50" Anodized Aluminum Straight Edge Guaranteed Straight to Within .003" Over Full 50" Length SE50

Dead flat, lightweight, easy to use, big hole at the top for hanging, barely half the price of bigger-name flat sticks. What's not to like? Evaluated flatness against a couple of 0.0005"/1" levels, and against both Makita and Festool track saw guide rails. Used a feeler gauge to find discrepancies. Most I could find was around 0.0015", in one small area. Also did the two-line test (draw a line, flip the flat stick to the other side of the line and repeat - look for variances) - less than 0.001" variance. Unless you're doing something that requires ridiculous specs, this flat stick will serve you very well in the shop. Aluminum makes it light and easy to use, and the flat edge is wide enough give you a good solid reading (no teetering on a skinny edge). Highly recommended.

I got the 50" straight edge for precision work and set up in my amateur wood shop. I checked it against other straight edges and rules whose straightness I know. It is very straight, around 15/10,000s maximum deviation.And it came in a very stout tube that was inside a reasonably stout box.For approximately $55, this can't be beat.By the way, it is from Taylor Tools, who have an excellent reputation. Taylor Tools shows it as sold out on their website, so I was extra happy to find it here.

Delivered intact with no shipping damage, in a 0.080” (2 mm) wall thickness (thicker than domestic mailing tubes, less so than international) mailing tube with endcaps, which was in turn packed in a long narrow cardboard shipping box. Comes with two removable soft plastic end caps on the straightedge. Made in Taiwan. The mailing tube looks like it could do as permanent storage, though I’d like to have a case that allows the straight edge to be suspended by the hang-hole. Don’t know if I’ll make one or not.Finish is good. Faint machining marks are just visible on the straight edge surface, can’t be felt with a fingernail.I got this to check and adjust a jointer. I don’t have a reference surface to test flatness. I tried to draw a line using a 0.2 mm drawing pen, flipping and swapping straight edge ends and doing it again, then using a fabric magnifier with a measurement reticle. I couldn’t satisfy myself that it was less than 0.005” flatness that way. That’s the limitation of my technique, not the straight edge. Next up was our kitchen island granite countertop. Again, flipping and swapping ends, the largest feeler gauge I could slip under the straight edge anywhere was 0.0015”. Couldn’t get a 0.002” under it anywhere. Shining a flashlight on one side in a dark room, there were a few places where a little bit of light was getting through. Honestly, I was impressed our countertops seemed that flat. In the end, my testing was unsatisfactory, but was the best I could do.The jointer beds? They’ll need some work.I’m satisfied I’ve gotten my money’s worth. I've got much shorter steel straight edges, but one a meter long with any promise of engineering accuracy will cost at least triple what this one does. This will have to do for me.

I have never seen a "straight edge" of this length and quality. It is multi functional, and it's helpful for my limited carpentry talents.

It appears to be straight.I don't have a 50" reference granite slab to use as a flat reference. Instead I used what I have - my 12" cast iron jointer table, which has both a 41" long cast iron infeed and a 41" out feed table.I place the straight edge on the table and used my .002" feeler gauge every inch or two to feel under the straight edge. Then I moved the straight edge to another spot and used the feeler gauge. Then I tried it diagonally across the table to get a few more inches. Then I fipped the straight edge in the opposite direction and used the .002" feeler gauge every inch or two. In all scenarios the .002" gauge was not able to get under the straight edge.While this doesn't measure straightness across all 50", I do feel it gives a pretty decent test of straightness. I also compared this straight edge to my kitchen granite countertop and it is clear to me that my kitchen counter top is not the same as a reference granite slab for measuring flatness. The kitchen countertop is less flat than the table on my jointer.Fyi .002" feeler gauge is the thinnest one I own.I feel comfortable using this straight edge to adjust the parallelism of the infeed table to the outfeed table on my jointer.