch, I prefer to use metric.