Tape measure reading tricks how to#
Tape measure reading tricks full#

On one side, measure out a few inches and make a mark. The easier way is to take two inside measurements. Many people will bend the tape into the corner as tight as they can and then guess what’s left. When you are measuring between two inside corners, you can’t get the tape all the way into the corner for a good measurement. This goes double when you are adding on fractions of an inch, if you’re upside down, maybe you should be subtracting them? Accurate Inside Measurements When that’s not possible, realize that the 59″ you just measured may have actually been 65″, so double check. When possible, try to keep your tape measure right side up.

Tape measure reading tricks how to#

See this answer for more details on how to mark your measurement for accurate cuts. Some people can be accurate with their pencil marks and will draw their line to have the line itself cut off. Also, since carpenter pencils are not designed for accuracy, my rule is “If I mark it, I cut it” since I’m the one that knows where in the mark is the spot that needs to be cut. Without the second line and the point, someone could use the wrong end of your mark and cut the wrong length. Unless you’re using a square, I’d suggest marking your measurement on a board with a V point since you can be sure that this point is correct. The tape is naturally cupped out from the surface, so just give it a twist to get one edge flag against the surface. When you make a measurement, and especially when you mark it, make sure the side of the tape is flat against the surface where you mark it. Most measuring tapes will have the inches within a foot marked in red. And while we are imperial measurements, I tend to give out all my measurements in inches and fractions, but some people read off feet. Between the 1/4″ and 1/2″ mark, the next longest would be the 3/8″ mark, since the 2/8″ is 1/4″ and the 4/8″ is 1/2″. The next longest line, between the half mark and the ends of the inch are the 1/4″ and 3/4″ marks. That longest line in the middle, that’s a half inch. But until we do, all those lines between the inch mark are measuring fractions of an inch. Ok, I won’t get into why Americans don’t just switch to metric, it really would make things easier.

Joists are 19.2' OC (see the black diamond) Half, Quarter, Oh Just Switch to Metric So don’t get fancy and try to fix it, since then your tape would only work for one kind of measurement, at best. Or, conversely, when you hook it onto something for an outside measurement, it’s expanding by the width of the hook. When you butt the end of the tape against a wall for an inside measurement, that hook is compressing by the width of the hook itself. I’ve seen many people that want to fix a bad tape measure because the end of it is loose. Then be sure to subtract the extra from your measurement or be consistent and burn the same amount everywhere. To burn an inch, you just line up one end on the 1″ mark (or 10″ or 1′ depending on your preference) and then measure the span from that point. This is also useful when you need to measure something that you can’t hook the tape measure onto. If you are transferring measurements between people using different tape measures for precision work, and you haven’t had time to calibrate each of the tapes, you should burn an inch, or more. You can bend this to calibrate Burn an Inch I’m in the habit of stopping the end against my finger instead of the case itself, which is a good incentive to slow down before you take your finger off.

Tape measure reading tricks full#

To avoid having to recalibrate all the time, don’t allow your tape measure to retract at full speed and smack the hook against the case. They are designed to be adjusted, but should you break off the tip, it’s probably time to get a new tape measure. These ends can get bent over time, and it’s easy to fix that by using a pair of pliers. The end of the tape measure will have a metal hook to grab onto a board or butt into a wall. If you do a lot of measuring on your own, or need to be able to reach the ceiling without a ladder, then get at least a 1″ wide, if not a 1 1/4″ wide tape measure. Cheap tape measures will be narrow and will lose their shape after a few feet or so when extended. To start, when you buy a tape measure, wider is better.

And since they usually don’t come with an instruction manual, here are a few pointers that I’ve picked up over the years.ĭisclaimer: I’m American, so for all the normal people with metric tape measures, this will be of limited use. We’ve all seen it, and hopefully everyone has used one, but there are a few tricks up the sleeve of your ordinary tape measure.