So Here We Go.... Rules Or Scales

[RJSakowski]

By "polyester" I suppose that "mylar" is meant. Mylar became the standard for drawing stability rather than vellum paper, at least for the larger drawings that were produced at the Westinghouse Marine Division and other aerospace/defense companies where I was employed.

There was also a coated woven linen fiber medium that was very sturdy and superior to mylar for heat resistance but the coating could quickly be abraded away, especially with the electric erasers that became universal in the 'sixties. I recall that by the late 'sixties, linen was being phased out.

Linen media, as I recall, was used primarily for inked drawings while mylar could be used for both ink and pencil. The mylar drawing surface had a "tooth" - a roughened surface - so that graphite pencil lead would slightly abrade and imbed the particles that then constituted the drawing lines.

Linen media required that the surface first be treated using a fine powder called "Pounce" before inking. The pounce slightly roughened the smooth coating on the linen so that it absorbed the ink. (Without pounce, the inked lines would tend to "bead up" so continuous lines couldn't be produced.)

Old-timers may recall drafting pencil lead hardness classifications: for example, 5H was often used for construction lines, 4H for center lines and dimension lines and 2H for object lines and H for lettering. There was also a product consisting of fine particles of rubber erasing compound contained in a cloth bag but I don't recall what we called it.

The bag was coarsely woven so that the particles could be released as the bag was squeezed and manipulated over the drawing. The resulting fine particles were then lightly brushed over the surface of the pencil drawing with a drafting brush (another tool that has disappeared with the usage of CAD). The purpose was to absorb the fine dusting of pencil graphite that inevitably spread over the drawing surface, to keep the drawing cleaner.

Man, does this thread bring back memories. Here are a few manual drafting tools that I still own and sometimes even use, LOL. There are also two Dietzgen compasses and a pair of dividers out in the shop that find occasional use. In the center of this photo is a triangular architects scale. This one is special because it was first used by my Dad then passed on to me. The scale is approximately ninety years old.

View attachment 99170

It does bring back memories. I have not had any professional experience but I took 3-1/4 years of drafting in high school. My intent was to go into drafting as a profession, which became diverted to engineering , followed by physics. I used to work in the high school mechanical drawing department where I would run the whiteprint machine.

The instructor moonlighted for various local firms producing their prints. As I recall, the machine was about 6 to 8 ft wide. You would start several of the inked transparencies on the roll and would have to cut the roll before it got pulled in. We used a large pair of shears to cut the paper and would use a single swiping motion rather than the more traditional cutting motion.. Because of the darn mechanical drawing, I never did make it into the machine shop class or welding class.

I remember the 4H pencils. I haven't seen one in years but you could really make some nice lines. We did our inking with the split nib pens and old fashioned inkwell. Different sized nibs for different line widths.

 

[T Bredehoft]

The folding Lufkin product I carry in my hip pocket is a rule. The stainless, 12 in, item I have laying around so I can grab it when I want it is a scale. It has inches marked on it divided into different divisions, on one side fractions, on the other side tenths and hundredths of an inch. Just my opinion, not a "rule", meaning a regulation.

I've several of the metal ones (above), two start at 2" one a 1/2, it seems when you have them in your hip pocket and sit wrong, the end breaks off. Both sides start at zero on the same end, so I've become adept at reading from 12 down. None have broken at the 12 inch end.

 

[uncle harry]

By "polyester" I suppose that "mylar" is meant. Mylar became the standard for drawing stability rather than vellum paper, at least for the larger drawings that were produced at the Westinghouse Marine Division and other aerospace/defense companies where I was employed.

There was also a coated woven linen fiber medium that was very sturdy and superior to mylar for heat resistance but the coating could quickly be abraded away, especially with the electric erasers that became universal in the 'sixties. I recall that by the late 'sixties, linen was being phased out.

Linen media, as I recall, was used primarily for inked drawings while mylar could be used for both ink and pencil. The mylar drawing surface had a "tooth" - a roughened surface - so that graphite pencil lead would slightly abrade and imbed the particles that then constituted the drawing lines.

Linen media required that the surface first be treated using a fine powder called "Pounce" before inking. The pounce slightly roughened the smooth coating on the linen so that it absorbed the ink. (Without pounce, the inked lines would tend to "bead up" so continuous lines couldn't be produced.)

Old-timers may recall drafting pencil lead hardness classifications: for example, 5H was often used for construction lines, 4H for center lines and dimension lines and 2H for object lines and H for lettering. There was also a product consisting of fine particles of rubber erasing compound contained in a cloth bag but I don't recall what we called it.

The bag was coarsely woven so that the particles could be released as the bag was squeezed and manipulated over the drawing. The resulting fine particles were then lightly brushed over the surface of the pencil drawing with a drafting brush (another tool that has disappeared with the usage of CAD). The purpose was to absorb the fine dusting of pencil graphite that inevitably spread over the drawing surface, to keep the drawing cleaner.

Man, does this thread bring back memories. Here are a few manual drafting tools that I still own and sometimes even use, LOL. There are also two Dietzgen compasses and a pair of dividers out in the shop that find occasional use. In the center of this photo is a triangular architects scale. This one is special because it was first used by my Dad then passed on to me. The scale is approximately ninety years old.

View attachment 99170

Ah yes, linen. When I was a "rent'a grunt" (contract) drafter @ Allis Chalmers AEPD division near Milwaukee we used mostly linen. AEPD built fuel cells for potential future use in the space race. I have fond memories of those days. We did use graphite on linen then. I had a lolly pop drawing machine on a 5 foot board working on a 7 foot layout for a MOL mass substitute model. MOL was the Manned Orbiting Laboratory project. The model was an assembly of components and blocks of aluminum that represented the center of gravity for actual sub components. These models went to Rockwell to determine the performance of an over all capsule model.
All of this ended when Apollo landed on the moon.

 

[juiceclone]

MANY years ago, I worked with a Guy from Birmingham, England. One of the many British term differences was, a ruler was the King ... you measured things with a scale (skiyul was his pronunciation) :>))

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I thought a rule was a law and a scale was that thing in your bathroom that tells how much by weigh. ;-)

 

[RJSakowski]

When I think of scales, fish come to mind.

 

[Alan Douglas]

I would suppose that a scale is for measurement, while a rule is for guiding something (tool, pen, pencil, or people). But once you combine the two by adding graduations to a straight edge, it's simply custom that suggests which name to use.

 

[T Bredehoft]

it's simply custom that suggests which name to use.

That's the answer we all need to observe.

 

[stupoty]

I tend to use the term "measuring stick" for all my measuring implements. Theirs a level of wrongness you cant get in trouble for, people just have to palm face at it.

Stuart

 

[kwoodhands]

Call me "Persnickety" if you must, but when someone enters my shop, on the door are the rules. Number six states you measure with a scale. Number seven says, "The above is in English no metric".

"Billy G"

The only thing I measure with a scale is my fat butt.