📏 Vintage General Hardware No. 16 Multi-Use Rule & Gage w/ Original Sleeve For Sale

📐 ⭐ Vintage General Hardware No. 16 Multi-Use Rule & Gage Stainless Steel

⭐ Condition

Pre-Owned – Excellent Vintage Cosmetic Condition. The stainless-steel measuring tool is beautifully preserved, with crisp, legible graduations, intact components, and light surface scratches and handling marks consistent with age. The original yellow instruction sleeve shows significant age-related discoloration, staining, creasing, and wear to the protective plastic. The original packaging has been preserved as found. Please review all photographs for exact condition. Precision and calibration have not been independently verified.

✏️ Mini Blurb

One little tool, seven different jobs, and a design that's been showing off since 1937! 😂 This vintage General Hardware No. 16 Multi-Use Rule & Gage combines multiple precision measuring and layout functions into one compact, American-made stainless-steel instrument. Featuring the original ©1937 marking engraved directly into the tool and its wonderfully aged yellow instruction sleeve, this beautifully preserved piece is perfect for machinists, woodworkers, mechanics, vintage tool collectors, and anyone who appreciates old-school craftsmanship!

⭐ Product Details

• Brand: General Hardware Mfg. Co., Inc.

• Model: No. 16

• Product Type: Multi-Use Rule & Gage

• Material: Stainless Steel

• Country of Manufacture: United States

• Original Marking: ©1937 Engraved Directly into the Protractor Head Alongside General Hardware Mfg. Co., Inc., N.Y.

• Design History: 1937 Copyright Date

• U.S. Patent: No. 2,111,871, Granted March 22, 1938

• Manufacturing Year: Unknown – 1937 Is the Copyright Date, Not a Verified Production Date

• Rule Length: 4 Inches

• Graduations: Inches, 64ths of an Inch & Millimeters

• Protractor Scale: 0–180 Degrees

• Design: Adjustable Pivoting Rule & Semicircular Gauge

• Measuring Functions: Rule, Square, Bevel Protractor, Drill Point Gauge, Center Finder & Circle Divider

• Reference Information: Engraved Machine, U.S.S. & S.A.E. Tap/Drill Size Tables

• Standard Drill Point Angle: 59 Degrees

• Finish: Natural Stainless Steel

• Original Packaging: Vintage Yellow Printed Instruction Sleeve with Clear Protective Cover

• Manufacturer Location Printed on Sleeve: New York, NY 10013

• Packaging Dating Clue: Printed ZIP Code Indicates Sleeve Production in 1963 or Later

• Condition: Pre-Owned – Excellent Vintage Cosmetic Condition

⭐ Included Items

• 1 × General Hardware No. 16 Multi-Use Rule & Gage

• Original Vintage Yellow Instruction Sleeve

• Original Printed Measurement & Usage Instructions

• Original Clear Protective Packaging

⭐ Features & Benefits

• Multi-purpose measuring and layout tool combines several useful functions into one compact instrument

• Durable stainless-steel construction offers lasting usefulness and traditional craftsmanship

• Permanently etched inch and metric graduations provide convenient measurement references

• Adjustable pivoting design allows the tool to be configured for different measuring and layout tasks

• Drill point gauge is designed to check standard 59-degree drill-point angles

• Bevel protractor provides angular measurement and layout capability

• Square function assists with checking and marking right angles

• Center finder helps locate the center of circular workpieces

• Circle divider assists with dividing circles into equal sections

• Engraved tap-and-drill tables provide convenient machining reference information

• Original ©1937 engraving provides a direct connection to the tool's historical design

• U.S. Patent No. 2,111,871 adds historical interest for vintage tool collectors

• Made in the U.S.A. with traditional metalworking construction

• Beautifully preserved markings and finish make the tool appealing for use or display

• Original aged yellow instruction sleeve adds period character and collector appeal

• Ideal for machinists, mechanics, woodworkers, metalworkers, hobbyists, and collectors of vintage American hand tools

✨ Why Buy From Me

Because I run my little empire with the focus of a mom trying to measure a straight line while life throws plot twists, curveballs, and random school emails.

Your vintage gauge gets packed like it’s preparing for a machinist's precision inspection — padded, sealed, taped, and told, “Don’t you dare embarrass me.”

And the package listens because even vintage measuring tools know better than to test a woman who can build an empire on caffeine and willpower…

Even if USPS occasionally measures a straight line and somehow delivers the package three ZIP codes sideways.

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Come judge my inventory like you judge people who own seventeen measuring tools but still cut the board an inch too short.

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📣 Grab It Before It’s Gone

A beautifully preserved American-made vintage measuring tool featuring its original ©1937 engraving and aged instruction sleeve doesn't turn up every day! Add this General Hardware No. 16 to your workshop or collection before somebody else measures twice and buys once!

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