Is it normal for a straight edge to be doing this?

[Jacob]

A straight edge is just that, and the bevel is to show the "straight" side or edge
I still have my original "werkrite" and 3"x1-1/2" box from my plastering and drylining days, as Jacob says perfect on the Knife edge.
Regards Rodders

The bevel is also to help get your knife or pencil tight up to the edge.

 

[Penfold]

A straight edge usually is only straight on the vertical plane when the narrow edge is sitting on the wood etc. it sometimes has a slight warp in the side so never use it on the bevel or the side, it wasn't made for use like that. The clue is in the name, straight EDGE.

 

[Jacob]

A straight edge usually is only straight on the vertical plane when the narrow edge is sitting on the wood etc. it sometimes has a slight warp in the side so never use it on the bevel or the side, it wasn't made for use like that. The clue is in the name, straight EDGE.

I think you'll find them in all shapes and sizes.
Flexible (or bent) ones (like the OP's) are for using on their side for cutting/marking lines against the bevel and may be useless on edge.
Rigid ones may be usable on edge for checking a surface and on their sides for marking/cutting a line, with or without a bevel.
Some have scales/bevels on one or both edges.
Expensive ones like the £100 Starret are just a rip off, and so on!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I think you'll find them in all shapes and sizes.
Flexible (or bent) ones (like the OP's) are for using on their side for cutting/marking lines against the bevel and may be useless on edge.
Rigid ones may be usable on edge for checking a surface and on their sides for marking/cutting a line, with or without a bevel.
Some have scales/bevels on one or both edges.
Expensive ones like the £100 Starret are just a rip off, and so on!

Still trying to wind everybody up with a load of unadulterated garbage, eh, Jacob? :lol:

 

[Jacob]

I think you'll find them in all shapes and sizes.
Flexible (or bent) ones (like the OP's) are for using on their side for cutting/marking lines against the bevel and may be useless on edge.
Rigid ones may be usable on edge for checking a surface and on their sides for marking/cutting a line, with or without a bevel.
Some have scales/bevels on one or both edges.
Expensive ones like the £100 Starret are just a rip off, and so on!

Still trying to wind everybody up with a load of unadulterated garbage, eh, Jacob? :lol:

I'm not trying to wind anybody up.
If there is anything in the above which you don't understand or agree with then just say so, without being abusive.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There are three British Standards for straightedges, covering toolmakers' straightedges, the large bow section (camel back) and I-section straightedges, and straightedges of rectangular section steel or granite. Of those three, only the rectangular section steel are likely to interest most woodworkers.

http://shop.bsigroup.com/SearchResults/?q=straightedge

Straightedges are used as references in engineering, and using them to draw lines (especially with a knife) is bad practice because it abrades the reference edge. A straightedge with slivers knifed off the edge is no longer straight. Straightedges are precision tools, and thus expensive to make (especially the longer cast-iron camel-back ones).

Straightedges do not have scales - they are straightness references, not rulers.

Woodworkers have for generations made their own wooden straightedges; the principle of making three and using them to compare against each other has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. Clearly, using these with a knife is likely to degrade them quite quickly.

Woodworkers have traditionally used all sorts of things to mark straight lines or test straightness of work - long spirit levels, eyed-up pieces of stock wood, bits of aluminium angle and so on. Used with common sense as to the accuracy needed, such improvised tools usually work perfectly adequately. When something more accurate is needed for setting up and testing machines, plane soles and so on, investment in the proper tool at least gives peace of mind about HOW accurate the straightedge is.

Edit to add - quite a lot of things are sold, often quite cheaply, as 'straightedges' without having been made to a recognised standard. Those can't necessarily be guaranteed to be straight to particular tolerances, though they may be plenty good enough for marking out sheet-goods and so on. Proper straightedges are usually marked with the standard against which they were made, or in the case of really accurate ones, supplied with a calibration certificate (that sort are far more accurate than we'll need!). If you do need a good reference straightedge, it's worth paying the extra for one by a reputable manufacturer such as Starrett, Moore and Wright, Mitutoyo and so on. Treat secondhand straightedges with suspicion - unless you can have it calibrated, you don't actually KNOW how straight it is.

 

[Jacob]

There are three British Standards for straightedges, covering toolmakers' straightedges, the large bow section (camel back) and I-section straightedges, and straightedges of rectangular section steel or granite. Of those three, only the rectangular section steel are likely to interest most woodworkers.

http://shop.bsigroup.com/SearchResults/?q=straightedge

Straightedges are used as references in engineering, and using them to draw lines (especially with a knife) is bad practice because it abrades the reference edge. A straightedge with slivers knifed off the edge is no longer straight. Straightedges are precision tools, and thus expensive to make (especially the longer cast-iron camel-back ones).

Straightedges do not have scales - they are straightness references, not rulers.

Woodworkers have for generations made their own wooden straightedges; the principle of making three and using them to compare against each other has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. Clearly, using these with a knife is likely to degrade them quite quickly.

Woodworkers have traditionally used all sorts of things to mark straight lines or test straightness of work - long spirit levels, eyed-up pieces of stock wood, bits of aluminium angle and so on. Used with common sense as to the accuracy needed, such improvised tools usually work perfectly adequately. When something more accurate is needed for setting up and testing machines, plane soles and so on, investment in the proper tool at least gives peace of mind about HOW accurate the straightedge is.

So engineers have their standards for straight edges and various preferred designs. That's very interesting.
But we are talking about straightedges as used by woodworkers and craft workers.
Yes you are quite right in stating the obvious that a wooden straightedge is not good with a knife - that is why a steel one is preferred (I'll explain; steel is harder than wood and it would be difficult to take off slivers with a knife, in case you don't get it).
The OPs edge is steel (I presume). The straight edge I own is an old steel Dryad and is intended for marking and cutting card and other similar craft work. It's bendy, has a bevel but no scale. It's not much use for checking surface flatness as it has a bit of a bend. It's been used for years by several generations and has no slivers taken out of the edge.
Rulers are used as straight edges believe it or not! Surprised you didn't know. The one most often use is the 12" scale from a combi square which is just about stiff enough for checking a surface, whereas a normal bendy steel rule is not.
Some straightedges do have scales - they are straightness references and rulers.
Woodworking and (metal) engineering are different in many ways. People with a foot in both camps easily get things wrong!

Probably the best value straightedge for a woodworker would be the Stabila type spirit level - not cheap but very useful and reliable. Fiddling around with engineers types of edge is probably a waste of time for a woodworker.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Jacob - don't confuse a 'straightedge' - an instrument of known precision for the checking of straightness - with a 'straight edge' which may be just about anything used for any manner of tasks in crafts, trades and homes. A Stabila spirit level may be a perfectly acceptable straight edge for all sorts of tasks - but it isn't, and isn't intended to be, a straightedge.

 

[Jacob]

Jacob - don't confuse a 'straightedge' - an instrument of known precision for the checking of straightness - with a 'straight edge' which may be just about anything used for any manner of tasks in crafts, trades and homes.

It's you thats confused - they are all "straightedges" and straight edges https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straightedge
Engineers don't have a monopoly on the term.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Make your own minds up, folks!

 

[iNewbie]

Straightedges do not have scales - they are straightness references, not rulers.

Doesn't that really depend on what a company manufactures. Starrett make them with a Graduated Edge and made tp a fine tolerance. More a case of: a straightedge can have a scale

 

[Racers]

Wow, I never knew you couldn't cut steel with harder steel!

:shock:

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Jacob - don't confuse a 'straightedge' - an instrument of known precision for the checking of straightness - with a 'straight edge' which may be just about anything used for any manner of tasks in crafts, trades and homes. A Stabila spirit level may be a perfectly acceptable straight edge for all sorts of tasks - but it isn't, and isn't intended to be, a straightedge.

It is if you want it to be.

I forget to ask - in your opinion, is the OP's thing a "straightedge", a "straight edge", or something else entirely?

 

[Wizard9999]

deleting my own duplicated post

 

[Wizard9999]

Just read this thread from start to finish, funnier than most comedies on TV. Those two blokes who rang up Elton John pretending to be Putin have nothing on UKW . "Fork handles, no I want a straight edge" "oh, you want a straightedge" "no I said a straight edge!". ROFL.

Terry.

 

[Penfold]

I do believe the moon is made of cheese and unless you can let me have a chunk of it to prove me wrong, I wont believe anything else.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Just read this thread from start to finish, funnier than most comedies on TV. Those two blokes who rang up Elton John pretending to be Putin have nothing on UKW . "Fork handles, no I want a straight edge" "oh, you want a straightedge" "no I said a straight edge!". ROFL.

Terry.

Why, thank you, good sir! Always a pleasure to entertain - and apart from contributing to the sum of common knowledge and learning a bit, isn't that what the forum's for? :lol:

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Straightedges do not have scales - they are straightness references, not rulers.

Doesn't that really depend on what a company manufactures. Starrett make them with a Graduated Edge and made tp a fine tolerance. More a case of: a straightedge can have a scale

Not familiar with the particular Starrett product you mention, but it sounds a bit like those straight-backed handsaws you could buy with a scale etched along the edge. Nice idea in theory, but most people buy a saw for sawing, and use their two-foot folding or tape for measuring. The scale doesn't do any harm, but it probably doesn't do that much good either for most people most of the time.

 

[blackrodd]

Well, for me, a straight edge is just that, a straight edge, and what use is a Stabilla Level if it's not straight along it's edge?
A straight edge is anything used as a straight edge, even if it is 20 thou or whatever out.
I would use my Stabila and check my planer beds, within 10, or 15 thou is close enough for me!
Regards Rodders

 

[Wizard9999]

Just read this thread from start to finish, funnier than most comedies on TV. Those two blokes who rang up Elton John pretending to be Putin have nothing on UKW . "Fork handles, no I want a straight edge" "oh, you want a straightedge" "no I said a straight edge!". ROFL.

Terry.

Why, thank you, good sir! Always a pleasure to entertain - and apart from contributing to the sum of common knowledge and learning a bit, isn't that what the forum's for? :lol:

Yes indeed, what is life without a little laughter. Keep fighting the good fight!

Terry.