In my wife’s photo above you can see two Staedtler items for left-handers. Yes, that left-handed Metro pencil is apparently made by Staedtler UK in Pontyclun. They also made pencils for Berol and Chambers in their Pontyclun factory (You might remember the 2014 La La Land post with Chambers pencils and the 2013 Berol post).
In 2009 Lexikaliker reviewed the BMI Quicky. Back then I was lucky enough to get this steel tape measure from him as a gift …and since then I have used it on many occasions.
Rolled up…
On a recent trip to Granthams, a local stationery and art supplies store, I found the Bracelet rule by Tiger. It does have some resemblance to the BMI Quicky: both the BMI Quicky and the Tiger Bracelet rule are bistable steel tape measures than can be rolled up (I assume the outer side is longer than the inner side) or extended and flat (because the top is shorter than the bottom). When you change from one state to the other, doesn’t matter which way round, there are some folds visible (see picture), but they seem to go away after a while [1]The rolled and the straight ones in the shop were fold free, but did exhibit this issue once the state was changed., but that takes forever [2]Several days after unrolling the ruler it still doesn’t have a smooth surface..
Left…
The Bracelet rule was available in bright yellow or orange yellow. I bought the orange yellow version for 55p (~ 88¢; 64c). The top is made from reflective material (visible in the first picture, look at the reflection on the right). The bottom feels plasticy felty.
Right…
In case you wonder: no I haven’t tried wearing it as a bracelet yet and I don’t intend to…
I bought this inexpensive wooden ruler from Ashton Print in Preston, Lancashire for 69p (1.08 US$, € 0.79). Since then I found that some online-shops sell it even cheaper. The ruler itself is 12″ / 30cm long and made in Australia by Stephens [1]The shop had a few Stephens rulers for sale. They were in a cardboard stand marked “Made in Australia. Carded in England.. This would be the perfect spot in this post to tell you a bit more about Stephens, but unfortunately I was not able to find any useful information about who they are or what products they offer, so let’s skip this part and go straight to the ruler.
The weight is about 12 grams
With about 12g the wood is quite light. So light in fact, that it feels fragile. It has less than half the weight of the wooden rulers I have used previously. Looking at the wood grain and taking the mass into account (12g for about 25 cm3 = 480 kg / m3) I would say the ruler is made from Aspen wood, but this is only a guess.
Eighths and Twelfths
The ruler has centimetres and millimetres printed on one side and inches printed on the other side. The four corners of the inch side are further divided into eighths and sixteenths on the right and tenths and twelfths on the left. Additonally the middle of the inch side has 30°, 45°, 60°, 72° and 90° angles printed on them. This is obviously not a replacement for a set square, but a nice addition that could be of use. The printing on the ruler must have been created using some kind of stamping mechanism and is a bit irregular, which gives this ruler an “old-fashioned” touch.
Angles
The wood is untreated, which means that nearly all pens or pencils you will use with this ruler could leave a mark on the side. Using such a soft wood has also another potential for problems. If there is a dent you will not be able any more to draw a perfectly straight line. Some wooden rulers have a metal bar on the side to guarantee a straight line, but the Stephens does not and I would not have expected this from a fairly inexpensive ruler either. There is not really much more to say about this ruler, but I am sure I will enjoy using my Australian ruler.
