Making Rulers from a Broken Tape Measure

I had most of a tape measure left over from making a bench top rule out of a broken tape measure and was thinking of a way to use the rest of the broken unit. I knew I would eventually be able to reuse the other parts, but what to do with the tape? I then remembered that I'd seen where someone cut up the tape from a broken metal tape measure to make one foot rulers. This sounded like a good use for something that no longer is serviceable so I decided to give it a try.

 I used a pair of tin snips to carefully cut the metal tape just to the low side of the index mark at each foot increment.

 I then compared the first inch to a steel ruler. This one looks good enough to use. The ones that were cut a tad long got touched to the grinder to size them properly. I found that recutting the tiny amount I was off just didn't work with snips.

 Here's the pile of cut rulers. I had one to discard from a previous project because the first inch was too short. Other than that I had 20 of them to check out. You can see where the first four feet of the tape went in the background.

 I then cut a hole in the high end so the rulers could be hung from a peg. I discovered afterward that drilling tends to cause tear outs in the thin metal. Better would have been to punch out the holes. I had one tear out that was bad enough to force me to discard the ruler rather than risk getting nicked on the metal shard by the hole. I was able to cleanup the rest reasonably well with a rat tail file.

 I then tried to use one to see how it works as a straightedge. I must say, the curved metal is easy to pick up and easy to use. Additionally, I found I could get a more precise line with the ultra thin metal than with a steel ruler as I easily drew a line right on top of a ruled line in my journal.

 I then began distributing the rulers around locations where I might need to take a quick measurement. I made a happy discovery when the ruler I placed in a can held with a magnet drew in the ruler to hold it fast in the can. No muss, no fuss; just drop it in the can and 'click' it sticks to the side of the can where the magnet is.

 Another location.

 And another convenient spot.

And yet another convenient spot. I have about 15 left over as spares or waiting for a location to put one so I doubt there's any real need to do this more than once or twice in a lifetime. Why twice? Let's just presume that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for doing things on the cheap and instead has the motto: Things saved from the dumpster are only waiting to go back into the dumpster when Charlie's not looking.