Sorry to hear about the viewer's buddy. We lost a 17 year old when I was a kid and the entire neighborhood hurt for a long time. Good of you to help heal in your own special way.
Someone may have mentioned it, but the cloth tape you were showing is in feet and tenths. It's for land surveying/engineering work. Used one with my Dad many times. Still have them all and several of his surveyor's steel tapes. And his transit, his level.... :-)
Hi Bill! Yes!! I have a bunch of survey measuring devises but lots are still used in the carpentry field for measuring diagonals of floors to see if they are square and also bricklayers use them still! =) Very versatile and really well made!
@@burp1914 No I was pretty young when I would snoop around in places like my Grandfather's basement shop and look at stuff, really had no clue about reading a tape and couldn't tell you if his or any others were 1/10 or a 12 inch scale. Pretty sure my Dad still has the same one he did when I was a kid, I'll have to check and see what that one is next time I visit.
My Dad was a carpenter from way back and he loved his 6 foot folding rule. His tape measures were mostly, the 100 foot wind-up jobs. Early in my career, I was a shear operator in a factory and measurements became a way of life for me. It's funny because, when I started, the 1/64's looked almost like a solid black line on my 2 foot combination square. However, the longer I worked in that job, the more visible the graduations became. Then as a toolmaker, I had to work in thousandths. The last job was a nice mix of the two and the best job I ever had, building the mechanical prototype parts for a little up-start computer company. I think that high visibility tape is called so, because the numbers are huge.
Hi Dave! It's so true, when you go from woodworking to metal working and start working in thousandths it really is an eye opener! You are right about the Hi-Viz number size, however the numbers are so big they make seeing the graduations harder! Great for jobs where an inch is close enough like telephone poles! LOL Thanks!!!!!!!
Yes I enjoyed that video. Also I agree on the left vs right handed tape measures. I thought right handed was more numerous among the population but yet it seems the majority of tape measures favors left handed. Prayers go out to Jared. Thanks
Delightful commentary on tape measures - thank you. I bought that FastCap Lefty/Righty tape back in February, and it's as easy to use as you say - and I'm a lefty myself. I also appreciate the rule's labeling every single dividing line, even down to 16ths. I don't work every day with these rules and reading them quickly isn't second-nature, so I have to count out the 16ths like some newbie in the first week of shop class. Old timers make think that having them all marked amounts to training wheels, but I really like them. The tape measure isn't perfect. It's big and bulky and kind of heavy. Plus it could be improved by the leverlock mechanism: fussing to lock the tape isn't easy when there isn't a spare thumb available to press the lock. But Stanley I'm sure has that feature locked up in their patent collection for the foreseeable future. So it goes. Love the channel!
I'm pulling out all my Tapes to see if they have a nail slot now.....always learning something new that was right in front of my face...that's awesome... Thanks Scout :]
With so many tapes on the table I was hoping to see you talk about the Stanley's that had conversion tables and hardware information on the backside of the tape. The Left handed measuring tapes info is gold I am so getting one.
Ive been around tools all my life but ive never heard of a centering tape . Thanks SC im on the lookout for one 😎 Just goes to show you never stop learning.
As an Industrial Multi craft tech, the tape with metric and fractions is a godsend. Factories have us and foreign machines. You need to measure both. Can you show folks some of the tricks. Determine a square corners, use as a calculator. Great vid as normal. Stay safe.
If I had a dollar for each tape measure I have lost over the years, I would be a wealthy man today.. I’ll even bet I saw some of them in your presentation today. This was another great trip down memory lane.Thank you...James
For Jared! I use a center finding scale (foot long steel rule) quite often at work but was not aware of a center finding tape measure. I will have to find one of those!
Eternal memory and blessed repose to Jared. I'm very sorry. You have an unbelievable and beautiful collection of tape measures. Thanks for a great memorial video.
Hi Scout, sorry to here about Jarred, my thought's go out to his family and friend's. Never seen a right handed tape measure, that would work great for me too, when I do buy a tape I always check it against a 1 yrd engineering rule for accurate markings , I know you can't check the whole tape but it's surprising how many are off the marks over 1yrd,usually from the stop on the end not being fit up right, a tweak here sometimes fixes that. Hoping your move is going OK, keep well,Best wishes, Stuart uk.
I have a several favorite tapes depending on what I’m doing. I have a 10’ Leverlock I’ve had for 30 plus years, I like it because of the lock but also it fits in my pocket nicely. I had a larger framers tape with a magnetic on the end that came in handy a few times like when you’re up on a ladder and you drop that last screw, that one grew legs unfortunately. Like you I’ve gotten pretty good at reading the numbers upside down.
Thank you for sharing I have a few Lufkin tapes and Stanley I definitely learned something today I didn't know from you showing different brands that I don't have growing up it was the Stanley Powerlock powerlock 2
RIP Jared. Great tribute John 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 The last tape I bought was the last one you showed...but metric. Living close to the Canada border all my life made metric just another system that I can fall into easily. Admittedly, when I feel mentally lazy I like the decimals rather than the fractions.
The measuring tape with the window is interesting, because it has two scales. A metric one and one in inch, so you can actually use it to convert units.
My favorite tape is the stanley fatmax they have a great stand out. I recently got a lufkin black widow that I like also. Great video thanks for the info.
Sometimes I'm a bit slow. When I did construction, I carried a 30' tape on my belt. I continued to lug one when I was doing cabinet making. I finally dawned on me that I don't do anything that long, so I started carrying a 12 footer. Also, I use a ¾" wide tape to keep is a small as possible.
carver3419 - My old man was a pipefitter/welder and a unique kinda guy. I had always assumed the broken ruler he carried was from careless handling until I saw him break a fresh Lufkin folding rule at about 4 foot. His logic was that a welder seldom needed anything longer; if he did, a tape was better and, more importantly, no one would steal his ruler.
You know Joe, I use that tape a lot! No gimmick! Before I got the tape I have made mistakes trying to divide a fractional length! Nothing worse then cutting a board in half and one is a inch longer then the other! LOL =)
I was nodding in agreement when you noted how unwieldy modern big tapes are. Totally OTT for most uses.... I’ve ended up w a small little 6ft Milwaukee as my daily shop tape. However, from my past in Europe I treasure a couple of nice metric/imperial ones. Of particular interest to you might be the Hultafors Talmeter. Super-accurate I find but it’s ‘killer app’ is a bit of spring steel that unfolds from the case for internal measurements. More accurate than using the measurement embossed on the case. I have an old one but recently purchased a new one from Amazon in the UK and it’s quality wasn’t anywhere as good. Any love for the folding rulers? I have a flexible Wiha one that I love using on a daily basis.
I've used a lot of tape measures. And while I do like using those Milwaukee ones you showed in this video, my biggest gripe with them is how hard the 16ths are to read near the foot markings. Just something about the design makes you need to focus to tell which 16th mark you're looking at. The cheapo 16' craftsman tape measures at Lowes, also sold as a green brand at home depot, are some of my favorite for smaller things, like little metal working projects or relatively precise wood working. I always go for them when marking out handles on cabinets. I'm not a fan of the 32nd marks on them though. I also greatly dislike when they write out the fractions. I'm sure it's nice for people who don't have experience using a tape, but a lot of accessibility features end up being headaches to professionals. I'm on the fence on auto locking tapes. I've had a lot of Komelon auto locks, but if you ever work in a wet area it kills them, and a dysfunctional auto lock is unusable. If the lock breaks on a normal tape it really doesn't effect you often. Being born in the 90's, the Stanley Power Lock is the quintessential tape measure to me though. It was the tape measure everyone had when I was growing up.
All great points! I don't do much work outside in bad weather but I know that professionals have a whole different list of features that are important! We homeowners like to buy pro-tools but in reality we never need the features! =D
Seeing all those tapes caused me to count ones I have. Came up with 11, and probably missed a couple. My most used is that Stanley Leverlock that you like. I have 2 of them. When you have a project going on, it's not unusual to need a tape in more than one location, so they all get used sooner or later.
Robert- Isn't that such a lovely tape! I wish I could get it in Lefty!
5 лет назад+1
Thanks I did not know there was tapes with so varied markings and never knew what some of the markings were for, like the stud positioning markers. Also the size matters as for EDC I carry a tape measure.The bigger the tape the bigger the pocket you need. As for field tapes better a walking wheel / traveller that counts revolutions, rather than a tape that has to be unrolled and rolled back in. Also sometimes the old yard stick or folding wooden measuring stick has a purpose.
Yanno, Stanley has really come up in the world. When I was a kid Stanley was an economy grade tool. Real carpenters always had Lufkin which was considered a better quality. Plus, Lufkin had the cushion that kept the end from snapping off. I always preferred a 16 ft. tape. I know now everyone carries 30' but 16' was all I needed 90% of the time.
Though not perfect, I like the "Fast Cap" tape measures, they make a wide variety, and include a pencil sharpener, and you can write your measurements on the side. Good for us with poor memories!
I was a Local 157 Carpenter in NYC and my tape measure was my most used tool and my favorite one was the Craftsman 37391. I preferred the button lock style because I could use it and quickly throw it back in my pouch and the only time I used the button was for laying out studs on a long wall. But overall it just had a nice weight and feel to it. The Stanley fat max was nice also if working with big heavy duty materials.
Hi John! You know it's so funny how when you work at a particular job there is always one tool that stands out as a must have! Like Electricians and their Klein pliers! Sometimes you will have your own tool and when you get on the job you try out one of the senior guys tool and realize why they like them so much! Thanks!
Yup cant think of another tool I used more than my tape measure. My pencil and stanley 199 knife would come in a close 2nd and 3rd haha..I still love the polished look of my 199 from the challenge. I wish I knew back then I could have made it look like that. I could have made a small fortune selling them to the other carpenters haha
RIP Jared. . . . . . Great video, John. In all my years and Stanley tape measures, I've not seen a leverlock one before. The usual locking mechanisms [ugh, tell me about it!] They can be a bit iffy, some won't lock. Some 'pretend' to lock then, suddenly, let the tape spring shut as you're about to mark that pencil line! Others are either hard to apply [old knuckles here] or release and the bad habit of letting the tape recoil in at speed becomes likely while you're fiddling with the lock switch! None tape users prob think we're just griping, but measuring being crucial in all we do, its a stressor that we can do without!
You are so right! I am very gentle with my LeverLock but I can see how it can be an issue in wet weather and other conditions.. I would love a lefty LeverLock though! =)
Great video. Always loved the older tape measures. You didn’t present the wooden carpenter ruler though. Foldable stick and brass. Old school ones are the best.
I never knew about the loose tip! And it was really bugging me. I always worried that maybe it was giving me inconsistencies when measuring. I actually have a plastic gold-plated anniversary Stanley tape measure, it looked so cool when I first got it. Thanks a lot Scout! Have a great weekend! (when your clock was going off, I actually paused the video to look around and find where in my house this sound was coming from. Lol)
Interesting topic.. oddly enough I was thinking about a tape I had as a kid that sadly is lost... It was a small metal tape with no casing.. was probably 4ft max measurement... and it worked like a "slap bracelet" for those who know what that means... it would curl up into a circle.. maybe an inch and a half diameter and to use it you would uncurl it from the tip and "snap" it backwards from the roll into a straightened position. . To close it you would bend it inwards towards the roll and it would curl up fast like a spring... tons of fun to play with as a kid.. did more playing with it then measuring... think it was a promo store giveaway item.. Also you forgot the good old carpenters ruler.. the wooden one that folded back and forth like an accordion.. that was fun to play with too as a kid.. lol give the kid a tool to play with and he will leave you alone to work must have been the family motto.
I still have my Grandfather's folding ruler and can honestly say it was better to play with then it was to use! My favorite was making Gigantor out of it! =)
Thanks for the left hand link. I have always been irritated by the thing flipping over. I bet that is why my dad always used a folding ruler. That French model I liked. I can tell you why a lot of old timers used the windup tape measure. So guys that fiddle don't wear out the retracting ones. Guys that are pen clickers would sit at breaks and play with tape measures. I also like that the ones you suggested have the measurements written. At our age those lines get harder to read quickly. Good video, now you have to steel and aluminum rulers and the folding ones. A good vintage yard stick is hard to find. I know a few broke on my backside.
LOL Philip I have been working with rulers for years but I still have to count the lines and do the math in my head... I had older rulers that were marked in 8ths of an inch that was much easier to read but not as accurate! Thanks!!!!
Troop18. "Lefty Tape Measurer!" Scoutcrafter made me realize what I should have realized but didn't realize and now I realize it with my right hand and a pencil. Thank's
Ha, when you cut to your entire bench covered in tape measures I just figured you had been doing some cleaning and finally found those that you lost. I must have 50 dotted around the place that are accompanied by a left sock from the drier. My most used tape measure when I first got it I thought was a gimmick - my son got it for me one Christmas - it is the 6ft tape measure that attaches to my car keys. I use it daily and always have it with me.
OK... Spaz Factor …. I seriously cannot breath … laughing out loud.... crying..... and yes , i'm a drainer / plumber and a righty. but learned long ago to mark with my left hand, but still too funny. please keep up the good work. I'm from Melbourne Australia.
Hi Mick! It just never made sense to me about the way you had to work on those lefty! For fun I would make the scouts write a small paragraph left handed, (right handed if they were Lefty) then I would pass the papers around and we would all laugh!
Hi Scoutcrafter I used to cut glass as a living so I have used a tape measure a lot you are absolutely right about the left and right handed thing the average tape measure is made for left handed people the numbers should be the other way around for right handed people or they should offer a choice.
I think the high visibility tape has larger numbers and that's what makes it higher visibility. I like the centering tape but you know us old timers. We just learned our math and can add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions in our heads. I suppose if I had a centering tape I would have gotten lazy and never learned the math - lol
Dennis- Yes! The Hi-Viz was referring to the oversized numbers, however the oversized numbers makes it much harder to read the graduations! LOL So it's Hi-Viz for rounding out a size like a telephone pole!
Sorry to comment so much but you showing the survey tapes (chain) reminded me of something I read not long ago. George Washington surveyed hundreds of miles when he was young. Much of it in what is now Ohio. He was so accurate that today the Corps of Engineers using modern satellite positioning his surveys are within inches over miles of ground. I think that says a lot about the kind of person he was. If he had never done anything else he would still be famous as one of the greatest Surveyors that ever lived.
David- The older I get the more impressed I am with our founding fathers... They were amazing... The more you read about them the more impressed you become! GW was unbelievable, Ben Franklin was too! Even Benedict Arnold was an amazing guy...
Didn’t know they had a left handed tape! Raw Bacon, I’d do that with my dads tape when I was a kid! LOL. I like the Stanley lever lock as well. Great tape! I got my hands on some older wind up and need to restore and put in service! I also saw that little hole about 1 1/2” mark. Is that to nail on a board to keep from slipping too? Great video. I have several tapes too. My wife teases me if I need another tape measure!!
Yes Keith, it was however it's interesting to note that those numbers also make it very difficult to read the graduations! =) Great for stuff you only have to get within an inch! LOL
This being my first comment here I have to say how much I truly love and do appreciate this channel and it's viewers (my parents had me later in life and I lost my mentors too soon) I will always feel like the kid at the table just listening when here, but I got a question, how do I read the tape? If I need a 12" board cut to exact length which side of the of the mark do i use, the left, right or the center?
If I want to be as accurate as possible I will always mark the center of a line and use a razor rather than a pencil to make the mark. As Scout explained the end of the tape has some play in it so you will always have an accurate measurement whether you are pulling the tape or pushing it up against something so you cant go wrong marking the center of a line.
Years ago Channel Lumber had Starets with a gold colurerd housing 1"x 25', I always had one in my Millwright box, pure gimmick, in my trim box I always carried a Stanley 1'x16', lighter and it had a little box on the face that you could write on in a pinch, wet your finger to erase......
@@ScoutCrafter - Scout, I've folded my share of stick rulers to balance on the tip of a pencil, but they're good for other "tricks". Folding one the right way will set it at a very close 45 degree angle. I've always preferred the "inside" style (numbers are printed opposite to what you usually see). A drop of oil at the joints every couple years and a little care when unfolding one, and it will last until the numbers are rubbed off.
It must be so nice to live in a world where everything is feet and inches, !! Here in England, virtually all tape measures are dual scale, metric AND Imperial,, !! We supposedly went METRIC, around the time I started work,,, in the early 70's,, but both systems are still in use,, !! (We buy our petrol in litres, but drive in miles per hour,,) etc etc,, lol,,,
Great Video, John!! Maybe some time....do rulers! Yardsticks etc! Start with the Rule of Thumb and work from there! Maybe show a (I think) Danish ruler where the inches are longer than our inches! Somewhere down the line that would be cool!
Sorry to hear about the viewer's buddy. We lost a 17 year old when I was a kid and the entire neighborhood hurt for a long time. Good of you to help heal in your own special way.
Rest In Peace Jared. He is looking down from Heaven and smiling. Great tribute Scout. You are a truly a great person.
17 is too young to die - we remember and honor Jared.
Someone may have mentioned it, but the cloth tape you were showing is in feet and tenths. It's for land surveying/engineering work. Used one with my Dad many times. Still have them all and several of his surveyor's steel tapes. And his transit, his level.... :-)
Hi Bill! Yes!! I have a bunch of survey measuring devises but lots are still used in the carpentry field for measuring diagonals of floors to see if they are square and also bricklayers use them still! =) Very versatile and really well made!
As a kid I always loved those hand wind 100 footers.
@@burp1914 No I was pretty young when I would snoop around in places like my Grandfather's basement shop and look at stuff, really had no clue about reading a tape and couldn't tell you if his or any others were 1/10 or a 12 inch scale. Pretty sure my Dad still has the same one he did when I was a kid, I'll have to check and see what that one is next time I visit.
My Dad was a carpenter from way back and he loved his 6 foot folding rule. His tape measures were mostly, the 100 foot wind-up jobs. Early in my career, I was a shear operator in a factory and measurements became a way of life for me. It's funny because, when I started, the 1/64's looked almost like a solid black line on my 2 foot combination square. However, the longer I worked in that job, the more visible the graduations became. Then as a toolmaker, I had to work in thousandths. The last job was a nice mix of the two and the best job I ever had, building the mechanical prototype parts for a little up-start computer company. I think that high visibility tape is called so, because the numbers are huge.
Hi Dave! It's so true, when you go from woodworking to metal working and start working in thousandths it really is an eye opener! You are right about the Hi-Viz number size, however the numbers are so big they make seeing the graduations harder! Great for jobs where an inch is close enough like telephone poles! LOL Thanks!!!!!!!
It is interesting how many types of tape measures have been made over the years. Thanks for sharing this.
Interesting stuff! I used to have a Zippo tape measure that was made out of half of a lighter case.
Those small tapes are very useful.
Stanley 16ft PowerLock. Its always been my go to but I love the old Lufkin "Chrome Clad Mezurall" 12 and 16 footers.
Bought a lefty/righty last year, loved it! Gave it to my son when he moved out. Bought a second for myself immediately. It's a great product.
I never understood the standard deign... Maybe a lefty designed it!? =)
Yes I enjoyed that video. Also I agree on the left vs right handed tape measures. I thought right handed was more numerous among the population but yet it seems the majority of tape measures favors left handed. Prayers go out to Jared. Thanks
Delightful commentary on tape measures - thank you. I bought that FastCap Lefty/Righty tape back in February, and it's as easy to use as you say - and I'm a lefty myself. I also appreciate the rule's labeling every single dividing line, even down to 16ths. I don't work every day with these rules and reading them quickly isn't second-nature, so I have to count out the 16ths like some newbie in the first week of shop class. Old timers make think that having them all marked amounts to training wheels, but I really like them.
The tape measure isn't perfect. It's big and bulky and kind of heavy. Plus it could be improved by the leverlock mechanism: fussing to lock the tape isn't easy when there isn't a spare thumb available to press the lock. But Stanley I'm sure has that feature locked up in their patent collection for the foreseeable future. So it goes.
Love the channel!
ASUMarsSpaceFlight My thoughts exactly! I would love a smaller thinner leverlock with the left handed stamping! 😃👍
I'm pulling out all my Tapes to see if they have a nail slot now.....always learning something new that was right in front of my face...that's awesome... Thanks Scout :]
The spaz factor is a real thing. I never knew about all those different options for tapes. Excellent history and video as usual!,
LOL Rick I have Spazzed out more times than I care to remember!!! =D
With so many tapes on the table I was hoping to see you talk about the Stanley's that had conversion tables and hardware information on the backside of the tape.
The Left handed measuring tapes info is gold I am so getting one.
Ive been around tools all my life but ive never heard of a centering tape .
Thanks SC im on the lookout for one 😎
Just goes to show you never stop learning.
Nice tribute. I hope we get some restorations coming up soon. I miss hearing "now you know my favorite part".
Tron, Me too! This back is slow healing... Literally took me 2 hours to get out of bed today! I used every curse known to man!
I agree with you about the lever lock, I'm surprised they're not more popular. They're great
Can't go wrong with Stanley tape measures. I love them like I love Craftsman screwdrivers.
Thanks for today’s schooling. Levrlock are my favorite for the same reason you pointed out. That left-handed rule is genius.
Wow what a collection of tape measures.
As an Industrial Multi craft tech, the tape with metric and fractions is a godsend. Factories have us and foreign machines. You need to measure both. Can you show folks some of the tricks. Determine a square corners, use as a calculator. Great vid as normal. Stay safe.
Hi Mike! You are so right! In some professions you need certain markings! Metric is all over!
If I had a dollar for each tape measure I have lost over the years, I would be a wealthy man today.. I’ll even bet I saw some of them in your presentation today. This was another great trip down memory lane.Thank you...James
Excellent subject. Tape measures. Love them! Thanks for sharing.
Jesse! I bet you have a nice collection too!!!!
@@ScoutCrafter I sure do!
For Jared! I use a center finding scale (foot long steel rule) quite often at work but was not aware of a center finding tape measure. I will have to find one of those!
Yes! I have that centering ruler! It is good too!!!!!
Eternal memory and blessed repose to Jared. I'm very sorry. You have an unbelievable and beautiful collection of tape measures. Thanks for a great memorial video.
Hi Scout, sorry to here about Jarred, my thought's go out to his family and friend's. Never seen a right handed tape measure, that would work great for me too, when I do buy a tape I always check it against a 1 yrd engineering rule for accurate markings , I know you can't check the whole tape but it's surprising how many are off the marks over 1yrd,usually from the stop on the end not being fit up right, a tweak here sometimes fixes that. Hoping your move is going OK, keep well,Best wishes, Stuart uk.
I have a several favorite tapes depending on what I’m doing. I have a 10’ Leverlock I’ve had for 30 plus years, I like it because of the lock but also it fits in my pocket nicely. I had a larger framers tape with a magnetic on the end that came in handy a few times like when you’re up on a ladder and you drop that last screw, that one grew legs unfortunately. Like you I’ve gotten pretty good at reading the numbers upside down.
12 minute edumacation on tape measure! Love it.
John are you planning on opening a tool museum? I’m impressed with your collection and knowledge. You have great channel. Thank You
Thank you for sharing I have a few Lufkin tapes and Stanley I definitely learned something today I didn't know from you showing different brands that I don't have growing up it was the Stanley Powerlock powerlock 2
RIP Jared. Great tribute John 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 The last tape I bought was the last one you showed...but metric. Living close to the Canada border all my life made metric just another system that I can fall into easily. Admittedly, when I feel mentally lazy I like the decimals rather than the fractions.
LOL Lee you know things are bad when we go back to imperial to make it easier! LOL
I always liked the 10 foot Stanley chrome but I ended up with a longer one for non-kinking. Lever locks are the best. Hi Smiley and Thanks' CS!
The measuring tape with the window is interesting, because it has two scales. A metric one and one in inch, so you can actually use it to convert units.
My favorite tape is the stanley fatmax they have a great stand out. I recently got a lufkin black widow that I like also. Great video thanks for the info.
Sometimes I'm a bit slow. When I did construction, I carried a 30' tape on my belt. I continued to lug one when I was doing cabinet making. I finally dawned on me that I don't do anything that long, so I started carrying a 12 footer. Also, I use a ¾" wide tape to keep is a small as possible.
carver3419 - My old man was a pipefitter/welder and a unique kinda guy. I had always assumed the broken ruler he carried was from careless handling until I saw him break a fresh Lufkin folding rule at about 4 foot. His logic was that a welder seldom needed anything longer; if he did, a tape was better and, more importantly, no one would steal his ruler.
Forgot to say it was created by
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered
This was great I learned a lot. Thanks!
I need to get that last tape you showed I hate having to always use a tape upside down thanks scout
Mangas Williams I thought it was just me! 😃👍
That’s really unfortunate about Jared’s passing. I’ll have to look for one of those lever lock tapes.
THANK YOU...for sharing. Watched and very much enjoyed. Mr.Tape Measure you are. Never seen so many at once. I liked the Tonka tape.
Been using a tape measure most of my life. I've been doing it wrong. Great stuff scout 👍
Short, sweet, informative great job! Thank you.
That was very kind of you to dedicate that episode. I going to order a centering tape right now. Cheers
You know Joe, I use that tape a lot! No gimmick! Before I got the tape I have made mistakes trying to divide a fractional length! Nothing worse then cutting a board in half and one is a inch longer then the other! LOL =)
I was nodding in agreement when you noted how unwieldy modern big tapes are. Totally OTT for most uses.... I’ve ended up w a small little 6ft Milwaukee as my daily shop tape. However, from my past in Europe I treasure a couple of nice metric/imperial ones. Of particular interest to you might be the Hultafors Talmeter. Super-accurate I find but it’s ‘killer app’ is a bit of spring steel that unfolds from the case for internal measurements. More accurate than using the measurement embossed on the case. I have an old one but recently purchased a new one from Amazon in the UK and it’s quality wasn’t anywhere as good.
Any love for the folding rulers? I have a flexible Wiha one that I love using on a daily basis.
Hi Frank! Tomorrow!!!! =D
Jarred would have loved this video. Thank you for making this scout. It means a lot to me.
Mason I am so glad you enjoyed it! We all remember Jarred!
I've used a lot of tape measures. And while I do like using those Milwaukee ones you showed in this video, my biggest gripe with them is how hard the 16ths are to read near the foot markings. Just something about the design makes you need to focus to tell which 16th mark you're looking at. The cheapo 16' craftsman tape measures at Lowes, also sold as a green brand at home depot, are some of my favorite for smaller things, like little metal working projects or relatively precise wood working. I always go for them when marking out handles on cabinets. I'm not a fan of the 32nd marks on them though. I also greatly dislike when they write out the fractions. I'm sure it's nice for people who don't have experience using a tape, but a lot of accessibility features end up being headaches to professionals.
I'm on the fence on auto locking tapes. I've had a lot of Komelon auto locks, but if you ever work in a wet area it kills them, and a dysfunctional auto lock is unusable. If the lock breaks on a normal tape it really doesn't effect you often.
Being born in the 90's, the Stanley Power Lock is the quintessential tape measure to me though. It was the tape measure everyone had when I was growing up.
All great points! I don't do much work outside in bad weather but I know that professionals have a whole different list of features that are important! We homeowners like to buy pro-tools but in reality we never need the features! =D
Seeing all those tapes caused me to count ones I have. Came up with 11, and probably missed a couple. My most used is that Stanley Leverlock that you like. I have 2 of them. When you have a project going on, it's not unusual to need a tape in more than one location, so they all get used sooner or later.
Robert- Isn't that such a lovely tape! I wish I could get it in Lefty!
Thanks I did not know there was tapes with so varied markings and never knew what some of the markings were for, like the stud positioning markers. Also the size matters as for EDC I carry a tape measure.The bigger the tape the bigger the pocket you need. As for field tapes better a walking wheel / traveller that counts revolutions, rather than a tape that has to be unrolled and rolled back in. Also sometimes the old yard stick or folding wooden measuring stick has a purpose.
Yanno, Stanley has really come up in the world. When I was a kid Stanley was an economy grade tool. Real carpenters always had Lufkin which was considered a better quality. Plus, Lufkin had the cushion that kept the end from snapping off. I always preferred a 16 ft. tape. I know now everyone carries 30' but 16' was all I needed 90% of the time.
David Harris I agree! A 12’ was almost always long enough!
Though not perfect, I like the "Fast Cap" tape measures, they make a wide variety, and include a pencil sharpener, and you can write your measurements on the side. Good for us with poor memories!
I never knew they had left handed tapes I’m off to get one of those great idea
Fantastic video John amazing again have a great weekend god bless 🔐🔧⚒🍺
I was a Local 157 Carpenter in NYC and my tape measure was my most used tool and my favorite one was the Craftsman 37391. I preferred the button lock style because I could use it and quickly throw it back in my pouch and the only time I used the button was for laying out studs on a long wall. But overall it just had a nice weight and feel to it. The Stanley fat max was nice also if working with big heavy duty materials.
Hi John! You know it's so funny how when you work at a particular job there is always one tool that stands out as a must have! Like Electricians and their Klein pliers! Sometimes you will have your own tool and when you get on the job you try out one of the senior guys tool and realize why they like them so much! Thanks!
Yup cant think of another tool I used more than my tape measure. My pencil and stanley 199 knife would come in a close 2nd and 3rd haha..I still love the polished look of my 199 from the challenge. I wish I knew back then I could have made it look like that. I could have made a small fortune selling them to the other carpenters haha
RIP Jared. . . . . . Great video, John. In all my years and Stanley tape measures, I've not seen a leverlock one before. The usual locking mechanisms [ugh, tell me about it!] They can be a bit iffy, some won't lock. Some 'pretend' to lock then, suddenly, let the tape spring shut as you're about to mark that pencil line! Others are either hard to apply [old knuckles here] or release and the bad habit of letting the tape recoil in at speed becomes likely while you're fiddling with the lock switch! None tape users prob think we're just griping, but measuring being crucial in all we do, its a stressor that we can do without!
You are so right! I am very gentle with my LeverLock but I can see how it can be an issue in wet weather and other conditions.. I would love a lefty LeverLock though! =)
Great video. Always loved the older tape measures. You didn’t present the wooden carpenter ruler though. Foldable stick and brass. Old school ones are the best.
Hi Phillip- I have a bunch of cool measurers that aren't "Tape" like rolling and folding and even sighting...
ScoutCrafter That would be a great video. Watch all your stuff. Great channel sir. Love older tools. Real quality.
The spaz factor !!!! That's a great saying that will be with me for life. But its so true, i think it will be one of my everyday phrases
Great video definitely a good presentation of the tape measure very interesting, thank you. R.I.P. Jared.
I never knew about the loose tip! And it was really bugging me. I always worried that maybe it was giving me inconsistencies when measuring.
I actually have a plastic gold-plated anniversary Stanley tape measure, it looked so cool when I first got it.
Thanks a lot Scout! Have a great weekend!
(when your clock was going off, I actually paused the video to look around and find where in my house this sound was coming from. Lol)
Alex Schouwenburg LOL- I was upstairs where I have some stuff packed up, that’s why I did the video there! 😃👍
I usually measure from the 1 inch mark because of the loose tip (i don't trust it).
Interesting topic.. oddly enough I was thinking about a tape I had as a kid that sadly is lost... It was a small metal tape with no casing.. was probably 4ft max measurement... and it worked like a "slap bracelet" for those who know what that means... it would curl up into a circle.. maybe an inch and a half diameter and to use it you would uncurl it from the tip and "snap" it backwards from the roll into a straightened position. . To close it you would bend it inwards towards the roll and it would curl up fast like a spring... tons of fun to play with as a kid.. did more playing with it then measuring... think it was a promo store giveaway item..
Also you forgot the good old carpenters ruler.. the wooden one that folded back and forth like an accordion.. that was fun to play with too as a kid.. lol give the kid a tool to play with and he will leave you alone to work must have been the family motto.
I still have my Grandfather's folding ruler and can honestly say it was better to play with then it was to use! My favorite was making Gigantor out of it! =)
Thanks for the left hand link. I have always been irritated by the thing flipping over. I bet that is why my dad always used a folding ruler. That French model I liked. I can tell you why a lot of old timers used the windup tape measure. So guys that fiddle don't wear out the retracting ones. Guys that are pen clickers would sit at breaks and play with tape measures. I also like that the ones you suggested have the measurements written. At our age those lines get harder to read quickly. Good video, now you have to steel and aluminum rulers and the folding ones. A good vintage yard stick is hard to find. I know a few broke on my backside.
LOL Philip I have been working with rulers for years but I still have to count the lines and do the math in my head... I had older rulers that were marked in 8ths of an inch that was much easier to read but not as accurate! Thanks!!!!
Awesome video lot of great information! RIP Jared.
Having been a carpenter for the past 35+ years, I find those lever-lock tapes to be a real PITA.
Troop18. "Lefty Tape Measurer!" Scoutcrafter made me realize what I should have realized but didn't realize and now I realize it with my right hand and a pencil. Thank's
BG!!!!!
RIP Jared! Great episode thank you
Enjoyed this overview of tape measures
I get it. I always buy left handed fishing reels.
Thanks Scout! I learned a lot from the video.
Love my centering tape. I totally understand reading the tape upside down. 👍
That centering tape is no gimmick!!!! LOL
Good Video Scout - learned some things I never had known before .
" Happy Thanksgiving "
In my right hip pocket, I always carry a very small, light weight 1M-3FT made of cheap plastic with rounded corners.
Ha, when you cut to your entire bench covered in tape measures I just figured you had been doing some cleaning and finally found those that you lost. I must have 50 dotted around the place that are accompanied by a left sock from the drier. My most used tape measure when I first got it I thought was a gimmick - my son got it for me one Christmas - it is the 6ft tape measure that attaches to my car keys. I use it daily and always have it with me.
Steve, I swear they multiply! =D
OK... Spaz Factor …. I seriously cannot breath … laughing out loud.... crying..... and yes , i'm a drainer / plumber and a righty. but learned long ago to mark with my left hand,
but still too funny. please keep up the good work. I'm from Melbourne Australia.
Hi Mick! It just never made sense to me about the way you had to work on those lefty! For fun I would make the scouts write a small paragraph left handed, (right handed if they were Lefty) then I would pass the papers around and we would all laugh!
Is there anything you don't have a good collection of? Loved these old tape measures! Remember measure twice, cut once lol, great video
Hi Scoutcrafter I used to cut glass as a living so I have used a tape measure a lot you are absolutely right about the left and right handed thing the average tape measure is made for left handed people the numbers should be the other way around for right handed people or they should offer a choice.
david spinney I’m glad it’s not just me! 😃👍
I think the high visibility tape has larger numbers and that's what makes it higher visibility. I like the centering tape but you know us old timers. We just learned our math and can add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions in our heads. I suppose if I had a centering tape I would have gotten lazy and never learned the math - lol
Dennis- Yes! The Hi-Viz was referring to the oversized numbers, however the oversized numbers makes it much harder to read the graduations! LOL So it's Hi-Viz for rounding out a size like a telephone pole!
lufkin tapes are beautiful. Saludos de Pablo Antelo desde Uruguay !!!
Very good, very informative, thank you!
I also really like that lever lock tape
It's a nice size too! =)
And I thought I had a lot of tapes. Great presentation.
LOL- The old ones were so attractive and stylish... They felt substantial too! =) Thanks John
Nice tribute John and nice to see another one of your collections
PS I thought it was just me using tape measures upside down
Ben it never made sense to me every time I used a tape measure. Took me 50 years to realize it wasn't me! 😃👍
Sorry to comment so much but you showing the survey tapes (chain) reminded me of something I read not long ago. George Washington surveyed hundreds of miles when he was young. Much of it in what is now Ohio. He was so accurate that today the Corps of Engineers using modern satellite positioning his surveys are within inches over miles of ground. I think that says a lot about the kind of person he was. If he had never done anything else he would still be famous as one of the greatest Surveyors that ever lived.
David- The older I get the more impressed I am with our founding fathers... They were amazing... The more you read about them the more impressed you become! GW was unbelievable, Ben Franklin was too! Even Benedict Arnold was an amazing guy...
Didn’t know they had a left handed tape! Raw Bacon, I’d do that with my dads tape when I was a kid! LOL. I like the Stanley lever lock as well. Great tape! I got my hands on some older wind up and need to restore and put in service! I also saw that little hole about 1 1/2” mark. Is that to nail on a board to keep from slipping too? Great video. I have several tapes too. My wife teases me if I need another tape measure!!
Aaron, they seem to multiply on their own! =D
WOW great video.
God bless you family and friends.
Nice tribute vide. Stay awesome Scoutcrafter.
Loved those Ducks and your awesome Duck call Cliff!
You have a lot of everything cool and then some!
your spaz factor kicks in......... LOL!!!👍🏻
I think the hi-vis tape has more to do with the numbers than the color--they're HUGE.
Yes Keith, it was however it's interesting to note that those numbers also make it very difficult to read the graduations! =) Great for stuff you only have to get within an inch! LOL
Thanx for sharing, i enjoyed that.
This being my first comment here I have to say how much I truly love and do appreciate this channel and it's viewers (my parents had me later in life and I lost my mentors too soon) I will always feel like the kid at the table just listening when here, but I got a question, how do I read the tape? If I need a 12" board cut to exact length which side of the of the mark do i use, the left, right or the center?
Hello John! Welcome!!!!!!! I will cover that this week! Thanks!!!!!!!!!
If I want to be as accurate as possible I will always mark the center of a line and use a razor rather than a pencil to make the mark. As Scout explained the end of the tape has some play in it so you will always have an accurate measurement whether you are pulling the tape or pushing it up against something so you cant go wrong marking the center of a line.
I wonder how easy it would be to switch the guts around and make your favorite one?!!?!? Favorite case with your favorite blade!
..great vid, good back story..nice info, my pile of tapes would look like your table display ,if i emptied all my junk drawers...lol
They do tend to multiply don't they? LOL
@@ScoutCrafter ..and hide when you need one..lol..
Years ago Channel Lumber had Starets with a gold colurerd housing 1"x 25', I always had one in my Millwright box, pure gimmick, in my trim box I always carried a Stanley 1'x16', lighter and it had a little box on the face that you could write on in a pinch, wet your finger to erase......
Is the folding wood ruler, used by masonry's, in another category?
I always got my tiny fingers pinched in it, as a kid.
Alan Smith those were so much fun to play with... I always made a “Gigantor” figure! 😃👍
@@ScoutCrafter - Scout, I've folded my share of stick rulers to balance on the tip of a pencil, but they're good for other "tricks". Folding one the right way will set it at a very close 45 degree angle. I've always preferred the "inside" style (numbers are printed opposite to what you usually see). A drop of oil at the joints every couple years and a little care when unfolding one, and it will last until the numbers are rubbed off.
I still have my father's. I loved playing with it as a kid.
In Sweden, the thumbstock, is the more common occurrence than measuring tape.
interesting, informative...good stuff
It must be so nice to live in a world where everything is feet and inches, !!
Here in England, virtually all tape measures are dual scale, metric AND Imperial,, !!
We supposedly went
METRIC, around the time I started work,,, in the early 70's,, but both systems are still in use,, !!
(We buy our petrol in litres, but drive in miles per hour,,) etc etc,, lol,,,
Well, at least the pound went metric. That made sense.(cents? pence?)
John Waddington I drive in slightly more miles an hour than I should. New speed camera that just used to be atraffic light camera. Oops
Left handed tape measure that's a great idea
RIP Jared
I always thought I bought junk tapes because the tip was loose lol great video!
Enjoyed the video.
Yikes! I thought I was bad with my THREE tape measures 😂👍🏻🛠️
Great Video, John!! Maybe some time....do rulers! Yardsticks etc! Start with the Rule of Thumb and work from there! Maybe show a (I think) Danish ruler where the inches are longer than our inches! Somewhere down the line that would be cool!
Hi Bill! Yes! I have a "few" that would make for a great presentation!! Thanks!!!!
@@ScoutCrafter i thought you might have one or two lying around somewhere!