I saw something that has me a bit puzzled. It was a folding ruler, kinda like one of those 6′ folding “cabinet maker’s” rulers. But stamped on one side it said “Plumber’s Ruler”.
On one side it had the usual 1″ markings in black. But on the other side, they were in red and weren’t quite an inch long. On the end of the ruler, it says: “45° scale”, or something like that.
Any idea what the heck this thing was used for?
If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.
Replies
Boss: That would be the scale to cut pipe that is running at a 45 degree angle. It is 0.707 times full scale. With this scale...you measure what distance your pipe is going .and then it automatically gives the diagonal distance the pipe will be cut at before allwowance for fittings. Example. If you need to know how long your pipe needs to be cut if it is going diagonally across a 12 inch square...the 45 degree rule will show it to be 14.14 inches.
O.K. - But why not just measure along the 45° rake? Seems like that would be easier....I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb ... and I'm also not blonde. [Dolly Parton]
The scale assures you that you are holding your tape at exactly 45 degrees.. Not easy to do. This way..all you have to do is measure square..and the diagonal scale perfectly does the 45 degree measure for you.
I thought the diagonal of a 12" square is just under 17"Smile. It could be worse. You could be me working for you.
I think Stan was working in metric <grin> for a 10 square it would be 14.14 inches. You are right -- for a 12 inch square it is going to be just under 17 inches. (the square root of 144 + 144)
But Stan had the right idea.
Kind of like a pi tape -- which is a tape you can put around a pipe or cylinder and it will read the diameter in inches or mm depending on english or metric system. Very handy for checking large pipes or cylinders. You can read they very close since the scale is pi times larger -- as the distance between inch marks is pi inches (3.14159 inches).
deblacksmith
Mikey: You are right...I was thinking of "1" foot...and my answer should have been 1.414 feet,,,,not 14.14 inches...brain fart on my part...sorry
http://www.tools-plus.com/luf626l.htmlbobl Volo, non valeo
Why would a plumber have another special tool to ensure accuracy when all he really needs is already standard equipment - a SAWZALL!
how much you want for it?
I don't actually own the thing - Just saw it somewhere.
Are they unusual or something?In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman. [Margaret Thatcher]
I thought you had found an old one. That's all.
I thought that the ruler of the plumbers was Bob. :-)
If you measure the distance one pipe is offset from the other and multiply that distance by 1.414 you'll have the length of the diagonal to mate the two at a 45 degree angle. From a practical standpoint 1.4 is close enough.