Measuring.
Have you ever wondered why when you measure a piece of wood, mark it and cut it, it's never a tight fit?
The reason is, most people don't know how to use a tape measure.
Here is a typical tape measure. Most people measure a gap by putting the end of the tape up against a surface to be measured from. All good so far.
when transferring the measurement to say a piece of wood, the tendency is to hook the end of the tape over the end of the piece of wood. Now this is where the trouble starts. There can be 3 or 4mm difference between the outside of the end hook and the inside, they are usually curved. Also if the tape is old, the rivet holding it onto the tape can be loose enabling the hook to hook on at an angle.
The upshot is your cut piece of wood can be several mm too short or in the case of a loose hook, several mm too long.
To remedy this, either, if you are cutting a short piece, don't hook the tape over the end. Place the wood against a vertical surface and measure along the wood by placing the hook up against the vertical surface as you did when you measured the gap.
Or in the case of a long measurement, work out the difference between the inside and outside of the hook. You can do this by measuring say a couple of feet using the inside, then the outside of the hook and subtracting one from the other. You then have a measurement to add or subtract to correct the transferred measurement.
The reason is, most people don't know how to use a tape measure.
Here is a typical tape measure. Most people measure a gap by putting the end of the tape up against a surface to be measured from. All good so far.
when transferring the measurement to say a piece of wood, the tendency is to hook the end of the tape over the end of the piece of wood. Now this is where the trouble starts. There can be 3 or 4mm difference between the outside of the end hook and the inside, they are usually curved. Also if the tape is old, the rivet holding it onto the tape can be loose enabling the hook to hook on at an angle.
The upshot is your cut piece of wood can be several mm too short or in the case of a loose hook, several mm too long.
To remedy this, either, if you are cutting a short piece, don't hook the tape over the end. Place the wood against a vertical surface and measure along the wood by placing the hook up against the vertical surface as you did when you measured the gap.
Or in the case of a long measurement, work out the difference between the inside and outside of the hook. You can do this by measuring say a couple of feet using the inside, then the outside of the hook and subtracting one from the other. You then have a measurement to add or subtract to correct the transferred measurement.
Comments
Oh thanks, I did good then lol.
http://totse.info/diy/the-proper-way-to-use-a-tape-measure/