Thread: Tape Measure

Tape measures are OK for building a pergola. For joinery work get yourself a good 150mm, 300mm, and 1M steel rule. A good set of vernier calipers is a good investment also.

It should move by exactly the thickness of the tongue but if you can find one that does that off the shelf, good luck. Good brands are Lufkin and Stanley.

However a tape measure is not intended for accurate measurements and I would use a steel rule. I have three, 150mm, 300mm and 1 metre. I use one of them whenever I want an accurate measurement.

That's almost scary, Termite...

Originally Posted by silentC

That's almost scary, Termite...

Yeh, funny things have been happening since I got my hands fixed.......

I like my Stanley fatmax. Also own about 6 other cheapies in various states of disintergration. probably owned over 100 of them over the years and consider them as disposables.

What to look for is the movement of the end catch = thickness of the end catch, as Silent pointed out and (very important) is how far the tape can extend before it colapses under its own weight.

I just tested the fat max which is 1.5 years old and it still extends 3.5m unsupported.

The fatmax is pricey $50 odd but I consider it worth it, and it never strays far from my side.

I've used mostly Stanley and Lufkin as well. Currently using a Stanley LeverLock with decimal on one side and metric on the other. That way, I can see what you all are talking about.

Bob, aren't decimal and metric the same thing?

All good advice but don't lose the message: a tape measure is not really the right tool for that job

Originally Posted by Termite

Tape measures are OK for building a pergola. For joinery work get yourself a good 150mm, 300mm, and 1M steel rule. A good set of vernier calipers is a good investment also.

I have a set of vernier's and they are great but mine are only 150mm long. Can you get them longer?

I always used to buy lufkins with metric and imperial on each side.
The last tape measure I bought is an 8M Stanley fatmax with metric measurements on both sides, I find this better as you can measure in from either side of something and have a metric scale to mark from.

I find this better, as I only work in metric now.
Except when measuring small, I still prefer to work in "thou" instead of point something of a millimeter.

Originally Posted by Howdya do that

I have a set of vernier's and they are great but mine are only 150mm long. Can you get them longer?

Yep, I have a set of 200mm digital from Carb.... They are the ducks guts. Still have the 150mm manual set that I used for years.

The Felder tape measure is the same high quality as their other stuff. If you buy one of Brendans big machines he might throw one in to clinch the sale.

Originally Posted by Howdya do that

I have a set of vernier's and they are great but mine are only 150mm long. Can you get them longer?

I think Hare & Forbes have longer ones - about 300 or 450 from memory.

Verniers are great for rough work, but for accurate stuff, I use either a micrometer, or take the job down to the CSIRO Measurement Standards Lab.

Actually the stuff I find myself using the vernier for I could just as easily do with the inside and outside calipers. Mostly, I want to know how thick a tenon or a panel edge is, or I want to know the width of a groove. Then I'm transferring that measurement to something else. I find that reading off the dial of the caliper and transferring that measurement to the tablesaw fence or whatever is prone to error. I usually have to do a test cut and sneak up on the measurement I want anyway because the vernier is so much more accurate than it's possible to set the fence to (unless you are using a dial guage ala Rocker, but even then you need a reference to work off).

So you can get by with a decent set of calipers, unless you really need to know the measurement. I've found in woodworking I rarely do.

Originally Posted by AlexS

... for accurate stuff, I use either a micrometer, or take the job down to the CSIRO Measurement Standards Lab.

Except it isn't CSIRO anymore - the Standards people, in a restructure, were moved out of CSIRO a year or two ago and are now the National Measurement Institute.