This may sound like a silly question, but I have been searching for the right shop-tape for some time without succes. I thought I found it with those fast-cap tape measures; they have all the features I’m looking for in a 16 footer for shop use: comfortable rubberized body, regular top-lever lock, and push button brake underneath, writing pad on face, and even a pencil sharpener! My only complaints about them are flimsy belt clips and cheap spring-loaded winders (I’ve already worn out two). Granted, they are only $7 or so, but I for one am willng to pay $20+ for better quality. As with so many things, it’s a great idea, but poor execution IMHO.
So…has anyone found a tape they can’t live without??
Replies
maderamax
I am partial to Starrett, Lufkin and Stanley tapes...they are all more or less the same. I would not say that I couldn't live without them. The measuring tool I would not ever be without is my wooden folding rule. I have a 6 foot and an 8 foot, and it is the measuring tool I use the most. I have a Starrett and a Lufkin, with a sliding brass 6" measure that is useful for measuring shallow depths and inside measurements.
I once contacted the Stanley Company and asked for, and received their specs on manufacturing tolerances. Their tapes, as all the other major companies, are manufactured to a 1/16" tolerance. I thought it would be must closer. I needed this document to prove to an ISO accrediting body that it was unnecessary to calibrate tape measures. All that was needed was to insure that the tape was not kinked and that the hook was square and functional, sliding in and out to compensate for inside and outside dimensions with the rivets intact and not seized. Our company purchased a calibrated measuring bar. It cost us about $300.00 and we used it to test tape measures for two years. I must have tested several hundred, keeping concise records, and all were a pass. None ever failed the accuracy test (to a tolerance of 1/64"). The $5 tape did just as well as the $35 tape. The one that was the very best of the bunch was produced by (or for) Canadian Tire Corporation. It carried their name. It was a take off on the Fat Max that is on the market everywhere fine tape measures are sold. JL
After 33 years in an aerospace plant and seeing some of the ridiculous requirements we met for ISO just to play in the European market, I at first thought it was not necessary to calibrate tapes. They even wanted us to calibrate our 6" scales! I know it makes sense to check out tape measures. I don't what application you have, but a few years ago I read an article in FWW about a cabinet maker who uses a master tape on the job. While I was building our house, my wife's cousin and I found our tape measures were off by up to 1/8" due to bent ends. We periodically (like every day) would calibrate our tapes. That ended the cutting errors from the callouts. I have never trusted the sliding offset from inside to outside measurement though.
The folding rule sounds useful. The inside measurements for trim are the hardest for me.
Ben
woodsurgin
Using a master tape is an excellent idea.
On our job sites now, we allow only one master laser level, one transit and only the superintendent's tape measures are used for determining layout measurements. The lasers and transits are calibrated by certified technicians, and we self-check the tapes for breaks , kinks and that the hook end is square and sliding correctly, though we do not calibrate the tapes any more. An eighth may seem like not to much to worry about, but an eighth on the layout of a square reference grid may translate into several inches over 100 feet, and a migraine size headache when the poop hits the oscillator. JL
jeanlou
With so many laser levels around today and cheap at that, I wonder how good they are. The laser beams are straight, but the mechanisms they are couched in may not be. I would have loved to have used a laser level when we built our house, but they hadn't come out yet. With all of the tapes, levels, and other measuring tools available now, the question is finding the ones that work as the contributors have been saying.
Ben
Ben
As with any tool, it is the user that determines accuracy. Unless the laser level was dropped, it should be fine. Most of the lasers on the marked (spinning type) will not spin if they are not level. As far as the fixed beam levels available at the big box stores, they are a blessing on the site. It sure beats climbing a ladder to drop a plum bob and transferring the marks up or down.
Where there is more of a problem is in the way people transfer the laser beams to the walls or ceiling or whatever. The further away you are from the source of the light beam, the wider it is. Some light beams may be less than an eighth of an inch near the source and be a strong quarter 80 feet away. I mark the middle of the beam (yes, by eye). If I marked the top or the bottom of the beam, I would be off because the beam spreads symmetrically from the center.
I also strongly suggest having the equipment calibrated by a qualified technician once a year, and doing spot checks yourself after a set up, with a spirit level (that you also have checked for level) or a water level if you are worried that the laser may have had an accident. JL
I've been searching for thirty years...,
Lee
I was a woodworking instructor and had to equip some 75 students each year with tapes. I never had much of a budget and often looked for inexpensive deals. When it comes to tapes, that's a bad approach. The old metal Stanleys could be rebuilt, rewind the springs, trade parts, replace blades, etc. They would last for years in the hands of teenage boys. One year I bought a bunch of Starretts, they barely lasted a month. I've always used a Stanley Powerlock either 20' or 25'. These have always been the best of all the brands I've begged, borrowed, or bought. No fancy bells or whistles, just a good all around tape. I work heavy construction, build houses as well a cabinets and furniture. My Powerlock is ten years old and it's been through the mill, I use it everyday. For more precise machine set up and joinery, I use a 12" stainless General rule. There are some things I'd change about it, no millimeters, no 64's and no section in the middle with 32's. I can live with 32's but I'd be happy with just 16's. I can sight the space between the lines much better than I can see 64's.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I really don't think there is any particular tape that could be considered "the best."
I use a 12' Stanley PowerLock in the shop -- but only because the way they have laid out the measuring increments suits my old eyes. It fits nicely in my pocket, and I take the clip off.
Same with the Stanley 25' Stanley Fat Max for construction work.
********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I always figured that a company which stakes it's rep on accurate measurement, ie "starrett", any tape would reflect that.
Ain't been disappointed yet.
Their "retapes" used recycled plastic for the cases, and were 1/3 the cost of any of the more advertised mfgrs. When my supplier discontinued carrying them, I ordered a dozen of em. They screwed up the order, so now I got 2 dozen.
Morevoer, on site, when the others is worrying about keeping track of their fat-maxes, mine is unique, ie less likely to walk off.
The only difficulty with tapes is that they is only capable of so much use and abuse before the rivets get a tad sloppy, or the hook gets bent and maladjusted, and I ain't figured out a simple way to take my stock and give it an "expected life", like maybe a year or two. Of course, treated right, a tape could last longer, but all it takes is one drop and the hook can be buggered.
Like everyone else, a good tape becomes second nature, but comes a time when it just won't read precisely anymore. You keep it cause it'll be close enuf for 2x4 construction, but then it kinda finds it's way back into the finer work-and kinda screws u up. Better to give it away to the framers before that happens-just to keep it clear of your won work.... The framers can beat it up some more and give it to the plumbers, They beat it up some more, and next thing you know, some designer or architect is pickin it out of the dumpster and using it to measure for the specifications.....that you now have to comply with.
It's much more fun to leave a spare "shrink-rule" on site.
Eric in Calgary
My favorite is my Starret 16'. My least favorite is the POS centering tape I bought at Home Cheapo that fouled and bent it self the 3rd time I used it. Very thin blade. John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
The more things change ...
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC
Iv'e got a Craftsman 16' tape that has numbers on both edges of the tape, so that you can use it in either hand, and read the numbers right side up. That one I use the most, when I use a tape, but any thing under 2 meters, I use a folding rule, in metric.(Ican't deal with fractions)
Craftsman up until a couple years ago made a fantastic 20' x 3/4" tape that had a great feel in the hand. I can't remember where it was made but they switched production to a different country of origin and in the process must have changed the specs slightly because it sure doesn't feel the same. The Stanley 20' x 3/4 is a close second in my book.
My two cents,
Jonathan
I've used the Stanely 16 footer on the corner of my bench in this picture for at least 15 years and it's never let me down:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2421889000032524639XZwlrK
I think they make a similar one now in yellow plastic case.
I have on of the Fas-Caps and like a few things about it, but frankly dislike some of the other things (primarlily the flimsiness of the tape - to stay flat I suppse it has to be this way, but it's inconvenient for how I use a tape in my work). And that's another point that's important: I don't use a tape for any sort of fine marking - rulers, wheel gauges, squares, etc. are better suited when you need any sort of precision greater than 1/16th or so.
Try this you guys, put two tape measures side by side and run them out about five feet. Compare the increments. You'll notice the printing on each tape varies quite a lot in some parts, I've seen them off quite a lot at one number only to fall back in line with each other at another.This is only to point out the importance of using only one tape to transfer lengths. And, yes, Starretts are as bad as any of them.Lee
My tape measure story: I bought a Stanley 25 Fast-Lock about 15 years ago, nearly identical to the one pictured on the corner of the work bench in another post. Bought the Stanley because Dad and Granddad had Stanley tapes. It's been beaten up, dropped, bent, lost and found more times than I can count.
7 years ago I saw the Stanley 25 ft Fat Max and HAD TO HAVE IT. And it worked great until the day I tried to measure 30 feet with a 25 foot tape...the tape came out of the case and I ended up tossing the whole thing into the trash. The entire time my original Stanley was in a toolbox, sitting un-used.
Since then I've purchased 2 other tapes from Home Depot, and they weren't accruate at all. I've since brought my original Stanley out of retirement and it is still as accurate as the day I bought it 15 years ago.
Over Christmas I ended up buying a Craftsman tape. Only this time I found a consistent baseline in an un-used 4 foot shelf that Sears hadn't yet restocked. I took every single Craftsman tape off the racks and had a "measure off". I measured that shelf with every tape Sears had until I found 1 that was consistently accurate, and bought it. The whole time all the customers looked at me like I was crazy.
Here's what I discovered during that measure-off:
The metal tongue on a tape can move as much as a quarter inch.
The markings on a tape can be printed with heavy ink or light ink, and your measurements can vary from a thirty-second to a sixteenth.
Generally, tapes that unspooled smoothly from their cases were more accurate than those that felt rough as they unspooled.
Some tapes are more curved / cupped than others, and this affects your measurement.
The average standout on the average tape is about 7 feet before the tape bends.
Hope this helps somebody--Thanks, Erik
Try this you guys, put two tape measures side by side and run them out about five feet. Compare the increments. You'll notice the printing on each tape varies quite a lot in some parts, I've seen them off quite a lot at one number only to fall back in line with each other at another.
Yup; I try to avoid using tape measures as much as possible as a result. They are printed from flexible rubber belts, so they are bound to be inaccurate. Even sticking to one tape doesn't help all the time; e.g., you want to measure hald the length of a board that measures 48", but you can't be sure the 24" is halfway there.
I try to use metal rules with engraved marks as much as possible. Whenever I compare them against each other, they line up pretty well.
Lee
Exactly. A tape is only a coiled story stick with the marks already there. Any tape will do when transferring dimensions from one place to another. It is when we tell our buddies to mark it at 9 11/32" and he uses another tape that we run into problems. Even if the tape's scale is exactly the same, did the other person make the mark relative to the exact same part of the dimension line on the tape?
There is no real problem when the tolerances are high, as in a rough construction situation. It is at the finer finishing level that things become a bit iffy. JL
My tape measure of choice is a Komelon USA SELFlock. I love the thing.
Tough and sturdy, the three of them I have I love.
I have 24 tape measures, When I need one in the field I buy one. Then I leave it at home.When I used to do finish carpentry, the method of burning an inch was common. A worn or even new tape can be quite a bit off on the end depending on if you are pushing or pulling or whatever. To be accurate you start at 1" when you measure, and then you subtract that inch. My team took an inch over as the standard for measurement. We would clarify with the word exact if the measure was not an inch over. I am quite used to burning an inch, I don't have to with any of my SELFlocks. They are all dead on push or pull.Also the Lock is on until you push the button. This I like. Bob
Cedarslayer
I guess we all burn an inch when we want real accuracy. I never do a layout starting at the hook. There is too much chance for error. When I layout to both sides of a point, I will line up the starting point with the 10 foot mark and then measure to both sides of the mark. JL
I use a Starrett 12' tape, a 6" steel rule and a 6' folding rule--the 6" steel rule is invaluable in layout of joinery. The Starrett 12' tape is 1/2" wide, and is easily visable for my aging eyes--I wear safety glasses with bifocal reading lenses and reading glasses when I am not using tools. Tom
Hi,
Best I could find this week was a Lufkin 16' Pro-Series. 4 rivet hook, Nylon clad (no input on longevity yet) solid plastic rubber clad and a easy click lock.
Of course the best ever was the old metal cased Stanleys with all the info like nail sizes and bevel angles altough I never used them<G>
Still searchin' myself,
Bro. Luke
I use steel rulers for most of my precise measuring on set ups and layouts. I use a tape for rough measurements. I prefer the Stanley Fat Max. I admit I have not tried many of the others everyone else is recommending, but I am very happy with the Fat Max.
In the shop (when building cabinets) I use, in order of frequency,............
1. Fast Cap "old standby"
2. Fast Cap "flat back"
3. starret 12" combination square.
4. Fast Cap " story pole tape measure.
5. dial caliper with frational dial.
6. Stanley 25' Fat Max
I used to use a lot of traditional story pole, a couple for verticle and a couple for horizontal. Now that I am using CAD soft ware I dont need them. Although it is kind of nostalgic to remember using them.
In the field I use (in order)
1. Stanley 25' Fat Max.
2. A couple of Fast Cap story pole tapes (one for each wall)
and I guess that is it.
For installation I use grease and a big hammer. LOL.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
mudman
What brand of grease do you buy? I also use grease and a big hammer during all the between walls floor to ceiling installs. I am partial to the white grease, because even though the residue remains, it is harder to see :-) JL
Edited 2/3/2007 12:59 pm ET by jeanlou
It is an industry specific grease sold under a few names, "Square-peg-round-hole-lube" is what I prefer.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Mike
It is in these installations that I learned to appreciate the tradesmen that also understood the importance of working plumb, level and square. When they are around I thank them and when they aren't I thank them anyway, in my heart, while I do the install. I will not go into what I think when I install on the grease-required sites. Thanks for sharing your brand of grease with me. JL
I have a few "favourite tapes" depending on the job at hand.
Another tape which you may find interesting and one that I use regularly is a Lufkin diameter tape. It's a flat tape meant to be used on a flat surface or wrapped around something round. It has no hook and the zero is about 3 inches from the end of the tape so no worry about the hook being inaccurate - just put the zero where needed and measure. On the other side of the tape is a diameter scale - just wrap a round thing and read the diameter. It's 1/4 inch wide and 6 feet long and has a nice rounded case - gets lost in your pocket.
I wish I worked where you live. I never see straight, square or plumb. I expect things to out of wack. But, I never complain in front of a customer or employee.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
mudman
I used to think that it took old fart guys like me to work correctly, but I keep bumping into young tradesman with the soul and the touch to turn out excellent work...and some old farts that I would just as soon see stay home in the rocking chair.
Have faith, train the people that work with you to the higher quality standards we all need, and you will be on the way. JL
Its funny but I am not fooled by the romanticism associated with "the good ol' days" I have worked in enough old houses to know that the "good ol' days" were not so good. Even the best built and maintained houses with solid foundations of yester-year are inconsistant, out of square, and a general PITA. Lumber was not standardised and the milling tolerances were not consistant, so walls are generally not straight despite the framers best efforts. Construction techniques were not stantardised and I frequently come across old school techniques that make no sense. They didn't have the reliable tools that we have now so measurements were eyeballed more often than not. No miter saws, so but joints were iffy. Bird mouth cuts on rafters usually look like they were made with an axe..... literally. The new houses (even the cheeper cookie cutter houses) are much better framed, conections are a lot more reliable, and the layouts are more square and true.
Even so after the sheet rock and mud is applied corners get deformed and nobody is perfect so sometimes there is fudged construction. But not like the older houses that were fudged as a daily practice due to non-standard materials and techniques and inaccurate tools.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
mudman
The house I live in now was built in 1951. The 2 x are 1 3/4" thick and the subfloors are 7/8" solid wood tongue and groove. It may have been a custom home at the time, but there was certainly more wood for the buck Our 2 x today is 1 1/2" and the other day I ran across a batch that was even a little less.
You are right when you point out more consistent construction today, but that I attribute to mandatory inspections. In Quebec a commission was set up after the 1967 Olympics to counter the abuses that went on during the construction of the '67 Olympic installations. (there were MANY) They came up with a government body that oversees self-regulation by the contractors...yes boys and girls...no building inspections. The results today are as varied as you might imagine. If the contractor has scruples, the work is better. If the contractor forgot something in his bid and needs to make up some $, the corners are all cut and nothing is square , plumb or level. The local government is now starting to study the effectiveness of the self-regulating system. I for one say that it can not be too soon for real inspection services, with teeth, by outside bodies to be introduced here. Say, is this Knots or Breaktime? JL
Ahhh .......... but having an inspection process will not guarantee "square, plumb, and level." I have never seen a building inspector walk into a site with a carpenter's square in one hand and a level in the otherIn my neck of the woods, it is always a struggle to get clients to realize that the building code is written around bare minimum standards. And even so, a lot of shoddy, substandard work seems to slip by the BI.I am amazed that Quebec did away with inspections, but I assume they must have much more rigorous requirements (than we do) for licensing contractors.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
nikkiwood
Let's see now. The Olympic stadium started dropping 30 and 60 ton pre-fab concrete elements on unsuspecting bystanders.
An overpass was being built over a major highway when the beams spanning half the highway collapsed and rubble and trouble fell on the passing motorists.
An overpass that still had another 50 or so years of safe service (in principle) left in it caved in . It dropped like a rock (no pun intended) and several vehicles were not able to stop in time.
There are other stories, but this is enough to argue the necessity if inspections. The inspectors are there to insure life safety. Quality finishing is the domain of the individual contractor and the individual tradespeople. Those who feel comfortable saying things like "hey, good enough. I will never see that from where I live"...these are the people we need to sensitize and retrain. If they don't show interest and understanding, let's show them the door. JL
Well then, hearing that, I would say bring back the inspectors. Or............How about a mandatory ethics course?Naw......... that wouldn't work either, since as you will remember, you can lead a horse to water, etc. etc. etc.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
"In my neck of the woods, it is always a struggle to get clients to realize that the building code is written around bare minimum standards."
So people live and die and never realize their house was not built so perfectly. After all is said and done, does it matter so much fifty years after the big fire or till the new owner finds out? Ha.
Very good point. Every customer I talk to describes their house as being pooly built. "It wouldn't suprise me.....they didn't do anything right". I never agree with them any more. I assure them that their house is well made and maintinance is part of home ownership. I never tell customers that something is out of square or that something isn't done "th way I would do it". I can't know for sure but I think that they like that I dont spend most of our face time bashing the contractors that were before me.
So what if the roof is trussed, or the studs are finger jointed. It will never matter in the lifetime of that house.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Mike
Good point you bring up. It is never wise to trash the work of those that worked before us...and it has a way of biting us on the butt when we do...and rightly so. JL
You are right there is no doubt that framing lumber was thicker back then, but in houses before WWII the lumber tended to vary and there was a lot of warpage due to not kiln drying (I guess).
You are right it is the national codes that have made homes safer and more reliable. Granted a lot of those old homes will never fall, despite any construction errors, because the building materials are a lot tougher.
My dad and I have spent a few nights debateing this one. He too has been a builder all his life. He still frowns on spliced studs and PEX, and I see his point. But certaintly the romanticism of building a home is not present in todays job sites. And really cabinetry is going that way too.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
mudman
Your dad and I have been / are witness to changes that rub against the grain, but engineered lumber and the possibilities that it presents can not be ignored. Change is not always easy to accept, and it isn't even always better, but in the case of the construction industry most of the changes have been positive. Now if tradespeople could only get square, plumb and level into their souls... JL
Edited 2/6/2007 8:13 am ET by jeanlou
Very well said, and I agree whole heartedly.Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
The 50's are pretty modern. My house was built in 1900 with unplaned oak straight from the sawmill. As I was remodeling I found one 2X4 that was three inches on the top but over four inches on the bottom. What a nightmare to drywall over. In the old days you just smoothed it over with plaster and it looked okay. Wonderful product, that plaster was, if you could keep it from cracking. The horse hair reinforcing just wasn't strong enough.
tinkerer2
The other problem with the plaster is that it has a life span and starts decomposing and crumbles, falling off the lathe after 60 - 75 years of loyal service.
That is quite the piece of lumber (I dare not call it a 2 x anything the way you describe it)
I have been involved in many projects where old buildings (not as old as what can be found in Europe, but considered old here in the colonies) were totally gutted, leaving the exterior shell, and then rebuilt. I have seen many anomalies like you mention, and worse. Sometimes I could not understand how the building remained standing. The old guys had very little knowledge of structural requirements; or they didn't care. On the other hand, here I am several hundred years after they are long gone, reworking their building and saying they had no understanding of structural requirements. It was still standing when I worked on it. JL
I like the Fast Cap flat back tape. Because it lays flat on the wood, I find it easier to mark with accuracy. Because it is flat it isn't much good for inside/outside measure. As a result they have riveted the hook to the end of rule which gives me a little more confidence in its accuracy. I do wish that it came with reverse markings.
--Whit
Like so many here, I haven't found the "perfect" tape yet. My old favs were the Stanley Powerlock tapes. I don't think they make that version anymore. I have a 30' Fatmax that I can't use for any length of time 'cause it's so heavy it has a tendency to pull my pants down.
These days we buy cheapo (under $10) 25' tapes in bulk knowing that they'll get ruined or lost. If working together we compare tapes so we can account for any inconsistencies. Most of the time I find myself not using the hook. I use increments in the tape, really anywhere along it, to get finer measurements. Wherever I can I don't use a tape at all and mark directly to the work.
-Paul
Maderamax:
The only time I use a tape is when going to the lumberyard. Use my folding rule exclusively for most measurements (longer ones.) It's stable, good for inside and outside measurements when equipped with the sliding insert in the first section. For me, indispensable. Try it. PMM
i like the fast cap too. i have a righty lefty and a story pole and a flat back. they all vary a bit. it is a must to use one tape for all measurements in a project or you'll be off a bit. i like the idea of the story pole, but i haven't applied it as much as i'd like to. the rightly lefty is probably my favorite.
Mad:
Like some others have commented....the FastCap tapes are my personal favorite. I like the one that shows 1/16"s and is marked in 1/16s. this makes it fast and easy to read.
I have had this tape for over 6 years and thought I had lost it several times. Each time I lost it and was forced to use someother brand, I got agitated without my trusty Fastcap.
IMHO-- I would stay away from lufkins or stanleys...they seem to be more contractor grade tapes than fine measuring instruments.
Good luck
Thank you,
Cheatah
When I started woodworking I was a starving medical resident. I used a cloth tape I got out of one of the clinics. It worked perfectly. If you cut the board a hair long you could just stretch the tape more and show yourself how you cut it perfectly.
Frank
Biscardi
Never wrong and never right. That sounds like a formula for a very long session on a comfortable couch. :-) JL
I'd love to see the stuff you built with that cloth tape <G>.............********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I'm surprised there aren't more people coming in here to beat the drum for story sticks................********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I'm surprised there aren't more people coming in here to beat the drum for story sticks
That's essentially what they're saying when they say "stick with the same tape throughout the whole project": it's just a story stick with alot of marks, most of which are ignored. Like a real story stick, the spacing between the marks has an unknown relationship to the standard definition of an inch (and thus the requirement to stick with the same tape, er stick, throughout the project!).
Nikkiwood
I use a wooden folding rule and is as close as you are going to get to a story stick, with pre-printed reference lines, as you will ever get. (it is a good alternative to tapes) I will use a real story stick, made on the job to suit specific needs when I have multiple measurements to repeat often.
As an aside, I regularly use cloth measures to do field surveys. There is nothing that beats them for measuring the circumferences of round columns. JL
Here's a tape that will do all that for you -- story stick, measure (metric and imperial), wrap around a column:http://www.fastcap.com/prod2.asp?page=procarp_flatThese people are amazing; I can't keep up with the flow of new products <G>.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
nikkiwood
Hmmm. I guess I may be the proud owner of a new tape measure soon. but is it as cool as a folding wooden rule? On a hot day, if you set it up right, the wooden rule actually can be used as a fan...true. Then again, we don't have too many hot days in the frozen north. :-) JL
If you haven't already, be sure to review their Glue-Bot. It's right up there with one of the best things since peanut butter. http://www.fastcap.com/prod2.asp?page=glubotAnd this little scriber:http://www.fastcap.com/prod2.asp?page=accuscribepro********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
nikkiwood
I will have to mortgage my house in order to buy all these goodies...and in Quebec the family home is registered as such, so I will need my wife's notarized permission. She may not give it to me.
Life is rough sometimes...sigh! JL
One of the nice things about Fastcap is that most of their stuff is pretty cheap. I think that GluBot thing is about $6 US.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I've got a couple of Stanleys for longer stuff but I realy like the Lee Valley right hand 10 footer for most things. I dont notice the reading orientation until I'm using one of the Stanleys and it just seems annoying to use a regular tape.
If you build it he will come.
Madermax, after 20 years of the stanley 25 footer I switched to a Sears 20 footer (its red). I like it but it does have some things I dont, like the 3/4'' wide tape. No one seams to make a 20 footer with a 1'' blade. Or do they?
LMC
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