[rjordan392]

Hello,
Does anyone know why this company decided to place the numbers on the outside of the folding ruler. Now I cannot use my ruler to lay flat against the workpiece to measure like I use to; unless I prefer to count backwards from 72 inches. After a long day, I can see mistakes being made. Is this a major goof by the manufacturer?

 

[jomama45]

I think you bought the wrong folding rule. There are probably at least 8-10 different folding rule lay-outs. I have 3 different ones just for masonry work. I think you may have a plumber's rule?

 

[PaliBob]

Lufkin is now a division of Cooper.
Their Home page lists 8 different wood rules
http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/lufkin/
.

 

[PaliBob]

Ooops! Lufkin has more than 8 different rules. I just looked up my X46 extension rule and just under the Extension Rule heading there are 4 rules including an eight footer.

 

[rjordan392]

Thank You,
You are correct and the one I just purchased is a plumbers rule. This is the only type that Home Depot and Lowes sells. I might have to go to a specialty hardware store to get the correct one which is:
6 ft. X 5/8 inch flat reading wood rule red end, model #066f.
I'll check the site again to see who sells this model in my area.

 

[PaliBob]

RJ, I really like the X46 because with the 6" Slide rule extension I can use it as a story pole. If I need to make a panel to fit in a specific opening, I'll start at the top, open the rule to where it loosely fits in the opening, then pull out the extension to where it fits in snugly.

Now I'll carefully move the whole shebang down through the opening to verify the width is the same top to bottom.

The X46 is also at Amazon (also has reviews):
http://www.amazon.com/Lufkin-X46-Red-End-6-Inch-Folding/dp/B00002N5KI
.

 

[rjordan392]

I ordered the 066F ruler yesterday at toolbarn.com. Years ago, I think I owned an extension type but never had to use it much. I noticed that the two examples you show have the numbers from 1 to 72 printed on the outside of the ruler. I prefer they be marked on the inside from 1 to 72. Thanks.

 

[RippySkippy]

I just love the x46...it works the best to get a precise inside measurement...don't forget ebay when looking for them...with shipping they will go for less than half of new....mine was $6 after shipping...as good as new...not a mark on it.

 

[PaliBob]

Rippy, I'm glad you're happy with the X46. My dad was a carpenter back in the forties and I remember playing with his Zig-Zag extension rule and being told. 'Don't Touch'.

The prices now are all higher. Tool Barn gets $14 for the X46.
http://www.toolbarn.com/product/lufkin/X46/
.

 

[RippySkippy]

Bob, I got the same lecture...albeit a few years later. When I got to spend time with my grandfather in the 70's, he had one...my "education" came when folding the ruler back up and failing to get that small piece of skin out of the way...can you say blood blister?

Grandpa used to have a wagon load of lumber in his barn and would take his crew out to a site building corn cribs, barns etc. construct them during the day. He would come home at night and cut by hand the lumber for the next day's construction. He didn't have electricity....and didn't want to trust his crew to make square cuts and felt that was one sign of a craftsman. Something so small that we take that for granted with the power saws.....he wouldn't be caught with out his folding ruler...ever. I miss that man....

 

[Thurman]

God Bless all of us that had Granddad's to spend time with. My granddad was a carpenter also and taught me a lot. I remember well all of those "DON'T touch" items he had, including the proverbial folding rule. I now have his. "rjordan392", the folding rule you have, do the numbers on one side seem to measure "shorter" than the othere side? If so, then it is a plumbers rule, the are made to measure 45º offsets in pipe runs. Do a search, maybe Lufkin or Cooper, to see if they offer the folding rules in Left Hand versions. It seems, in my feable memory, I used to work with a carpenter that was left handed and all of his Lufkin folding rules and Lufkin tape measure were left handed and his folding rule was graduated on the inside. Actually I like his LH tape measure, I may be "wrong handed" in measuring, I like to hang to tape on the right hand side of a board, drag it to the left, and mark with my right hand. Almost all tape measures out there are designed to hang on the left end of a board. OH yeah-the blood blisters, how well I remember those also.

 

[lowerquadrant]

Hi, Everybody,
Just joined and I KNOW someone here will answer my question. I am trying to find the difference between an inside-reading, and an outside-reading folding ruler. Yes, I've searched, ad nauseum, and I'll be dreaming folding rulers tonight. The pictorals all look the same. I'm holding my Lufkin X46F and twisting it all different ways every time I see another photo. Thanks.

 

[PaliBob]

Inside measurements from 6" to 78" with this folding rule are made with the brass extension shown in this pictorial:
http://www.amazon.com/Lufkin-X46-6-Foot-Red-End-Folding/dp/B00002N5KI/ref=pd_sim_hi_3

 

[BigJim]

This thread is 4 years old but the information is still the same except for price. Just don't buy a rule with the one inch on the same end of the rule, to me it is just not handy at all, you have to turn the rule completely around if unfolded from the wrong end, very frustrating.