Stanley Odd Jobs

{{refimprove|date=November 2017}}{{Infobox tool|name=Stanley No. 1 "Odd Jobs"|image=File:Stanley's Odd Jobs illustration.png|caption=Illustration of Stanley's "Odd Jobs" from their 1892 catalogue.|other_name=Odd Job|manufacturer=The Stanley Rule and Level Company|model=No.1|inventor=George F. Hall|classification=Woodworking hand tool}}

The Stanley No. 1 Odd Jobs was a tool produced by the Stanley Works from 1888 to the 1930s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tooltrip.com/tooltrip9/stanley/stanmisc/oddjobs.pdf|title = Antique Stanley Tools - Tool Trip|date = 8 October 2020}} It combined features of sundry tools, in a single pocketable tool, including:

• Try square
• Mitre square
• T-square
• Marking gauge
• Mortise gauge
• Depth gauge
• Mitre level
• Spirit level and plumb
• Beam compass
• Inside square
• Ruler (a separate part used to enable many of the above functions. Often a four fold rule, trimmed in brass, was used)

The name Odd Jobs denotes that the tool does many kinds of sundry tool roles. Its closest cousin among common, modern tools, is the combination square, which shares with the Odd Job the functions of scribing, squaring, level/plumb, and the sliding and locking ruler{{Cite web|url=http://toolmonger.com/2007/03/03/finds-stanleys-1-odd-job-layout-tool/|title = Finds: Stanley's #1 Odd-Job Layout Tool | Toolmonger}} (originally a 12 inch wooden ruler with a built-in trammel point was included with units bundled with a ruler,{{Cite web|url=https://galootopia.com/old_tools/misc/stanley-odd-jobs-no/|title = Stanley Odd Jobs No. 1 – galootopia}} but this was often changed and many are found with a steel rule, or a brass-bound four-fold rule --- the Garret Wade reproduction uses a brass bound wooden ruler). However, the Odd Jobs still has some unique functions in its total package, including the compass, and compensated gauging.{{Cite web|url=https://toolguyd.com/woodpeckers-odd-job-tool/|title = Woodpeckers Odd Job Tool – a Modern Take on a Classic Stanley 15-Function Layout & Marking Tool|date = 19 August 2015}}

==Development==

The Odd Jobs was developed by George F. Hall of Long Branch, New Jersey, and patented by him, filing on 7 May 1866, and receiving patent No. 356 533 on 25 January 1887.{{Cite journal|journal=Tool Collector News Magazine|volume=6|issue=16|page= 12|title=The Original Odd Jobs|author=Walter Jacob|date=Winter 1995}} This patent date can be seen on early examples "PATJAN2587" across the width of the tool.