Another ruler/straightedge made in Germany by A.W. Faber Castell. This one is about 12 inches long, which makes me wonder for which market it may have been made. A quick search revealed that Germany’s metrication began in 1872, but since this ruler has “Castell” in the company name, its earliest possible date of manufacture would be 1905.
A more likely explanation: 12 inches is nearly 30.5 centimeters, so it may very well be that this is a metric straightedge to begin with.
Like the ruler from a previous post, the edges are reinforced by strips of brass, inserted at a 45˚ angle.
And like the hexagonal ruler, this one still works too:
Thanks to Michael for the post-war Castell 9000.
I think a
Zollstockused to be one foot long, so that makes sense. You still use the word Zollstock today, even though Zoll means inch and inches are only used for electronics etc ( e.g. floppy discs). My guess would be that the old units were still for quite a while after the introduction of the metric system.It’s a great item and it looks in very nice condition.
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Thanks, Memm; “zollstock” is new to me.
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Thank you so much for this very informative post. I found it whilst doing a search for “A. W. Faber ruler”, after finding a very interesting ‘stick’ at my grandmother’s house, with the lettering “A. W. Faber” clearly written in gold (and no other writing), and half guessing it might be an old ruler.
This ruler is just under 17″ long, with a square section, each side measuring 7/16″, made of honey coloured wood with remnants of varnish, and with plain edges which are a little worn.
I would love to have some more information about it!
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