In the past IвЂ™ve tried rulers lined with cork (which are commonly available), but this raises the marking/cutting edge up too far I find, making itВ possible to вЂundercutвЂ™ with the pencil or knife blade if oneвЂ™s not careful. The aluminium ruler has a rubber grip on its underside to stop it slipping and I cover the underside of the steel ones with masking tape which works almost as well. Especially when cutting, it is useful to have the smaller ones because theyвЂ™re much easier to handle and move aroundВ when working on small work. a broader 1metre aluminium ruler and a 60cm flat steel ruler for larger work, a 30cm, and the smallest with is 15cm. Over the years IвЂ™ve come to rely on having four. cutting is made easier because thereвЂ™s less friction between the metal edge and the scalpel blade. Metal rulers areВ not generally expensive, although the ones which have a nicely finished edge (smooth and with the raised burr taken off) often cost a bit more. In fact, I hardly use the smaller metal rulers for anything else since the markingsВ on the scale ruler, above, are much clearer to read than the reflective surface of steel rulers. I deal with these both here and in theВ next partВ on tools for Cutting because they are used as much to assist cutting as for measurement. Tesco ВЈ5.30 for pack of 10 вЂ5 Star Disposable Mechanical PencilвЂ™ 0.7mm lead (three leads included with each) Ryman ВЈ4.99 for pack of 10 вЂPapermate Non Stop Mechanical PencilsвЂ™ 0.7mm lead Rotring Tikky 0.5mm ВЈ3.99 Zebra Drafix 0.3mm ВЈ4.99 But I always try to keep this at home, and use other cheaper ones out-and-about or for other general-purposes becauseВ pencils are notoriously easy to lose!

I personally prefer to use a special type though which takes a 0.3mm вЂHвЂ™ lead,В finer and harder than the usual ones, which gives better accuracy. the cut-price ones from supermarkets will doВ almost as well. But this doesnвЂ™t need to be an expensive one. It is essential to use one of these for fine-scale work, to make aВ consistently even, fine line when marking-out for cutting etc. These more general-purpose ones most often have aВ 0.7mm lead with a standard вЂHBвЂ™ hardness and itвЂ™s also usually possible to refill them. Some luxury versions can be expensive, but others are as cheap as ВЈ4-5 for a pack of 10.

a very thin graphite stick or вЂleadвЂ™ housed in a mechanism which allows it to be advanced forward as it wears down, without the need for sharpeningВ .В but IвЂ™ve also seen вЂautomaticвЂ™ or вЂclutchвЂ™ pencilВ referred to,В and in the UK the old-fashioned term вЂpropelling pencilвЂ™ is still sometimes used. It also covers tools for weighing or dosing materials. This first part deals with tools for measuring and marking-out and deals with pencils, rulers (including scale rulers), squares, small drawing-boards, spacing or shape templates and other geometry tools. Even temporary constructions to assist assembly, or one-off templates to achieve a specific shape, are tools, and thatвЂ™s why IвЂ™ve included them. I prefer to use hand-methods rather than machine tools on the whole, but IвЂ™ve also kept to the use of hand-toolsВ in my teaching because most of the people I teach donвЂ™t have power tools or workshops.ДЄ tool is any device, however simple or however complex, which enables or contributes to the performance of a task. Obviously this list reflects the way I prefer to work, which may differ from other peopleВ . The list includes some simple, custom-made tools which canвЂ™t be bought, and IвЂ™ve added more information on where others can be found. IвЂ™ve collated these accounts together from what IвЂ™ve already written on this site or elsewhere, but IвЂ™ve also added quite a bit to them. measuring and marking-out cutting assembly shaping and modelling creating surfaces painting. The tools will be grouped according to general tasks. Once completed each part will be previewed as a post and then put in the Methods section under Recommended tools for small-scale making where I can add to them as I learn new things. This is the first part of an account IвЂ™m putting together of tools IвЂ™d recommend for small-scale making.

How to use metric scale ruler