When you look at all the different rules being sold in retail stores. they’re all pretty much intended for framing houses or general purpose use without any thought on how to make them better for those of us who build furniture and cabinets.
Tape measures are balanced if you’re building a shed. They’re not dependably accurate enough for finished furniture parts. Tape measures also don’t make good straight edges to draw lines with. For that we usually look for the nearest scrap piece of lumber that we hope is straight.
Compare that to the application specific engineering that went into these new Woodworking Rules and you’ll begin to appreciate the advantages. There is even a finger groove down the center to help steer the rule in to place.
