Fidget Ready: Milwaukee Composite Folding Rules. Engineer and angle measuring. But just fun to use. 

At 62 years old, I carried one of these in my pouch as a teenage carpenter....ok carpenter apprentice. I carried one later, after a stint in the military. I don't recall exactly when I stopped having one in my tool pouch, but it was somewhere around 1985, I would guess. They were handy in certain circumstances...but I can't really remember exactly how. Hahaha, getting old.

38 year old 3rd generation electrician here, I’ve never known there were different types of stick tapes! I am going to find me one of those tiny one, that is just the coolest and it’s telescopic on the end. Judging by all the do dads on your table, I am subscribing right now I use them to get the angles of the conduit run I am matching, also if I need to take a measurement up high and don’t have a ladder, I can extend it all the way, bend the first 3 sticks at a 90, hold it up and see how long of a nipple I need to make

When I moved into my new house 4 years ago I bought one. I saw Scott Brown use one. I was hanging metal garage storage racks on the ceiling. It was easier to use the folding ruler for the spans as the tapes collapse.

Reminds me of my grandfather who was a carpenter and used a Stanley folding ruler with the brass joints and an extension that slides out of one end.

My GrandPa used folding rules. One old guy I did electric work with used them into the 90s.

Wow... Flashback! I remember seeing one of these in my dad's tools and on his workbench when I was a kid. :)

Some time ago I tried to use a folding ruler in my woodworking projects. There are several advantages to a rigid ruler but I could not get comfortable using it. If you like this style check out the Wiha (several others make them but the Wiha is the nicest in my opinion) with the extension. That allows you to make internal measurements and supposedly is more repeatable than a tape measure, but not for my simple mind. 😂

My dad works in power plants pretty often, they cant use metal tape measures cause of the conductivity, so he'll use the wooden folding rules

I use a rhino rulers brand brick ruler all the time. They are plastic or fiberglass also. It allows coursing of brick on a corner pole based on what size brick you are using and has a regular feet/inches on the other side.

I still use an older Stanley that has a little brass slide rule out on the end for a depth gauge

Ridgid Tool Company has had fiberglass folding rules, made in Switzerland, in their line for at least 30 years. Obviously they and Milwaukee are getting them private labeled. One neat thing about the 6’ rule you can extend it out all the way and bend it into a circle without breaking. Ridgid also has a 1 meter version that’s metric on one side and inch on the other.

This was the standard tape a while back. I found a recent application for it with the laser level it performs very well as a height ruler. A makeshift poor man transit for interior and exterior if low level light and not to far away.

I have the 1m version of this made by Long Life. Seems like the same company just allowing other companies to add their own branding. Use it daily at work. Often as an adjustable gauge block for fast repeatable placement of brackets etc.

A lot of people still like those folding rules! Curious; on the fractional rule, whats the centered red dot marker at about 78-9/16"?

Repeating on the Lufkin, mason rulers, paint used to flake off

I can't tell you how many times I pinched my fingers in my fathers or G'Fathers ones of these as a 6? year old!

Did tape measure made them obselete?

I got some of those older rulers my Dad had later I got a folding ruler made of aluminum haven't seen the composite yet... Engineering... I got a Tape Measure that has fraction & decimal I found that really handy doing what I do and I got a School Ruler years ago that had fraction, decimal & metric - Sterling: Math Ruler typically Sterling stuff didn't last long being made of clear styrene but this ruler was something different, haven't seen anything like it since DANG! now I'm going to have to get one of these...

Still have an old Sears Craftsman 6ft ruler that I inherited from my father. Don't use it because the tape measure is superior, but I keep it in the tool box anyway.

Hultafors makes combined inch and metric versions of folding rulers.

Looks like it's made by Kunststoffwerk AG Buchs, now owned by Wiha.

Those are very popular in Germany... Im israeli living in berlin (tig welder), refusing to convert to those "zollstock" things, my tape measure is much better.

I’m a Pipefitter and we use a stick rule daily. In the past a more traditional stick rule with 6” centers between pivots was used to layout angles. It was mostly unwritten but done the same way as the Milwaukee rule works. You unfold 4 leafs, of a Klein or lufkin 6” center stick rule, using the tip bring it to 21 and 31/32” and that will form a 45° angle. 23 and 23/32 is 22.5° and 22 and 1/4 is 60°. This function is applicable in the pipefitting trade when laying out pipe on the ground using a chalk line. That is also the reason we use an inside read folding rule, so that when unfold, it lays flat on the ground

German brand Stabila makes a better version of the engineering style folding ruler.

I prefer Swedish made Hultafors folding rulers.

In Europe this kind of Rulers are everywhere.

@4:01 should be tenths of a foot. Each foot has 10 divisions and each 1/10th has 10 more divisions (or a hundredth of a foot).

These are also hinged with a plastic pin, so they are not conductive. The wiha version is voltage rated. But if you yank it, the pin will go flying, never to be seen again.

I enjoy your videos. But just recommendation; yor microphone may be too close to your mouth, it is picking all the unattractive tongue and saliva noises.