Hang Straight Edge

Where plastic is practical

How to hang a straight edge, a few tips on printing, labelling.

A straight edge is a long, quite solid steel ruler with which you can check the straightness of a workpiece, the flatness of a wooden surface. This is from Veritas (link to shop: https://www.feinewerkzeuge.de/G307944.html) and is intended more for woodworking, because the accuracy is too poor for metal. In metalworking, long bridge-like scraped rulers made of grey cast iron are used for this check. Alternatively, hair rulers can of course be used in woodworking for small surfaces, but I haven't used one yet.

Unfortunately, my Straight Edge (precision flat liner) bought at Feine Werkzeuge in Berlin has taken a bit of damage over the last few years. I had put it down on wooden surfaces in the rather damp old workshop. Don't do that! Wood is hygroscopic and rust develops when it comes into contact with wood that has too much moisture. This is also the case with my Straight Edge. For my new workshop, I decided that the ruler should rather be hung up without contact with wood.

Therefore I designed the necessary parts in Blender and then printed them on my 3D printer in black PLA. The font used is the IBM Plex Monotype, which I also use here on the blog. The holder and ruler are attached independently, the hook is a normal screw hook that I shortened a bit. The holder at the bottom prevents the ruler from swinging and scratching the wall. Since I have OSB everywhere behind the plaster in the workshop, I can simply screw in screws everywhere in the wall.

I printed the lettering sparingly with gold-coloured acrylic paint and an eraser. This way, the paint really only reaches the foremost edge of the letters.