Tape Measure Pro Tips

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Thank you, be safe, and be grateful.

[failedfishermanBC]

You do realize the impact you're having on the next few generations by sharing these videos with us? Super cool.

[RosesAndWhine]

As a young man growing up without a father figure being in my life, I thank you for your channel.

[jumpinghoops]

I think we can all agree on the fact that listening to this man talk about literally any topic is an experience that’s hard to stop once begun. Not only does he enlighten us on things that are otherwise overlooked, his presence is commanding without any unnecessary efforts.

[drymoonproperties]

I have been a carpenter for over forty years and like this man I appreciate when someone shares knowledge a true pro never thinks he is done learning or believes he knows everything but by a long shot.

[markpratt]

Here's a tape tip that capenters use to avoid arguments on job sites. Picture 10 guys on a job, and 6 of em have a 25' Stanley tape that look identical. To avoid any punches being thrown over a tape argument...PULL YOUR TAPE OUT TO 20 FEET AND WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE BOTTOM OF THE TAPE WITH A SHARPIE. It will always identify your tape. If you write your info at a shorter distance of between 1-6 feet for instance, the ink will wear off faster because that section of tape is likely exposed every time you use it. Write it further down the tape. If you like this idea, pass it along. It creates a better environment on a jobsite

[DCEPIPHONE]

I have a magnetic end on my tape. As an electrician, I've lost count of how many times I've used it from the top rung of a ladder to pick up the vital screw from the light fixture that I just dropped!

[SantiagoTM]

I love this guy. He's NOT a Contractor, He's a Professor of Knowledge & Wisdom.

[leifharmsen]

Tip #1: Buy a dozen tape measures first so misplacing one will never be a show stopper. You want to be able to have enough of them that you can misplace enough of them in enough places that you can find them at least as often as you misplace them. Same holds for pencils, Sharpies, reading glasses and Robertson bits.

[Crazymanization]

When he pulled out his tape measure to measure his tape measure I almost lost it.

[jimsbagels]

When you said it was a compass, I thought you were going to find north...

[mikebotkin]

Very cool. Thanks for the memory/reminders! My father was a machinist for the railroad after 30 yrs, WWII, Korea, and Nam, in the Army. Over the years, as I grew up helping him on projects around the house, he’d show me many of these tips and would start out by saying, “Let me show you a trick I learned in the Army.” 😆

[generalralph]

Yes here’s a tape tip!
Look on the bottom of your tape and you will see a length measure of the housing. Usually something like 3-1/4”. If you are measuring between walls you can run the back of the tape housing against the wall, read the number at the tongue, and add that housing length to get the precise length. No need to fold the tape up against the wall and try to read the corner.

[dozer]

When I was a kid, I wanted to help my dad out by fixing his tape measure. The tip was loose and I knew it couldn’t be accurate so I hammered the rivets tight. My dad was not happy.

[dougrobison]

When making an inside measurement you will see a lot of folks bend the tape into the corner and guess where it might line up. Instead measure 10" from one wall and make a mark (if its a finished surface use blue tape for the mark) Then measure from the other side to the mark, and add back the ten inches. Very accurate inside dimensions can be had in this manner. If your'e doing trim work like base or crown with lots of inside measures, I cut a piece of material to exactly 10", put it against the wall and mark. Then use a bold sharpie to label it as 10" so you'll remember not to toss it!
Love your channel, keep up the good work :-)

[RichWatsonMusic]

You missed one of the really important tape uses. A few decades ago, I saw a block layer who was using his Stanley Tape to inspect the inside of a block core. When I get a new tape, the first thing I do is remove the round label on the front. It makes a great mirror for a long time, then a satisfactory one after that. When you need to look behind, inside or around an object it is very handy. Best of all, it is there for you all of the time.

[therealsideburnz]

Here is a tape measure laugh for you: A good friend of my dad's is a lifelong carpenter. A man who pays attention to detail. One day half his cuts are suddenly off by a bit. It is driving him crazy. Toward the end of the day his brother in law who has been helping him for the week says "By the way your tape measures are all wearing out. all the rivets were loose. I hammered them all tight for you, but you might want to get some new ones."

[shawneliason]

I have a tip.. never measure between the posts on a car battery!

[TMB]

I haven't worked as a Carpenter for 40 + years, I still remember all of this, it was never explained to me, I just watched my Dad and he was just so fast with a Tape, a square, hand saws, hammers ... every tool that he used had multiple uses and he just flowed as if he was simply walking (hard to explain), to watch him work was an experience.
He is 84 now and builds bird houses, he says with glasses 1/2" thick he needs smaller projects to be able to see them all at once ... he is a hoot. Get him started on hearing aids be prepared for 1/2 hour dissertation on batteries and where to get them.

[musicbyjerry]

Hey, such a cool video! thank you! I have another tip! At 2:33 you've shown you can use it as straight edge. It's easy for rough cuts with numbers on top, but if you reverse the tape by having numbers at the bottom, both sides of the tape now sit tight with the surface of your material, so you can make more precise mark. Obviously you can't really use the hook anymore, but it works well for me if I don't need a hook and straight edge only. For precise long distance mark I'd use some other stiffer tool, but it's very efficient for quick, short marking.

[williamzeller]

Waaay back in '72 when I started in the trades doing residential remodeling in the city, I was the new guy working with my Italian boss. In the old days, there used to be guys driving around selling tools out of the trunks of their cars. Who knows whether they were hot, but they were pretty much always bad.
Boss knew that but one day fell for a bunch of tapes that sure looked like Stanleys.
Yeah, well, he was using the new trunk one and I was cutting for him with my old Stanley By mid-afternoon he was practically cussing at me- I'd gone from being the best cutter he'd ever had to being a total nincompoop.
Right up until the light went on and he grabbed both tapes, hooked them and ran them out. By ten feet, the discrepancy was well over 3/8".
Lesson: Everybody on the site doing critical work uses the same brand and kind of tape, and yes, you will want to check them against one another if you notice something's not going right.
EC, thanks for the vids. I've been retired from the trade for eight years now but still can't bear being more than a few feet from a Stanley tape and a pencil.