114 stud ruler

[Dark Wanderer]

When I received my last LEGO catalog, I was interested to see the new ruler they produced; however, I was rather disappointed by its small dimensions. Most AFOLs can count up those measures in their heads. Something had to be done. Plans began to form in my mind. So, a few days ago went to the nearby home-building store (Home Depot) and purchased a 1.5 x .5 x 36 inch piece of oak for USD 2.67. Yesterday afternoon, then, I coerced some assistance into flattening the ends, rounding the edges, and sanding it down a little for it to be smooth; while he was doing that, I built a template to mark the first side of the ruler, the stud length. You may see it below.

The Length Template

And a close-up, detailing the marking:

Close-Up

As you may see, I first marked with pencil and the later went over it with pen after mostly erasing the pencil marks. Each brick now has a one-quarter inch mark on each side, every five bricks has a half-inch mark on each side, and every ten bricks has a number and a line that goes all the way across. You may see what I mean in later pictures. But first, onto the brick height, the second side of the ruler.

The Height Template

That's the template for the height: I added one brick, drew a line, added another, drew another line. A close-up:

Another Close-Up, Height Side

Afterwards, I followed the same procedure with the pen as I did with the length. And then, the ruler was finished.

You can see the markings better in the next two pictures, where I'm actually testing it:

The Length Side

and the other side, the height:

The Height Side

And then two shots of the entire ruler, click on each image for a much larger version:

The Whole Business, Height Side

The Whole Business, Length Side

The entire project took me perhaps three or four hours, and the only cost was for the board (provided, of course, that the clamp, saw, and sandpaper were free). The finished ruler ended up as 114 studs long, and 95 high.

So, what do you think of it?

Edited September 4, 2009 by Dark Wanderer

[prateek]

Great Idea. You should try making a plate ruler

[ILikePi]

Thanks for sharing this with us Dark Wanderer!

It's really long and will definitely help you on your large creations. $2.50 is half as much as LEGO's version - and this one is around 10 times longer!

[Dark Wanderer]

Thanks for sharing this with us Dark Wanderer!

It's really long and will definitely help you on your large creations. $2.50 is half as much as LEGO's version - and this one is around 10 times longer!

Yes, it's already been used six times- and I foresee many more uses for it.

The board only cost 2.50- but how much is the labor worth?

[ziljin]

Yes, it's already been used six times- and I foresee many more uses for it.

The board only cost 2.50- but how much is the labor worth?

Unless you skipped out on work to do this, I would guess zero.

But that's awesome. I might make a lego ruler out of all those cardboard boxes I have lying around.