On a miter saw, when you're cutting a 90 degree cut, the miter saw reads zero. On a protractor, it reads 90. So it's an unending source of confusion for people. RON HAZELTON: So Mark, show me how it works.
A ruler is used to measure units of length, inches, feet and yards. Standard rulers have inches on one side and centimeters on the other. A typical ruler measures up to 12 inches, and is equivalent to 30.48 centimeters. This is also equivalent to 1 foot. Each inch on a ruler has markings in between that are a fraction of an inch.
For example, 1/8 on ruler is. a scale that converts 1/8. inch on drawing to 1 foot. Architectural Scale. Line up zero mark on scale selected with. beginning of item being measured. Determine at what point on scale the end of. the item you wish to measure is.