this is a metal rule or is it a ruler some folks like to argue about that sort of thing many think it sounds more professional or at least more traditional to call it a rule and others grew up calling something like this a ruler and they see no reason to change Just Because the Internet is shaming them these days well here's the truth there may or may not be a difference in terms depending on who you ask if you want to go by the actual definitions of the word a rule is a set of guidelines that have been established to govern a particular activity while a ruler is an individual or group that applies or enforces those guidelines upon others so using the literal definitions this would be a rule because it features a set of guidelines that govern my work here in the shop and I would be the ruler because I'm applying or enforcing these guidelines upon my project now while it is true that I am the dictator of my workshop language isn't always applied literally traditionally there is a difference between a rule and a ruler and it comes down to the markings these marks are called the scale in the U.S this scale includes inches in the rest of the world it's likely to be metric that's a different debate for a different day but notice how the scale on this one begins near but not right at the end there is a line marking at zero point and then there's a bit of extra length next to it traditionally this would be called a ruler now look at this one notice how the scale begins right at the end there is no zero point that's the corner no extra length next to it traditionally this would be called a rule so you haven't been lied to your whole life when you were in school and your teacher threatened to smack you on the knuckles with a ruler she was correct because that type was most often used in schools for laying out something on paper or for doing artwork or even professionally for drafting that little bit of extra length in those cases allows you to easily place a pencil right at zero to Mark a pointer to draw a line but in the workshop particularly for wood and metal working that little bit of extra length is eliminated so the rule can be used to accurately measure objects because in this setting you're less likely to start laying out marks right in the middle of a work piece you can do that if you want you just have to use a little more care to get your pencil right on the corner of the rule but you're more likely to begin measuring from the end or edge of a work piece and it's more accurate to Simply flush the end of the rule right up to the end of your work piece and measure from there you can also place the end directly against an object something you can do with a ruler sense a rule is designed for accuracy in the workshop you have to be careful that you choose the right one for example it should be properly ground so the distance between that first Mark and the end of the rule is precisely 1 16 of an inch or one millimeter or whatever the scale calls for many cheap rules are not properly ground and that throws the accuracy right out the window likewise A good rule should be durable it should be sufficiently thick and hardened so it won't wear along the ends or edges and lose its accuracy over time and there are a lot of good rules out there doesn't have to be just this brand I have several in fact I like Starrett I like shinwa I like Bridge City among others you don't have to pay a lot of money though to get a good rule this one is made by Benchmark it was like ten dollars for the 12 inch and I think eight dollars for the six inch that's pretty inexpensive for what are really high quality tools in my opinion what's unique about this is the black color and it's got a simplified scale the White markings on the black stand out really well so it's easy to read even with poor eyesight and the scales there's one and sixteenths but there's also one in just eighths as a woodworker I rarely need a 30 second scale I have rules with 30 seconds on them if I need them but most of the time I'm working in eighths or sixteenths and I don't need that extra clutter it just makes it more likely I'm going to make a mistake it is a real luxury to have a good well-ground thick durable rule with the clear uncluttered scales on the black background I'm not saying toss your rules if you can get one of these I'm not going to toss mine but for under 10 bucks I don't know it seems like a no-brainer maybe you should pick one up I highly recommend it both sizes actually the six and the 12 inch I'll put a link below to a family business that sells these Taylor tools I really think they're worth supporting but you better head over there now because I don't know how many they have and last time I recommended a tool it sold out really quickly and then people got mad at me so I'm forewarning you it's probably going to sell out fast by the way if you're wondering about the new look behind me it's not quite finished I still have a lot of drawers that have to be made but many of you have been asking what happened to my hand tool area that you saw in a lot of past videos because at the beginning of this year I started speaking to you from behind a table saw well set your minds at ease I didn't abandon my hand tools for an exclusively power tool Workshop I've just been doing some rearranging to make it easier to film some upcoming woodworking courses for our website and those are going to require more room for the cameras to move around so this set will be used for the table saw Band Saw and router related content and this set here will be used for hand tool content and pretty much everything else not only is there a lot more room to get the cameras around the bench on all sides but I can concentrate on keeping these two areas neat and well organized for filming all the time while the rest of the shop can be a disaster if I'm working on a project behind the scenes because yes I do make a mess like everyone else I'll keep you updated on the changes on the online courses in the coming months see you next time
