rrich 10th January 2017, 03:42 PM I purchased several Stanley Fat Max measuring tapes. Do I need 25 or 30 feet (9M+)? Not really. These measuring tapes were all purchased at different times but they are all of the same scale. Meaning that at 8 feet or 96 inches they all measure the same.
Checking at various points along the tapes, all the tapes measure the same. I also have a few other different brands of measuring tapes. Some are close to the Fat Max tapes while others are not. Some tapes are off by as much as ¼ inch over 8 feet. (About 5 or 6 mm.)
The point is to always use the tapes with identical scales. In most cases it doesn't matter if your 2M measurement is 5mm long or short just so that every 2M measurement is the same. If you're building a table, it doesn't matter if the legs are 785mm or 795mm just so that all the legs are the same length.
joe greiner 10th January 2017, 05:06 PM To avoid the bother of verifying "identical" tapes, it's generally better to use only one tape for a project.
Before tape measures became widely available, carpenters used folding rules, which are notorious for slop in the hinges. They usually rapped the extended rule against the ground to take up the slop, and gain consistent measurements.
My favorite tape is Stanley's 10-foot "Diameter Scale." (No. 33-115) It has two sets of markings: On the front, standard inch marks; on the back, the "inches" are 3.1416" long (pi), with zero offset. Wrap the object and read the diameter directly.
Cheers,
Joe
Handyjack 10th January 2017, 07:22 PM I did have a metre ruler (yard stick) that was not consistent with my other rulers so I only used it as a straight edge. One not so good day I flexed the ruler and tossed it.
I now have a metre ruler which agrees with may other rulers.
malb 10th January 2017, 08:53 PM Ten years ago, working in the metal furniture trade, primarily cutting and polishing, there were always issues with tapes going missing. One morning, as a surprise, the boss walked around the workshop tossing new tapes to each of us, he had gone out to buy something and found these as a special so bought a full box of them, intending to have a few spares to cover eventual losses.
I started using mine from the next job I was cutting and had the job ready for the welders before lunch. Straight after lunch, leading welder is frustrated and grumpy because he is getting pressured to get this job welded and finish polished for collection and can't find it in the batches of jobs lined up. Went over, found out which job it was took him to it. Not the right job he cries, he had been through that job and none of the lengths matched the job sheet. I pulled my tape and started measuring, everything within 0.5mm by my tape. He gets his tape items short by up to 5mm, we collect three of the other new tapes and check with them. Variation over 5 tapes 10mm in 1800, 6mm in 900, and 5mm in 780 on the legs.
Problem solved, one box of Chinese tapes into rubbish skip, 10 new Nicholson tapes distributed later that arvo, each with the users initials engraved on them.
Boss had figured that by buying a box lot, they should match, but hadn't checked before issuing them. If at all possible use one tape of known accuracy from initial site measure up to the completion of installation, if that is not possible, at least use matching reputable brand units at each station.
Bohdan 10th January 2017, 10:50 PM Whenever I need a new tape measure I go to the shop, grab half a dozen different brands that I would consider buying, stretch them all out and reject the ones that don't match the rest. Then I pick one, no guarantee but better than a random choice. When I get home I compare it to the others that I have.
rrich 11th January 2017, 02:30 PM It was said by the Survey Party Chief, "The only people that use feet and inches are carpenters and ladies of the evening".
My first day as a rear chainman on the survey party I was issued a measuring tape that was graduated in feet and TENTHS of a foot.
After a short lived stint on a survey party, I found better employment. Over the years, I would use that tape around the house because I KNEW what it was measuring. Other people would use the tape and have their mind totally warped. I finally threw the tape away because it caused problems for others working with me.
joe greiner 11th January 2017, 06:46 PM It was said by the Survey Party Chief, "The only people that use feet and inches are carpenters and ladies of the evening".
My first day as a rear chainman on the survey party I was issued a measuring tape that was graduated in feet and TENTHS of a foot.
After a short lived stint on a survey party, I found better employment. Over the years, I would use that tape around the house because I KNEW what it was measuring. Other people would use the tape and have their mind totally warped. I finally threw the tape away because it caused problems for others working with me.
There's a whole lot of arithmetic in the home office after field surveys. Distributing the errors (field measurements never close), calculating areas, etc. Can you imagine the nightmare of using feet and inches for that? Closest we have to metric.
Cheers,
Joe
george mavridis 11th January 2017, 09:47 PM Ten years ago, working in the metal furniture trade, primarily cutting and polishing
Hey Malb I worked as a metal polisher for most of my working life. My Dad had a metal polishing shop in Melbourne and from a young lad spending school holidays there to later working fulltime there till 2001 when I moved to Qld. Fond memories.
Optimark 11th January 2017, 10:16 PM I have 4 Quicky tape measures, made by BMI in Germany. they are extremely accurate and are guaranteed to be accurate according to EC Class II. The 2m and 3m tapes are all identical to each other at .5m, 1m, 1.5m, 2m and the two 3m tapes concur with each other at 2.5m and 3m.
All of mine are pure metric.
BMI Tape Measures (http://german-hand-tools.com/BMI-Tape-measures.html)
Mick.
P.W.H. 11th January 2017, 11:05 PM For the really accurate stuff I use one of two metric stainless steel rulers - one a 600mm, one a 1000mm. And a 6" engineering square.
Talk about inaccuracies ... just today I went to Mitre 10 and checked several T squares and rafter squares against my engineering square.
Fuller and Stanley is what they had...
Not one measured up, so I left without spending money.
Getting a large accurate square seems just about impossible. Same experience at Carbatec in Auckland. No joy.
Always comes back to measuring diagonals which is a pita with clamps in the game.
Bohdan 11th January 2017, 11:22 PM Use the 5 cut method to square up your saw and in the process you will produce a near perfect rectangle. Cut the rectangle diagonally and you have two prefect squares for any setting up or checking at almost no cost.
rrich 12th January 2017, 07:34 AM Talk about inaccuracies ... just today I went to Mitre 10 and checked several T squares and rafter squares against my engineering square.
Fuller and Stanley is what they had...
Not one measured up, so I left without spending money.
There is a trick to purchasing an accurate square or "T" square.
Select two different brands and measure them against each other. I'll usually use a pocket knife to scrape the varnish off the square edges to get an accurate reading. I've found that usually a speed square or framing square are the best references.
I was trying to find an adjustable square in Home Depot. As I'm checking things out, an employee comes over asking what I'm doing. I explain and he is really interested in learning. As we were going through a bunch of adjustable squares that none were even close to being square. The employee mumbles, "Those are just a POS." Eventually we found a Stanley that had been laying around in the back of the display. It was right on.
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