3.5mm Roundhand Ruler

thingiverse

While practicing Roundhand lettering (also known as Foundational or English Caroline Minuscule) I found myself loosing time repeatedly measuring distances to draw the guidelines. To speed this up I decided to design a ruler with several gaps at the correct distances so I can quickly lay down the ruler, draw the guide lines and start my lettering (I am still learning, no where close to an expert, so please forgive the not so clean and nice looking letters in the photo). I am still not completely happy with this design, some of the sections are thin and despite me adding thickness to try and increase the rigidity, some of the sections still flex quite a bit. This requires a very light touch in order to not flex them while in use. At the same time, a very light touch is desirable, since the guidelines should be drawn very lightly on the paper. I am using a broad nib with a width of 3.5mm. The Foundational style requires an x-height of 4 nib widths, the descenders go down 3 nib widths and the ascenders go 3 nib widths above the x-height, the capitals have 6 nib widths. Any other lettering style that requires the same letter heights (even if only a few of them) can also take advantage of this ruler. I would be happy to hear any tips or feedback in case anyone gives it a go.