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An architect's scale is a specialized Ruler . It is used in making or measuring from reduced Scale Drawing s, such as Blueprint s. It is marked with a range of calibrated scales ( Ratio s).

The scale was traditionally made of wood but for accuracy and Longevity the material used should be dimensionally stable and Durable . Today they are now more commonly made of rigid plastic or Aluminum . Depending on the number of different scales to be accommodated architect's scales may be flat or shaped with a cross-section of an equilateral triangle.


UNITED STATES AND IMPERIAL UNITS

In the United States , and prior to Metrification in Britain , Canada and Australia , architect's scales are/were marked as a ratio of x Inch es-to-the- Foot . For example one inch measured from a drawing with a scale of "one-inch-to-the-foot" is equivalent to one foot in the real world (a scale of 1:12) whereas one inch measured from a drawing with a scale of "two-inches-to-the-foot" is equivalent to six inches in the real world (a scale of 1:6).

Typical scales used in the United States are:

  • Full scale, with inches divided into sixteenths of an inch


The following scales are generally grouped in pairs using the same dual-numbered index line:

  • three-inches-to-the-foot (1:4) / one-and-one-half-inch-to-the-foot (1:8)


  • two-inches-to-the-foot (1:6) / one-inch-to-the-foot (1:12)


  • three-quarters-inch-to-the-foot (1:16) / three-eighths-inch-to-the-foot (1:32)


  • one-half-inch-to-the-foot (1:24) / one-quarter-inch-to-the-foot (1:48)


  • one-eighths-inch-to-the-foot (1:96) / one-sixteenths-inch-to-the-foot (1:192)



METRIC UNITS

Architect's scale rulers used in Britain and other metric areas are marked with ratios without reference to a base unit. Therefore a drawing will indicate both its scale and the unit of measurement being used.

In Britain the standard units used on architectural drawings are the SI units Millimetre s (mm) and Metre s (m), whereas in France Centimetre s (cm) and metres are most often used.

In Britain, for flat rulers, the paired scales often found on architect's scales are:

  • 1:1 / 1:100


  • 1:5 / 1:50


  • 1:20 / 1:200


  • 1:1250 / 1:2500


and for triangular rulers:

  • 1:1 / 1:10


  • 1:2 / 1:20


  • 1:5 / 1:50


  • 1:100 / 1:200


  • 1:500 / 1:1000


  • 1:1250 / 1:2500



SEE ALSO