# Milwaukee Composite Folding Rule



## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

I wouldn't waste my money on a composite or fiberglass folding rule. The number one selling point for me is easy opening. It should open and lock open as easy as spreading your arms. The Klein wooden ones seem to be the best out of the wrapper. Add a drop of 3 in 1 oil and it feels like it's well broken in. Sometimes I'll rub the joints with paraffin wax. The klien's seem to hold the Numbers longer too.


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

Got a Milwaukee rule like the thickness of it folded and the width is fine also.
Just hate the fact that it is 78" and almost 11/16"long. Actually it is 2 meters long . Like you it being numbered backwards it those 2 items alone would have made it a non-starter for me. I wish I would have known before I bought it

LC


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## mdnitedrftr (Aug 21, 2013)

cabletie said:


> I wouldn't waste my money on a composite or fiberglass folding rule. The number one selling point for me is easy opening. It should open and lock open as easy as spreading your arms. The Klein wooden ones seem to be the best out of the wrapper. Add a drop of 3 in 1 oil and it feels like it's well broken in. Sometimes I'll rub the joints with paraffin wax. The klien's seem to hold the Numbers longer too.


The fiberglass one is actually cheaper than the wooden one ($20 vs $27), and the Milwaukee even moreso. 

The SH has a Klein wood on the shelf. Maybe I can sweet talk them into giving me a deal on it.


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## mdnitedrftr (Aug 21, 2013)

Lone Crapshooter said:


> Got a Milwaukee rule like the thickness of it folded and the width is fine also.
> Just hate the fact that it is 78" and almost 11/16"long. Actually it is 2 meters long . Like you it being numbered backwards it those 2 items alone would have made it a non-starter for me. I wish I would have known before I bought it
> 
> LC


The fact that its 78" doesn't bother me, but the numbers I can't deal with.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

I really like the Milwaukee. I would prefer if the numbers read left to right but it's not that bad to me, half the time you're working right to left anyway. I think it would be best if they made them right to left on one side and left to right on the other. 

I think the fiberglass more durable than the wood, I have broken a lot of the wooden ones. 

There are a lot of other fiberglass ones, some are 6' rather than 2 meter, if you search on amazon they're mostly under $20.


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## Satch (Mar 3, 2011)

Okay lads, at the risk of looking like I am jumping on the bandwagon, why _is_ it rather difficult to find a top quality wooden folding rule? I was actually looking at these at Home Depot just a few days ago and the overall feel I got from them was...lackluster. These were not the Milwaukee models but the Lufkin. Years ago Nichols and Lufkin made really nice wooden rules. The ones I saw felt flimsy and cheap yet prices were as stout as ever. Is there a de facto brand out there that is still considered best of the best?


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Satch said:


> I was actually looking at these at Home Depot just a few days ago and the overall feel I got from them was...lackluster. These were not the Milwaukee models but the Lufkin. Years ago Nichols and Lufkin made really nice wooden rules. The ones I saw felt flimsy and cheap yet prices were as stout as ever. Is there a de facto brand out there that is still considered best of the best?


The Lufkin are now made in Mexico and the wood is pretty fragile iME. I see that Stabila makes them, I'd try one of those if I was looking for something better. 

https://www.amazon.com/Stabila-80015-Folding-Ruler-Engineers/dp/B00009OLIW


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## Satch (Mar 3, 2011)

splatz said:


> The Lufkin are now made in Mexico and the wood is pretty fragile iME. I see that Stabila makes them, I'd try one of those if I was looking for something better.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Stabila-80015-Folding-Ruler-Engineers/dp/B00009OLIW


Thank you. I will check it out.


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

splatz said:


> The Lufkin are now made in Mexico and the wood is pretty fragile iME. I see that Stabila makes them, I'd try one of those if I was looking for something better.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/Stabila-80015-Folding-Ruler-Engineers/dp/B00009OLIW


Splatzy .. I'm disappointed ... it's an outside read :no:

:jester:


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## cabletie (Feb 12, 2011)

Plus it's an engineering rule. 

I have a Lufkin engineer rule. I though it would be a handy backup for site work. Also thought it would make the math easier for conduit bending. I never use it for either. It is in my main tool bag. Time to lighten the load!


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

splatz said:


> I really like the Milwaukee. I would prefer if the numbers read left to right but it's not that bad to me, half the time you're working right to left anyway. I think it would be best if they made them right to left on one side and left to right on the other.
> 
> I think the fiberglass more durable than the wood, I have broken a lot of the wooden ones.
> 
> There are a lot of other fiberglass ones, some are 6' rather than 2 meter, if you search on amazon they're mostly under $20.


Just picked up a FG Ridgid w/the 6" extension for $16, just wish it was inside reading but the price was right.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

cabletie said:


> Plus it's an engineering rule.
> 
> I have a Lufkin engineer rule. I though it would be a handy backup for site work. Also thought it would make the math easier for conduit bending. I never use it for either. It is in my main tool bag. Time to lighten the load!


Seen several guys that do a lot of slab work use the mason's marked version but it was never something I ever needed.


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

FastCap sells a Lefty/Righty tape measure.

IIRC, it sells via Amazon for ~ $8.

It's sixteen-feet.

It has an embedded pencil sharpener.

It has an embedded, white 'note pad' on one face.

And the expected belt-clip on the other face... and so forth.

Yes, it's not a stick rule. I pitch it for those annoyed at reading the hard way.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

cabletie said:


> Plus it's an engineering rule.
> 
> I have a Lufkin engineer rule. I though it would be a handy backup for site work. Also thought it would make the math easier for conduit bending. I never use it for either. It is in my main tool bag. Time to lighten the load!


I was going to try doing some conduit work with metric but the engineering scale might be better...


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

emtnut said:


> Splatzy .. I'm disappointed ... it's an outside read :no:
> 
> :jester:


I missed that! And just now I looked and did not find a Stabila inside read, that's weird. 

Here's a Wiha fiberglass 6' inside read, 

https://www.amazon.com/Wiha-61609-Reading-MaxiFlex-Folding/dp/B003XNTA70 

REALLY cheap if you're willing to speak metric: 

https://www.kctoolco.com/wiha-61601-maxiflex-39-folding-ruler-inside-reading/


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

The 78" I can deal with it is the last 11/16"that I have a problem with. 
My overall thoughts on the rule is that it needed 15 more minutes of thought before they decided to roll out the product.
LC


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Lone Crapshooter said:


> The 78" I can deal with it is the last 11/16"that I have a problem with.
> My overall thoughts on the rule is that it needed 15 more minutes of thought before they decided to roll out the product.
> LC


LOL that does kind of piss me off  

I think they just took 2m rules and put different markings on them, if they went as far as making sticks for an imperial sized meter they made them 6' - I notice these are all made in Switzerland, it seems like one factory is probably making these for everybody.


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

Every fiberglass / composite rule that I have seen has been made in Switzerland.
Now I am sure that a country that is world renowned for precision tools could make a folding that is 72"or 78" long and is marked for the US market in that compact size of the Milwaukee rule.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Lone Crapshooter said:


> Every fiberglass / composite rule that I have seen has been made in Switzerland.
> Now I am sure that a country that is world renowned for precision tools could make a folding that is 72"or 78" long and is marked for the US market in that compact size of the Milwaukee rule.


There is, the Wiha ... 

http://www.electriciantalk.com/f14/milwaukee-composite-folding-rule-232514/#post4476906


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