BC Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Yesterday I came home with car trailer and tractor to find a painters van parked opposite so I did not have room to reverse into my driveway. I parked along my frontage but it meant my ramps were going to block next door so I thought just in case they reverse out and don't see the ramps damage could be done. Anyway I knocked on the side door and that was not a problem. My neighbour was them telling me they were clearing a house of an old friend who had been recently admitted to an old folks home. Out he came with a 4 foot folding rule made of ivory. It had belonged to the grandfather of Flora and he was a carpenter / joiner with Dunecht Estates. I had once taken an old fridge to the tip for her and she had remember so she had said to my neighbours to give the the chance of any tools etc. Despite my father and his two brothers and their father being joiners I had never heard of rules made from ivory...mind you I never have the need to use one and prefer a tape line. Anyway here is what I got yesterday a 4 foot folding one made by Stanley and No 86. Flora must be in her 80's so if it was her grandfathers "G Coutts" I'm suppose the rule must be over 150 or so years old Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) This got me thinking ...I have another collection. The next one is also a 4 foot one Rabone No 1375 folding and I got this recently from my uncle Sandy but he was from the farming side of the family so I suspect this had been handed down from my grandfather. Now this next one I would have bought from a chap who went to roups cleaned things up and had a stall at the Fraserburgh rally. Sadly this man passed on a few years ago but I always bought something from him. This one has been "restored" It's a Rabone No 1380 and is wider than the earlier 1375. Edited August 7, 2012 by BC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Moving on another Rabone with no number other than Patent No 1173229 and I have no idea where this one came from but I suspect from my dad. Another 3 foot one and I think dad bought two from the blacksmiths we used for tractor repairs and I recall the cost was £ 3 each since Billy or Alistair Nicol said the cost was £1 the foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Moving on to metric rules which my dad and both his brothers refused to change to...the 3 foot 3 or one meter rule ;D This one I see was Made in Holland by SYBREN and was No 73 Still in metric mode and we now have a plastic 3 foot 3 or 1 meter one. Made by Rabone has the name Chesterman and the number No 1302 I think that concludes another of my small collections with the exception of some broken ones which I use as fuel dip sticks on my vintage tractor collection. ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) I to have several folding rules of this type Bill, mostly Rabone boxwood ones from 1 foot to a 10 foot folding ones, most of them are of the 'four-fold' type. I also have a couple of small brass measures as well but these would be more draughtsmans tools. Your first pictured one is interesting and if it is ivory would be most unusual, I have seen some like this made of bone but the majority are made from an early white plastic like material called 'ivorine'. Tell-tale signs are that true ivory has a 'grain' of very thin striated lines along it as ivory, when living and growing grows like a tree, putting on one extra layer every year. Bone on the other hand has vry small black flecks in it, these are the remains of the blood vessels that fed the bone when the animal was alive. Ivorine has no graining or flecking. To test if it is ivorine or ivory, heat up the point of a pin to red hot and hold it into the material in an unobtrusive area, if it leaves a little hole, it's not ivory. I have seen a lot of bits and bobs at car boot sales being sold as ivory but is in fact either plastic or resin, when you tell the seller that you're going to do the 'hot pin test' on it they soon come clean! It is against the Law now to buy, import or sell ivory items that has been carved post 1947 unless it is accompanied by a certificate stating that it is old ivory. Bill, have you passed the fold-out rule test? Hold the rule in its closed position in one hand lengthways away from you and in four moves with your free hand unfold it with every move folding it open away from you. Edited August 7, 2012 by powerrabbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Thanks again Tim for a very informative response...although this is a Farm toys model forum I'm glad folk like you and me can talk and share knowledge outwith just farming and models ..as I said Tim I use tapelines not rules..so I'm bound to fail...anyway the new collection is already put away ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MF35_MAN Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I can't say I collect folding rules, other than the fact that I got one in Germany last year when I was over. I was amazed that all the carpenters and building professionals over there use them all the time, unlike the metal tapes which most us here. I got a 2m one which I now regularly use when surveying buildings, and to be honest find much handier than a tape in most instances. I'm on the look out for a better quality one as the one I got was a freebie and a bit flimsy . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I find it surprising that when you buy a new pair of overalls (boilersuit) that they are still made with the thin long pocket down the outside of one leg for a wooden folding rule, at least some things never change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 (edited) I can't say I collect folding rules, other than the fact that I got one in Germany last year when I was over. I was amazed that all the carpenters and building professionals over there use them all the time, unlike the metal tapes which most us here. I got a 2m one which I now regularly use when surveying buildings, and to be honest find much handier than a tape in most instances. I'm on the look out for a better quality one as the one I got was a freebie and a bit flimsy . That surprises me that they still use rules in preference to taper lines. I find it surprising that when you buy a new pair of overalls (boilersuit) that they are still made with the thin long pocket down the outside of one leg for a wooden folding rule, at least some things never change. And two breast pockets one of which can be used for a tape line ;D Edited August 8, 2012 by BC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 One type of measuring stick I would like is one contained within a walking stick to measure horses, I've seen many at antique fairs but they've always been rather expensively priced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 And heres me thinking horses were measured in hands by hands ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 In this instance, a hand is 4 inches. Some of these said sticks are callibrated or marked in either inches or hands and some are marked in both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Staying on the subject of measuring devices I have a couple of metal tape lines which are in a leather clad case made by Chesterman of Sheffield. The first one is a 50 foot one and I recall I got this from my late uncle David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 The next one is a 100 foot one and must have been owned by an "A Munro" at some time. I bought this one at a Grampain Transport Museum many year ago and probably before I was given the 50 foot one. Interesting to see the two different winding mechanism's on the two tapes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMB Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Those tapes were made to last Bill. Handsomely finished too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Yes Chris and even old leather has a nice smell to it ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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