03-30-05
Engineer Scales
I've been creating designs in Adobe Illustrator and executing them using shop tools. One problem with Illustrator is that it doesn't really support eighths, sixteenths, and smaller divide-by-two subdivisions of an inch. It uses decimal fractions of an inch.
So, I went looking for an inch ruler which is subdivided decimally. The best I found so far is the Alumicolor Engineer, which has six scales, including tenths and fiftieths, and is extremely well made.
-- Charles Platt
Alumicolor Engineer Scales
$10
Mister Art
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Cliff Abrams
Are you using a Mac? There's a handy dashboard tool (F4) that quickly converts anything into anything. Set up your document in millimeters (or decimal inches), and figure out the measurements via the dashboard— later or as-you-work.
Jess Davis
Decimal inches are what are commonly used for engineering drawings, but the selection of measuring tools is poor. Machinist's tool sellers always have scales in decimal inches, and most calipers, micrometers, etc. read that way. The problem is when you go larger than the usual machinist world and need a tape measure. The best source I've found for these is McMaster-Carr Supply, www.mcmaster.com. They have 12' tapes marked in decimal inches on one side and fractions on the other, made by both Stanley (p/n 6802A77) and Lufkin (19805A78). Both are good, but I usually buy the Stanley for reasons that I don't remember.
Be very careful not to buy the "Engineer's Tape", which is marked in tenths and hundreths of a FOOT. Got those in the plant by mistake once--lots of confusion.
Stanley also has now a decimal inch/metric tape. I think they initially tooled that up for my former employer (Ditch Witch) when they were trying to convert to metric. And no, it didn't take.
Jess Davis
Davis Precision Design, Inc.
www.davisprecisiondesign.com