johna.clements
Established Member
but can give you a nasty cutTape Measures don't need Sharpening
Your Favourite Tape Measure(s)
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bourbon
Established Member
Surprised that no one has mentioned this. My favourite tape. Is the one I can find!
rogxwhit
Established Member
It's over there - next to your pencil .... ;-)
Molynoox
Established Member
Here is an angle nobody has mentioned yet - water ingress.
In terms of durability most tapes seem to last pretty much forever..... unless they get wet. And then they are toast, the tape itself just rusts instantly, takes just one or two hours to ruin it once the water is in there.
So if I'm working in the rain, I have to keep wiping the tape as it retracts so it's relatively dry inside.
I was thinking that a nice little gadget could be a rubber blade that pops down when you press a button and that could easily wipe off the water from the surface of the tape.
I suspect this is a fairly niche issue, just for those people that measure in the rain
Martin
In terms of durability most tapes seem to last pretty much forever..... unless they get wet. And then they are toast, the tape itself just rusts instantly, takes just one or two hours to ruin it once the water is in there.
So if I'm working in the rain, I have to keep wiping the tape as it retracts so it's relatively dry inside.
I was thinking that a nice little gadget could be a rubber blade that pops down when you press a button and that could easily wipe off the water from the surface of the tape.
I suspect this is a fairly niche issue, just for those people that measure in the rain
Martin
bourbon
Established Member
Don't start with pencils! Took two on a job this morning, lost both of them, twice, during the day. Managed to retrieve them and got them in my toolbox. No idea if they will be there in the morning though.
johna.clements
Established Member
You need a stainless tape measure to stop the rust.Here is an angle nobody has mentioned yet - water ingress.
In terms of durability most tapes seem to last pretty much forever..... unless they get wet. And then they are toast, the tape itself just rusts instantly, takes just one or two hours to ruin it once the water is in there.
So if I'm working in the rain, I have to keep wiping the tape as it retracts so it's relatively dry inside.
I was thinking that a nice little gadget could be a rubber blade that pops down when you press a button and that could easily wipe off the water from the surface of the tape.
I suspect this is a fairly niche issue, just for those people that measure in the rain
Martin
But the other problem is the water picks up grit etc which scratches off the numbers.
I always used to wash the tape but not the holder. Dry the tape without retracting it, then leave it hanging up to completely dry overnight. Then hope it was not raining the next day.
I find it a real problem this time of year, I use my fingers a a brake on my tape anyway and they double up as water wipers when the tapes on it way back in, when i can remember anyway!Here is an angle nobody has mentioned yet - water ingress.
In terms of durability most tapes seem to last pretty much forever..... unless they get wet. And then they are toast, the tape itself just rusts instantly, takes just one or two hours to ruin it once the water is in there.
So if I'm working in the rain, I have to keep wiping the tape as it retracts so it's relatively dry inside.
I was thinking that a nice little gadget could be a rubber blade that pops down when you press a button and that could easily wipe off the water from the surface of the tape.
I suspect this is a fairly niche issue, just for those people that measure in the rain
Martin
I've been working with another carpenter for the last year and we've settled on Tajimas as our standard, we found that using different tapes from one another lead to a mill or so difference in our measurements when framing etc.
Have also used the shinwa offering, very similar but printed both sides and had a nice textured blade, tajima seems to have won in the end for me
Ive got about 8 of the stanleys from screwfix, mix of 5 and 8m. As soon as one is wearing, i replace it and pass it on to my brother ( farmer )
But my favourite measure is a leica disto 2. I often work on my own and measuring joists and rafters can be tricky and time consuming solo. I bought the disto earlier this year, and ( not being convinced in new tech ) i did a lot of measuring and checking with it before i could trust it
..... its perfect, both in cabinets and along a 14m bungalow, it stores the measurements as you go, can be hooked up to your phone via Bluetooth etc.
Now, i will admit to having never heard of class 1 and 2 tapes, which is a bit poor! Ive been a chippy for about 26 years
But my favourite measure is a leica disto 2. I often work on my own and measuring joists and rafters can be tricky and time consuming solo. I bought the disto earlier this year, and ( not being convinced in new tech ) i did a lot of measuring and checking with it before i could trust it
..... its perfect, both in cabinets and along a 14m bungalow, it stores the measurements as you go, can be hooked up to your phone via Bluetooth etc.Now, i will admit to having never heard of class 1 and 2 tapes, which is a bit poor! Ive been a chippy for about 26 years
johna.clements
Established Member
As a civil engineer I only heard of class 1 and 2 a few months ago. The work I was doing never had those sort of tolerances so I had no reason to find out unless I was inquiring.Ive got about 8 of the stanleys from screwfix, mix of 5 and 8m. As soon as one is wearing, i replace it and pass it on to my brother ( farmer )
But my favourite measure is a leica disto 2. I often work on my own and measuring joists and rafters can be tricky and time consuming solo. I bought the disto earlier this year, and ( not being convinced in new tech ) i did a lot of measuring and checking with it before i could trust it
Now, i will admit to having never heard of class 1 and 2 tapes, which is a bit poor! Ive been a chippy for about 26 years
Unless you are measuring short distances the accuracy of the class 1 tapes could be compromised by temperature. If you were to measure a sheet of ply with a tape that was just out of a van on a frosty morning then measure again after it had cooked inside a window you would see a slight difference. Most likely more than the difference in tolerance between class 1 and 2.
In my case, I got rid of all my generic tape measures and folding rules after an expensive day of making full sheets of 19mm birch plywood into piles of offcuts and replaced them with a Hultafors Class I tape measure and a BMI Class II folding rule. A person at Site A was relaying measurements for shelves to me at Site B, about 75KM away. I cut all of the material to the correct dimension only to find out once I transported everything to Site A they were too short, as verified on site with the tape measure.
Back to Site B to reduce another full sheet to what would later become offcuts. This time, I brought MY generic shop tape measure with me, which I should have done the first time, and discovered our tapes were four or five millimeters off from each other at the distance we were using for the shelves. Had we both been using Class I tape measures, I doubt that job would have required three sheets of plywood, lots of edge banding, or 450KM of driving.
When I can find my tape measures they are all numbered, this way I ensure that when doing something I will always use the same tape and will take it from say taking a measurement indoors back out to the workshop to transfer that measurement. It also allows you to know how many have gone missing or how many you need to look for. I do / did have a Fisco class one tape but that seems to have taken itself on holiday.
Doug71
Established Member
After all the time I have spent banging on about my fantastic class 1 tape today I noticed printed on the blade "CE Applies to Metric scale only" and I spend a good amount of time working in imperial 
Similar to @baldkev I got a laser measure a while ago, mines a Bosch, would not be without it now, spot on accurate to half a mill. Only downside I find is it can make you a bit paranoid about getting measurements EXACTLY the same.
Similar to @baldkev I got a laser measure a while ago, mines a Bosch, would not be without it now, spot on accurate to half a mill. Only downside I find is it can make you a bit paranoid about getting measurements EXACTLY the same.
Jacob
New Luddism. Wake up and resist.
Simple solution - make felt tip marks on any old tape? And you can read off the dimension at the same time!
That plain tape looks like an April fool joke to me! P.S.
I just read the text - it was an April 1 joke! Caught me napping. But then a lot of gadget world products are a joke anyway.
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I once cleared a bench off and found forty one pencils.
I've always used Stanley, But with my Festool fan edition plunge saw came a Festool branded tape. It's only in metric, which is unusual for me.
Obviously I only work in metric but its a really weird feeling not having the tape measure with inches/feet there also.
Obviously I only work in metric but its a really weird feeling not having the tape measure with inches/feet there also.
Yep I took the plunge earlier this year and treated myself to a Leica Disto, accurate and does area to so useful to work out flooring etc. just have to keep it steady when taking measurements or use the online app. Far superior to tape measures and easily done without some to hold the other end ( of the tape )After all the time I have spent banging on about my fantastic class 1 tape today I noticed printed on the blade "CE Applies to Metric scale only" and I spend a good amount of time working in imperial
Similar to @baldkev I got a laser measure a while ago, mines a Bosch, would not be without it now, spot on accurate to half a mill. Only downside I find is it can make you a bit paranoid about getting measurements EXACTLY the same.
A while ago I compared readings from several tape measures I had. None agreed but the important thing to me is to use the same one on a job. I too like the Tajima but dont understand how the Leica Disto ( which one?) can be used to set out wood work.
Never, Never loan a tape measure. It will invariably come back with the end of the blade twisted
Never, Never loan a tape measure. It will invariably come back with the end of the blade twisted
Leica Disto 2 can measure pretty much anything, I don’t just use it for woodworking as it’s mainly used for measuring up for say skirting’s, new laminate floors , working out area of a floor or walls for tiling . It performs a variety of tasks including length, area and height measurements via Pythagoras therom. Using a target plate it can be used outside for setting out for fence posts and using the point to point setting the holes for fence posts can be accurately marked. In short it’s an accurate measurement device with multiple settings and functions-
I would never use the Disto for measuring at my workbench
But it's awesome for laying out factories
But it's awesome for laying out factories
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