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Four foot wooden measuring stick

Vinyldog

Vinyldog

New Member
About twenty years ago, maybe longer, I went to a trade show and one the SWAG items I scored was a four foot wooden measuring stick (not a yardstick) from Best Buy Banner Co in Riverside, CA. which has since changed it's name or was bought out or something.
And I would love to find another like it. It's not the 1/4in thick "mule clubber" you see everywhere. It's only about 1/8in thick. Very light and flexible, and 48inches long.
I would even consider making a few hundred for advertisement
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
You make a complete measuring scale in the software of your choice, print it out and stick it on any piece of substrate you want at any size you want.

We have rulers from 6" up to 24" and everything in between. Yard sticks starting at 24" up to 60" and any thickness you desire. We also have quite a few magnetic strips for sticking on metal surfaces, so they don't fall off. Quite convenient when measuring out vehicles with only one person.



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Vinyldog

Vinyldog

New Member
I would just want it to be lightweight and flexible like a typical yard-stick but I do want it to be wood. I have the plastic and aluminum ones and they just don't work as well for me.
 
P

player

New Member
You have to be careful printing your own rulers. I worked for a graphics house years ago. They were asked to produce the artwork for an advertising ruler. They did the work, the plastics company made millions of them and they were sent out all over North America. Then the complaints started coming in, because they were 11.5" not 12" as the ruler showed. Lots of people had used them to measure curtains, desks etc and of course the measurements were wrong. This was a big disaster.

Recently I was at Busy Bee woodworking tool store and they had some nice looking steel rulers. I started comparing the scale of different rulers and they were all out by about +-1/16".
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
If you make something that is supposed to be 12" long and it ends up being 11.5" long, there is something wrong with you. If you do it to millions of projects, there is something wrong with your quality control department. That is not..... not being careful. That is being careless. If you make a ruler, yardstick or whatever and it's off by about 1/16", the same conditions apply.

Start looking for another job, like an elevator route in a 2 story building.... or maybe directing people at the top of an esculator. :banghead:
 
SignosaurusRex

SignosaurusRex

Active Member
Years ago, most all of the Sign Supply companies offered them as "swag". They usually turned out to be "yard sticks" because one end would get broken off for something to stir paint with as a quick, last minute resort. The plastic ones took the place of wood to solve the problem as well as wood quality and strength was quickly diminishing. For a quality grade / strength wood to be used, the costs made them unattractive for swag or purchase.
 
P

player

New Member
Gino said:
If you make something that is supposed to be 12" long and it ends up being 11.5" long, there is something wrong with you. If you do it to millions of projects, there is something wrong with your quality control department. That is not..... not being careful. That is being careless. If you make a ruler, yardstick or whatever and it's off by about 1/16", the same conditions apply.

Start looking for another job, like an elevator route in a 2 story building.... or maybe directing people at the top of an esculator. :banghead:
Click to expand...

I didn't do it.

This was about 1986 and the company had a very expensive Linotype output machine. It was all pre computers, and the machine was a couple of hundred grand. I guess nobody doubted it's calibration.

But as I said, the rulers for sale today are not the same...

I printed a banner 194" long last week. It was 193". Got to figure that out.
 
C

chartle

New Member
My chemistry teacher in high school ordered a meter stick. It was a meter long but dimensioned in only inches. :omg:
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
player said:
I didn't do it.

This was about 1986 and the company had a very expensive Linotype output machine. It was all pre computers, and the machine was a couple of hundred grand. I guess nobody doubted it's calibration.

But as I said, the rulers for sale today are not the same...

I printed a banner 194" long last week. It was 193". Got to figure that out.
Click to expand...

That was written as subject in general, not directed towards you. Also, 1986, was hardly pre-computer.

Your one inch problem......... probably after going 16 feet, your pinchers slip, ever so slighty. Perhaps, it slacked a 1/16" every foot ?? Not unthinkable. As the machines get older, their tracking abilities tend to get off a little..... especially on certain media.
 
P

player

New Member
Gino said:
That was written as subject in general, not directed towards you. Also, 1986, was hardly pre-computer.

Your one inch problem......... probably after going 16 feet, your pinchers slip, ever so slighty. Perhaps, it slacked a 1/16" every foot ?? Not unthinkable. As the machines get older, their tracking abilities tend to get off a little..... especially on certain media.
Click to expand...

The printer is about 4 years old, but has about 70 hours. Roland VP540i
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
player said:
The printer is about 4 years old, but has about 70 hours. Roland VP540i
Click to expand...

Wow..... you're saying you do about 3 hours of printing a week ?? What do you do with the rest of your time ?? Sometimes non-use is as bad as heavy-use. Ever notice they say change the oil in your car every so many miles or 6 months ?? Which ever comes first. Age still counts..... ask me how I know.
 
P

player

New Member
Gino said:
Wow..... you're saying you do about 3 hours of printing a week ?? What do you do with the rest of your time ?? Sometimes non-use is as bad as heavy-use. Ever notice they say change the oil in your car every so many miles or 6 months ?? Which ever comes first. Age still counts..... ask me how I know.
Click to expand...

I didn't buy it new, it was a demo. But I hear ya... Things just stop working right.
 
Vinyldog

Vinyldog

New Member
My four footer is a few inches short as well thanks to an incident with a car door many years ago, but it's still my favorite measuring tool. Thanks for the tip on the upholstery tools, it sounds promising.
I do have a plastic yard stick. It's my second favorite, but I find it a little too flexible and not quite long enough.
(that's what she said)
 
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