An architect’s scale rule is a specialized ruler that is designed to facilitate more functionality for architects. It has many benefits that architects appreciate:
It makes it easier to draft architectural drawings such as floor plans and orthographic projections.
It can measure in multiple units of measure
It is made of durable and stable material
Traditionally, an architect’s scale ruler was made of wood but these days it is more common to find them made of sturdy metals or rigid plastic. Some are flat with 4 scales while others might have 3 symmetrical, cross sections with 12 scales.
While making your own architect’s scale ruler might save you a good chunk of change, they are not easy tools to make, especially if you are simply going to print a template (if you can find one) and then use the printed page as your ruler. You will probably end up using a ruler for the basic measurements as well as straightedge for lining up your scaled measurements, anyway, so maybe you should just invest in a new plastic scale ruler.
If you are going to attempt to make an architect’s scale ruler, you need to know which measurements you want to include on the ruler. In the United States, these measurements include:
Three-inches-to-the-foot (3”=1.0’)
One-inch-to-the-foot (1”=1.0’)
Three-quarter-inch-to-the-foot (3/4”=1.0’)
One-quarter-inch-to-the-foot (1/4”=1.0’)
Three-sixteenths-inch-to-the-foot (3/16”=1.0’)
There are also different measurements for the British system, of course, since they use different forms of measurement.
Measurements work to help draw a diagram of a room or lot "to scale.” This means that a particular unit of measure on the piece of paper is consistently representative of a specific unit of measure in real life. Typically, the real measurement is a foot.
It makes it easier to draft architectural drawings such as floor plans and orthographic projections.
It can measure in multiple units of measure
It is made of durable and stable material
Traditionally, an architect’s scale ruler was made of wood but these days it is more common to find them made of sturdy metals or rigid plastic. Some are flat with 4 scales while others might have 3 symmetrical, cross sections with 12 scales.
While making your own architect’s scale ruler might save you a good chunk of change, they are not easy tools to make, especially if you are simply going to print a template (if you can find one) and then use the printed page as your ruler. You will probably end up using a ruler for the basic measurements as well as straightedge for lining up your scaled measurements, anyway, so maybe you should just invest in a new plastic scale ruler.
If you are going to attempt to make an architect’s scale ruler, you need to know which measurements you want to include on the ruler. In the United States, these measurements include:
Three-inches-to-the-foot (3”=1.0’)
One-inch-to-the-foot (1”=1.0’)
Three-quarter-inch-to-the-foot (3/4”=1.0’)
One-quarter-inch-to-the-foot (1/4”=1.0’)
Three-sixteenths-inch-to-the-foot (3/16”=1.0’)
There are also different measurements for the British system, of course, since they use different forms of measurement.
Measurements work to help draw a diagram of a room or lot "to scale.” This means that a particular unit of measure on the piece of paper is consistently representative of a specific unit of measure in real life. Typically, the real measurement is a foot.
