Highlighting Hard-to-Read Measuring Tools

Three simple ways to make measuring tools easier to read

Hello and welcome to Joe Shows How! In this week’s video, I’ll explain why it’s smart to keep nail polish and a stick of sidewalk chalk in your workshop. Strange as it may sound, these items can make it easier to read tiny markings, numbers and graduations that are stamped or etched into many hand tools, including most measuring tools. Highlighting these markings will not only make them easier to see, but it’ll help prevent you from misreading a dimension or size indicator.

For example, to highlight the numbers and graduation lines on a layout square, brush on a liberal coat of brightly colored nail polish, wait 30 seconds or so, then wipe off the excess polish. The polish that settles into the etchings will remain, making them much easier to see. To use chalk to highlight your hand tools, simply rub the chalk stick back and forth across the tool’s surface to drive the chalk dust into the recessed dimension numbers and graduation lines. Use a dry cloth to wipe off the excess chalk to reveal the clearly visible markings.

And in some cases, you can simply use sandpaper to make tool markings more legible. Take a piece of 100-grit sandpaper and scrub the surface of the tool to remove any patina, rust or staining that may obscuring the markings. By burnishing the flat surface of the tool, it’ll make the etched lines and numbers pop.

Hope you find these tips useful, and be sure to stay tuned. I’ll be sharing a new tip each and every week. Thanks for watching!