This is a tutorial for "How to measure square chair legs & furniture for chair tip felt caps using a ruler"

Through the years, we get a lot of questions about how to accurately measure your chair or table legs to purchase the correct size glides or caps. It’s really very simple so let’s get started:

There are two types of rulers for measuring stuff. The English, or fractional ruler, and the Metric, or decimal ruler. The U.S. tried many years ago to convert to the metric system due to its simpler interface, but it did not go well. We still have some remnants left from the attempt, such as the 2-liter soda bottle. But, I digress. For this blog, we will be using the English or fractional ruler.

Ok, now that you have your English ruler (see picture), notice that there are numbers and lines. The numbers are whole numbers and most rulers are 12 inches in length (1 Foot). Don’t be alarmed if your ruler is smaller or larger. It’s OK. You may even have a retractable tape measure. That will work, as well.  

Count the lines in-between the whole numbers. Notice that there will be 16 lines (sometimes 32 lines, but for this blog we will stick with the 16 lines). Some lines are longer than others. That is normal. We will go over this later. Each line is a 1/16th of an inch.

Ok, let’s move on. When you start to measure your chair or table leg, make sure you start from zero “0”. This line should be placed at the beginning or outer edge of the chair/table leg.

The inch mark is the longest line and has a whole number below it and the next longest line is the ½ line. So if you put the chair leg against the ruler and it measures 1 and ½ on the ruler then you have an outside diameter chair/table leg of 1 ½ inches.

The next smaller lines are the ¼ lines. The first ¼ line is ¼ inch. The next ¼ line represents two 1/4‘s or 2/4 (or ½”). The next ¼ line represents ¾ and the next ¼ line is the next whole number. So, if your leg is 1 inch and then ¼ - it would be 1 ¼ inches.

The next sized line is the 1/8 measurement. This works just like the ¼ lines but there are 8 of these lines per inch rather than 4.

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And, finally, we have the 1/16 measure line, and there are 16 of these lines to every inch.

When measuring, use the largest line you can. For example, if the chair leg matches up to the 3/8 line – use it. If it matches up to the ½ line then that is fine too.

Use the accompanying pictures to see where you are at with the ruler and how to measure for future reference.

 If you are still uncertain as to the correct size to order…no worries. Take a picture of the leg with the ruler next to it, send it to us, and we will record the measurement for you and recommend the correct size.

 If you have any questions, please let us know. You can also get more information from our hand measurement sheet.