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One for the thumb , Monday

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One for the thumb , Monday

#1

One for the thumb , Monday

Commercially available American made wooden rules have been around since at least the 1850�s and at one time (1870�s) Stanley company alone offered 112 different wood and ivory rules. Forget the ivory. Four parter.

1. Gradually though after 1870 through the next fifty years the wooden rule making business dropped. What was the primary reason for the drop of wooden rules given that machinery made it much easier to produce them Note: metal rules were the result not the cause of the decline.

2. British and American boxwood plants are well known but were not used in making rules at Stanley. What type of boxwood was used?

3. If you have ever tried to �repair� the markings on an old rule to punch up readability you will find it a task. What material(s) was used to make the original markings for a wooden rule stand out?

4. Guess how fast a skilled (more often than not) woman could do an entire scale of 540 lines of the Gunters scale on a sliding carpenter�s rule hand cutting?

Go to http://home.att.net/~seven0610.2041/images/g12icsp.jpg to check out a Gunters scale. (This is NOT the Gunter's scale on a carpenters rule as I could not locate a picture)

Re: One for the thumb , Monday

#2

Re: One for the thumb , Monday

This particular wood was in demand for all sorts of precision instruments, due to its dimensional stability. I suspect that most of the supply was "gobbled" up by the rapidly growing photographic industry.

Re: One for the thumb , Monday

#3

Yep. That's an early thanksgiving but

there is also one later too.

Re: One for the thumb , Monday

#4

Monday answer

1. WWI and the political problems immediately after was the culprit. The rules were made of Turkey boxwood a particularly fine grained and stable wood. After the war and even during the years proceeding and during it the wood was unavailable and shipping was difficult also.

2. A second boxwood was used Maracaibo boxwood from the Caribbean�Columbia, Venezuela, Cuba. (There were rules made of hard maple, hickory, mahogany, rosewood and satinwood but these were deemed not as acceptable by the manufacturers.) But by the time the wood was available (seasoning took several years) metal rules were found to be more acceptable in some applications and the zig zag rule was also accepted

3. �Finished� rules were sanded and ground to make the rules smooth and aligned. They were then coated with a varnish and sanded again. The cuts for the markings were then filled with a combination of lampblack and wax, then polished with a cloth to remove the excess. After that dried the rule was given two more coats of a light varnish. Any subsequent dings in a wooden rule will telegraph to below the surface. If the markings are filled at a later time previous use scratches and dings fill also. If you strip you will almost always have to sand and recut the at least some of the markings which is no easy task.�

4. According to information in Boxwood and Ivory by Phillip Stanley. A skilled worker could do an entire scale in a very short time. A carpenters sliding rule, for example, comprising 540 lines could be cut by hand in ten minutes. This was women�s work owing to no physical strength, a good eye, steady hand, patience, concentration and a willingness to work for low wages

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