Brass-bound wooden rulers were once a staple of a woodworker's toolkit. Many of these rulers were hand-stamped and inked to make the marks as easy to read as possible.

Because of the rise of the tape measure and the failure of American ruler manufacturing, the 24" joiner's rule has disappeared from both the marketplace and the North American toolbox.

We decided to try to bring back this handy tool. So we worked with the last domestic manufacturer of traditional wooden rules to create a special one for woodworking. These 24" rulers are based on an example found in a joiner's chest from the late 18th or early 19th century.

These hard maple rulers are made on manual equipment that debosses the wood with the vertical markings and the numbers. Then the ends of the ruler are bound in brass for durability. Here in Covington, we manually cut in the two horizontal lines that help your eye immediately separate halves, quarters and eighths. We then inked and buff the entire ruler to make everything match.

After your eye gets used to the horizontal and vertical lines, you are much less likely to lose your place on the ruler.

The rulers are marked on one side only. The back is blank and can be used as a story stick. 

Students in my chair classes are shocked at how handy a stiff wooden rule is to the craft. A ruler allows you to align the facets of your legs with ease, plus lay out the lengths of your stretchers and long sticks. Once I switched to a wooden ruler, I stopped using my tape measure except for rough cuts.

The rulers measure 1/4" x 1" x 24". Made in Maine and Covington from U.S.-grown maple.