Restore Wooden Rule Markings

I like a folding carpenter's rule for shop use. I had one for almost 50 years and the markings never faded or wore away. One day it snapped and broke. I replaced it with a rule from a famous name maker. Within a few months some markings wore away. That makes use of the rule more difficult.

1. White hobby paint
2. Ball pen with a good ink flow
3. Rubber bands
4. Clear spray paint

This shows how markings on my rule had worn away. This is one of several places where markings wore away on this rule.

I have a small bottle of fast drying paint for making models and other hobby needs. I used a simple toothpick to spread some on worn areas and waited for it to dry.

I am using a ball pen that starts easily with a good ink flow and leaves a good mark. I believe it is probably a medium point. A fine point pen could be helpful, but the medium point worked well.

I used another rule for locating the markings I added as precisely as possible. It is necessary to check to be certain the rule you use is accurate and gives the same readings as the rule to which you are adding markings. A speaker at a woodworking seminar cautioned that rules are not all equal. Some vary from one another quite a bit.

Align the two rules side-by-side. For more certain results, align at inch marks. This will help to know how long each added mark needs to be.

I thought I might use a guide for marking, but marking by hand without a guide seemed to be sufficient. Rubber bands to hold both rules together and in alignment can be helpful, but is not absolutely necessary.

I plan to wait until I know the white paint is fully cured. Then I want to spray areas I marked with a spray shellac.

I know the rule will wear again. But, this makes it more useful until that happens.

See the photo in the Introduction for the final result.