B58-428 COMBINATION RULE. "Ebony" Version of L.C. Stephens No. 36. The combination rule that would eventually become the Stanley No. 36 was invented and originally sold by L.C. Stephens, before the formation of Chapin-Stephens. 99% of them are boxwood, a handful are ivory, and an even smaller handful have this dark inlay on the handle. We know from their advertising that Stephens made an ebony handled version, but the one or two of these we've seen don't have any visible grain, and appear possibly to be made of dark gutta percha. Brass bound, unsigned, metric markings on reverse side. There's some moderate wear, but overall clean and extremely rare. From the Dennis Fisher collection. Good+ 2000-4000