Architect Scale Ruler for the Great American Smokeout
Some habits are healthy for us: eating a balanced diet, being kind to others, being on time. On the other hand, some habits can really harm our bodies. Today is the Great American Smokeout, the first day towards building a healthier lifestyle for those who smoke.
Need some tips to help you kick the habit?
Take it one day at a time. It’s not a race.
Have a support team of friends & family who will be by your side
If you need a few more tips, look for your doctor’s phone number on your architect scale ruler. They have even more resources for you that will help you on your journey. Good luck!
How To Read Blueprints With an Architect Scale Ruler
This week (the 3rd week of September) is National Construction Appreciation Week. Construction covers a wide array of activities. Building bridges, razing barns, pouring concrete, painting buildings, covering roofs, making highways, installing drywall, and pounding nails, are all part of the picture of building our environment.
An important tool that is common to all these activities is the architect scale ruler. It is used by
architects
builders
estimators
designers
contractors
It helps to measure the size of things on a blueprint. The 2 common configurations are 1/4″ and 1/8″. On the 1/4″ scale, each mark is 1/4″ apart, and numbered from zero, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. If the blueprint is drawn to that scale, then the “5” mark on the scale means 5 feet, or 5 miles, or whatever the blueprint says.
Tomorrow, the first Wednesday in May, is National Skilled Trades Day in the US. This is the day we set aside to recognize the importance of those who:
Build your homes.
Fix the furnace and air conditioning in your office and homes.
A Skilled Tradesman Taking Notes in the Field
Paint ceilings, walls, bridges, and machinery.
Wire your house and the businesses.
Fix your cars.
Create your hairdo.
Build the roads.
Repair aircraft.
A college education isn’t necessary for any of these jobs, so these careers have generally been hard to fill with qualified people. Tomorrow, you can recognize these important contributors to society by:
Thanking them.
Calling them for assistance instead of doing it yourself.
Give them a gift, like this useful architect scale ruler. It is a vital tool for reading blueprints of road construction and building construction and remodeling.
An architect scale ruler is used by architects, designers, planners, and draftsmen. If you are going to order some with your company logo, which ruler should you choose?
6 inches long, or 12 inches long? Will the person using it, be carrying it in their shirt pocket, or in their brief case, or on their desk?
Scales. A good architect scale ruler has at least 8 scales. Examples are (1/8, ¼), (½, 1), (3/8, 3/4), (3, 1½). These are listed in pairs, because they share the same edge, but are marked in opposite directions.
Color. It is good to choose a color that goes with your corporate colors.
Imprint color. The logo imprint color is usually the same color as the markings. So, you should choose a markings color that has a high contrast from the color of the ruler.
A good ruler is imprinted using a photo anodized method. This assures smooth edges, so you can use a pen or pencil to draw tick-free lines.
Aluminum is the best material, since it doesn’t warp.
If your architect ruler has all these characteristics, you have a good one.
Most people probably don’t need one, but for those dedicated architects out there, you should probably have an extra one on-hand just in case the situation calls for it!
The average person doesn’t typically use an architect scale ruler– we tend to stick to just a regular ol’ ruler or tape measure. To be honest with you, I hadn’t even heard of these unique rulers until just a few years ago!
What do you think their best features are?
Ability to quickly translate the measurements on a blueprint
They are small and portable (ie: pocket-friendly!)
They come in both rigid and flexible styles
Bonusfeature #4: They can be imprinted with your company’s logo!
The holiday season is officially upon us, and people are eagerly putting together their holiday gift lists. It’s best to plan ahead and take care of the employees and customers on your list who need an architect scale ruler. These are the best ones to spoil them with:
As our minds drift back to elementary American history lessons tomorrow, one can only think, “Did Christopher Columbus have access to an architect scale ruler in his day?”
Okay, sure, that’s probably not the first question that pops to mind when you think about Columbus Day. But surely, Columbus must have possessed a ruler of sorts to help measure his ships, even if it wasn’t an architect scale ruler.
The burning questions is “Why does it matter”. If you ask an architect, he or she will tell you that an architect scale ruler is vital to their daily business. They would not be able to function without these rulers.
Architect Scale Rulers at Work
What is an architect scale ruler? It is a special ruler that is marked in special scales that correspond to the scale of the drawing. If the drawing is done in 1″ = 1 foot, then each inch on the correct scale will represent one foot in the drawing. If the drawing is done in 1/4″ = 1 foot, then each quarter inch on the 1/4 scale corresponds to 1 foot in the drawing. On this particular scale, each 1/4 inch is marked 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc. So that the “4 marking number” is one inch from the zero mark. Simple, so far. But each of these rulers has several scales, so you don’t have to have multiple rulers in your pocket. Other scales can be 1/8, 1/16, 1/3, 3/16 and so forth. The trick of this business is to be able to choose the correct scale for each drawing you are working on. If you are reading a highway map which is drawn to 1/4″ = 1 mile, you would use the 1/4 scale. If you are with me up to this point, you could become an architect!
Let’s jump right into a subject that is close to everyone: Designing a kitchen. The architect scale ruler is a very useful device to plan your new kitchen. It helps you to draw your room and appliances to scale, and to read the measurements later. It will tell you if there is enough room to place a refrigerator in a certain part of your space.
Designing Your Kitchen with an Architect Scale Ruler
Now let’s get to the nitty gritty. Which scale should you use on the ruler? Your ruler may have some or all of these scales:
(1/8, ¼), (½, 1), (3/8, 3/4), (3, 1½)
If you use the “1” scale, that would mean that 1 inch on the scale equals one foot in real life. Let’s not use that one, because your 15 foot long kitchen would need a piece of paper at least 15 inches long. Let’s use the 1/4 scale, which means 1/4 inch on the scale (on the paper) represents one foot in real life. This means that your 8 inch wide paper will represent 32 feet. Your kitchen will fit on that paper now.
From here on, you just measure your room and appliances, and draw them on your paper, to scale.
A quick designer tip: Draw your appliances to scale on colored paper, cut them out, and move them around on your drawing for the best arrangement. Also, do the same with any other cabinets or tables that you already have, and want to use them in your design.
