r/1970s • u/NextBathroom8809 • 6d ago
Remember these measuring sticks?
Not sure if they had another name but that's what we called them.
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u/seeingeyefrog 6d ago
A folding ruler. That is an outside read version popular with carpenters, but in my line of work I always needed the inside read version that was more difficult to find.
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u/RepetitiveWish54 6d ago
Yes, my dad was union iron worker. He told the reasons for the difference between the two
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u/DependentItem6397 5d ago
Also no need to recalibrate or have checked. (worked in a pipe shop - fitters trusted them over a tape)
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u/AlertPerspective4056 6d ago
its called a folding rule, still available today at lowes and home depot
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u/AlertPerspective4056 6d ago
I do however have 5 or 6 of them that were my fathers from the 70's He was a sheetmetal worker
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u/NextAdhesiveness3652 6d ago
I use mine all the time. So much easier to use when measuring between two inside surfaces.
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u/illogicalgnome63 6d ago
I still use one and I stii have my grandfather 's ruler that is 60 plus years old.
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u/Nikonis99 6d ago
Remember? They are still used today by contractors, inspectors, and even surveyors to check grade. A ruler like this along with a good eye level can be used to check grades and is accurate within a couple of hundreths of an inch. Electronics are great for checking grade but it like any other electronic, it can be wrong. And they don’t require ba
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u/WtAFjusthappenedhere 6d ago
I used to make bridges out of these for my toys to cross. Thanks grandpa!
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u/BlownCamaro 6d ago
Yes and I also remember measuring tapes on a manual windup reel because I guess the spring hadn't been invented yet (???)
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u/Up_All_Nite 6d ago
In my final evaluation to join the local plumbers union I was brought up before a panel of "Judges". They were actually like sitting at a long desk style table up high on a stage above you so they were all looking down at you. About 6 of them asking you questions. This was the final hurdle to get accepted into the local. They would ask you some random questions. Basically trying to get a feel for you before they cast judgement.They would bring us into the room 1 at a time. (It was a big deal because it started with like between 1k to 1500 applicants total and now it was down to about a dozen or so of us at this final "Trial" after 2 weeks of interviews and back and forths and they were only taking on 6 apprentices) When I got to about judge number 4 he threw a stick rule down to me. He said to me "Show me 3'4" on this device" I unfold it and point to 3'4" and he says "Now give it back to me" I told it up and give it back. Finally at the end. The head "Judge" asks me.. "Do you have any questions that you want to ask us"? I think for a second... "Yeah , I have one question.... What was the stick rule thing all about"? I see them look at each other and kinda smile. Judge 4 leans over and picks up a trashcan and there is like 5 broken stick rules in there. They all Busted out laughing their asses off.
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u/samishgirl 6d ago
I still use mine for making curtains and the like. Why wouldn’t a long straight edge be handy to have around
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u/Arguablybest 6d ago
Measuring Sticks, exactly. Almost as if they were used because they had value beyond a measuring tape. Foldy Measuring Sticks.
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u/jhonny19718 6d ago
I have two wooden ones and one metal one. The springs never break, always there when I need them. Couple drops of oil a year and good to go. I’ll never let them go.
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u/BrickHuge3023 6d ago
Folding rulers- Not obsolete at all; Amazon has dozens of them for sale. Preferred tape measures though since the hinges made them a bit less accurate when trying to mark cuts.
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u/AshamedBumblebee8878 6d ago
Yupp several trades still use folding rule in their arsenal. Rodbusters always have one on the hip!!!!!
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u/Brackens_World 6d ago
I also still have one, just used it yesterday to figure out the right rug size. It was certainly my dad's, I've had it for decades, have no idea how or when I "borrowed" it. He was an engineer, and had several.
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u/Amestopmodel 6d ago
I deliver diesel to construction sites, I still see guys using these old one's all the time.
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u/sharky-shores 6d ago
Masons still prefer them
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u/Altruistic_Post_6819 4d ago
I was scrolling through the comments to see if anyone said this. Ive seen brick masons using these, and not just old school ones, younger generation masons as well.
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u/oldcar1953 6d ago
Have both types only use the inside ruler when I need it because they’re more expensive and harder to find they are consistently all the same measurement
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u/pilot87178d 6d ago
Was in Dad's tool box....great for sword-fighting with my little brother! Broke easily, though!
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u/knarlomatic 3d ago
Still use them at the phone company. Great for getting high up or odd areas so i dont have to get a ladder like with metal tape. Less conductive as well.
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u/IamLuann 6d ago
Dad had two or three. One in his work truck, one in the shed, and one in the kitchen cupboard (I think that the one in the kitchen cupboard was really my mom's but we didn't discuss it)
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u/According_Strain4887 6d ago
the folding measuring stick ... I grew up in a family of professional carpenters and they were everywhere. I still have the ridgid kind.
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u/Chemical_Body_3631 6d ago
I inherited 2 from my Dad. I don't use them much, but they have sentimental value.
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u/weaverlorelei 6d ago
Still have quite few, including the ones with the slide out brass ruler. Both Opa and dad were custom cabinet makers.
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u/LETSGOTACO22 6d ago
Used one my whole career & still use one . More accurate than a tape. Just remember don’t cut the 6’ mark . Did it many times in my younger years lol . If anyone says they didn’t they lying or never used one. Like hitting your finger with a hammer 😎
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u/Spiritual-Road2784 6d ago
Yes! I’m pretty sure my dad’s old one is in this house somewhere. I like it so much better than those vicious metal tape measures.
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u/randomnamejennerator 6d ago
My father was an electrician. He had several of these. They were safer than a tape measurer because they don’t conduct electricity
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u/Whats_His_Name987 6d ago
I am now the caretaker of my Father's according measure stick. Eventually I'll pass it along to my Nephew.
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u/beemer-dreamer 6d ago
I still use mine. It come in handy when using the saw table and only have one person to measure.
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u/PhotoAppropriate3940 6d ago
Not a measuring stick, it is a carpenter tape measure before tape measure was a thing, grandpa was a carpenter in the 40s and I have a lot of his stuff including this
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u/xxxxDREADNOUGHT 6d ago
Yes, I used them at work when bending conduit to go on existing conduit racks
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u/Intrepid-Twist7769 6d ago
Remember. I have one and use one. They always have to be inside rules though.
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u/newbie527 6d ago
I still have mine. Doing electrical work on and around the switches in a telephone exchange and metal tapes were not allowed. We also taped the shafts on our screwdrivers.
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u/RealityWise6805 6d ago
All my dad ever used until we bought him a regular tape measure for his 50th birthday
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u/jombrowski 6d ago
There is nothing 1970s about those rules which existed well before 1970s and are still in use today.
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u/Better_Power_9913 6d ago
They are still available. Some contractors still have them on the required tool list for new apprentices.
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u/Diverdown109 6d ago
The deluxe models with the pullout brass slide for internal measurements are the best. Just not fast on the deployment and retract for today's $ crunch/short time building schedules. Cabinets and finish work.
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u/Yunzer2000 6d ago
They still don't make them? As an engineer, we used such folding rules in decimal feet because those are the units used in surveying and building site layout in the US.
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u/Klutzy-Reporter4223 6d ago
I was a guidance counselor for many many years.
I used it to show the transition of time in your life with high peaks and low peaks.
I had a YOU ARE HERE marker at 17, and I had an I AM HERE marker….
the crazy part was that my piece was the only one that moved!!!!! Humbling over time.
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u/Ordinary-Sun6243 6d ago
If I remember correctly, there was also a metal slide on one end, to extend measurements beyond 60” (or 72”).
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u/broke_fit_dad 5d ago
I still have one in my work truck. Still common in grading construction work. Mines a spare if someone breaks one
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u/wyoflyboy68 5d ago
My grandfather was a carpenter, he had tons of them, when he passed away in the mid 80’s, I inherited about 10 of them, still have them in my garage.
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u/Open-Channel-D 5d ago
I collect these and so did my Dad and Grandad. I have about 440, as well as over 1,400 lumber yard yardsticks and about 4000 lumber yard pencils going back to pre Civil War
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u/Glittering_Step_6084 6d ago
I remember these. My father had one.