Hello, I work in an industrial steel fab shop. As many on this forum probably know, in industrial fabrication many of the measurements are to the center of holes. Because of this much of my layout whenever I start a new piece consists of finding the center of the holes on almost every piece. If can be time consuming, especially on bigger projects. So I created a new kind of ruler that fits into combination squares. I can use this tool to quickly fine the center. And once I have the ruler set in the combination square, if I have multiple plates with holes in the same spot, I can use the square in every plate very quickly. Several of my coworkers say that I should patent this ruler. But I know it is a very niche tool. I want to know if there is enough of a market to move forward with this. I figured this would be a good place to ask
Not trying to steal your idea, but just trying to better understand your item or what it is used on/for?
Is it basically just a center finding ruler you put in a square?
Are you trying to find the center of a circle on flat plate, pipe, or curved surfaces?
Would need a lot more info to comment. Things like min and max hole size, etc. Examples of layouts and use.
So currently the only accurate way to find the center of a hole (or at least the only one me and my coworkers know about) is to draw 2 lines at 45° and the center is where those 2 lines intersect. The ruler I made would go into a combination square, butt up against the edge of the plate, and the you slide the ruler to the edge of the hole. Doing that allows you to mark the center of the hole without doing any extra steps. Also if you have multiple plates with holes in the same position you can lock the ruler in place and move the square from plate to plate , hole to hole, and mark the centers. To answers couple of questions asked, there really is no minimum hole size. The max size is hard to judge. I’ve used my prototype on as big as 2 1/2” holes, and I know it can do bigger. Also, the way it is designed it can be scaled up pretty easily for larger holes. It can also find the center of holes a that are up to 8” away from the edge of the plate, though again this can easily be scaled up by making the ruler longer. I hope this answers all your questions. I appreciate your feedback
