Who makes the best woodworker's tape measure?

[Jack]

Thank Walt. I looked up the 12' Milwaukee and saw nothing about what the markings were. However, I looked at the reviews, and on the 2nd page saw this:

The 1/8" fractional labels are a little busy, but still add to readability. I'm glad Milwaukee decided against annotating the 1/16" ticks, since that would have crowded the tape too much."

I don't "hate" the 1/16" markings, but I wonder if this guy really meant

1/32" markings? Also, this guy was talking about the 16' tape under the 12' tape review. I like 12' tapes, I used to have a 10' Stanley that I wore out. Never found a replacement for it, but it was really nice for cabinet work, and it laid pretty flat.

I don't like tapes with long standout in the shop because not needed in a cabinet shop and the curve hinders accuracy. Standout is good for carpentry though.

Next time I'm at HD I'll check this one out.

[Jack]

I suspected that was what you meant, but couldn't think of the term either. I use them my self occasionally.

I can markup four boards of

Yes, the first one you likely will use a tape. No getting around using a tape in woodwork, and I personally don't need, like or want those dammed 1/32" marks.

I often reach for one of my steel squares--except when I head out shopping.

I use my dads combo square all the time (it's older than me). Mine has

1/8" grooves on one side, 1/16" on the other, and never in my life did I yearn for 1/32" markings.

I often tote a very small or

I do the same with a small 6' Stanley that fits in my watch pocket. Finally found a use for a watch pocket.

Only a woodworker would carry a tape everywhere he goes:-)

I have a Starrett combination square that goes to 64th's

I also have a HF digital caliper. I have the same gripe about it. The fractional measurements are 1/128". It's really hard to get them to land on courser numbers, so I'm always doing the math for 15/128 to get to something I can use. Also, the damned batteries go dead so I have to remove them every time I'm done using it. I have found them WAY more useful than I thought I would though, and have been thinking of buying a better set with AA batteries that wouldn't go dead when off. I'd REALLY like a set where the fractional granularity was more course, or adjustable. I doubt they make them though.

My Dad had one too, and I have it in my shed. I almost never use it though, but they have some usefulness I guess. I think they are accurate enough for most wood work.

[Jack]

lywood exactly what it is sold as. It can vary by a 16th or 32nd.

I always do a test fit when cutting dado's in anything. I have tapes with 1/32" measures, digital calibers with 1/128th measurements, and dial indicator with 1000's of an inch. I just do the trial and error, which generally works the first time with my dado set. Next time though I think I'll try the digital calipers, that should work quite well, but still will do the old test cut.

[Jack]

Yes, that's what I do. I'm gunna try the dial calipers next time though. Been watching a lot of machinist videos on YouTube:-).

[Scott Lurndal]

Not necessarily. I have 6", 1', 2' and 4' graduated straight edges (starretts, mainly :-). They work quite well for the vast majority of woodworking purposes.

I manage just fine with good straight edges. The Incra rules are good if you can't find used Starrett gear at a reasonable price.

Of the four I have (various stanley 25 footers, from 10 to 30 years old), none are graduated in 32nds, even in the first foot.

I've not seen a steel square with graduations I'd trust, myself; excepting the Starretts.

I have a few stanley boxwood folding rules and calipers, and they are quite accurately graduated, all things considered.

[Leon]

LOL, Yeah. Form me it depends on the day of the week or if there is a full moon. But I do use a caliper to measure my first shot at stacking and shimming, with the arbor nut snugly in place. I compare that measurement directly to the material in several places. If it is pretty darn close to tight I'll slightly bevel the edges going into the dado/grove with my sander. This especially helps to prevent chipping the outer veneer.

[Leon]

With a digital caliper and a calculator you can determine exactly what size shim to place in the stack.

[Bill]

Try Hobby-Machinist.com I've been thinking about whether I might be able to make some plane parts. I don't own a lathe or a mill though, so far. But I am keeping my eyes open for a "deal" while I learn.

[Jack]

That's a web page. I like watching videos on Youtube on my big screen TV's (Comcast here has a built in YouTube app) I about completely stopped watching anything on regular TV, and 99% of what I watch is on Youtube. I like ABOM79 and David Richards Old Steam Powered Machine Shop, but watch and subscribe to a few others machinist shows as well.

Everything I'm interested in can be found on youtube, and about NOTHING I'm interested in can be found on regular TV. Even if regular tv has something, say woodworking, it sucks, and sucks big time. Thinking of Lamo Scott Phillips show American Woodshop, the Woodsmith shop and so on. Lots of bad woodworking stuff on youtube too, but lots of good stuff as well.

My absolute favorite "TV" star is Andrew Camarata. He has hundreds of YouTube video's and I think I watched every one of them. He does everything I did in my youth, and most of everything I dreamed of doing but never did, like run heavy equipment. His video's are well done, he can do it all.

[Leon]

I put a couple of miles on the tread mill almost every day, You Tube on a 32" TV "right in front" of the tread mill gets me through the drudgery.

While piling on, Scott Phillips is probably the worst. This guy built, on TV, what promised to be a great shop, several years ago. It was immediately a pig sty.

Then there was the Johnson guy that had some kind of a, I cut wood show, that was determined to convince every one that a Sliding Miter saw was actually a RAS. Idiot!

I do not mind Woodsmith except that it is tooooooooooooo freakingggggggggggg slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

And now there is a girl that has a Mansion Restoration Show. Jeez, where do I start. Her dad is on the show and makes unnecessary commentary. She wants to sound like an expert in her field but sadly is just one of those "dreamer designers". Several clips show her doing what a remodeled does, work with their hands.

She paints large flat panels,against the grain with a small paint brush. She removes wall fixtures set screws with a screwdriver made for tightening screws in a pair of glasses frames. She uses her Sliding miter saw like A RAS. She might be related to the Johnson guy mentioned above. She pulls the blade through the cut instead of pushing it.

Oh! I'll will never forget Brad Staggs Master Workshop! Or what ever he called his show. This idiot dedicated a portion of his show to showing how to properly use a dodo blade on a TS. Imagine the look on his face while cutting a dado with out removing the blade guard. He had that look of, hummmmm why is the board not passing past the blades??? IDIOT!

And they put this stuff on TV!

David Marks was pretty good, and naturally it is gone today.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Not for you but what about others? Tape measures are used for many things aside from woodwork. Surely you recognize that others have different needs than you.

[Jerry Osage]

Check out mtmwood on Youtube. He doesn't do many videos now, however, he went from a garage operation to a production plant doing end grain cutting boards. I especially like this one.

[krw]

I walk 8-1/2 miles on the treadmill every day (2-1/2hrs). It wouldn't be possible without Netflix and Prime.

I guess there is a reason I don't watch Youtube.

[Bill]

Me too, with Roku. But what's wrong with a web page forum (where you can ask questions)?

[Jack]

Yes, he is really bad. I guarantee his finished products look like crap. TV hides a lot but his techniques suck. He does seem like a really nice guy, but that's about it.

Don't recall him.

Yes, the show is not bad BUT, they, like most of these shows skip over too much tricky stuff and are mostly just assembling stuff. Also, they started doing parts of projects, like 2 or 3 different projects in each show, then completing them in 2 or more series. Really lame. I quit even recording them.

Never saw her, but I watch almost no TV.

Never heard of him either.

Yes, he knew his stuff, so of course his show made it maybe one season here. Still, TV doesn't allow time for these guys to make a really good show I guess. YouTube time limits are not there. YouTube however has a ton of bad stuff, and a lot of it is guys making lousy videos of horrible techniques. Some of them even mention they never did this before! Why in the hell are they making a video, that they don't know how to make or edit, of something they have no clue about, and then putting it on YouTube.

Still after sorting though things, there is a lot of awesome stuff, something for everyone for sure.

[Sonny]

YouTube however has a

After all the other cons mentioned, of the different TV shows, plus the bad YouTube folks, they probably don't have/use the best woodworkers tape measure.

Sonny

[Jack]

Yes, I believe I watched that one before. Very nice cutting board. Not my style of shop though, too clean, too, neat, too many Festering tools. (Through that in for Leon:-))

Here's my type of woodwork show. Engels Coach Shop. This guy is a pro, and knows how to do stuff. He builds and restores old wagons, coaches, wheels and all that. Not stuff many do, but wow, he does it all, and does good video's, showing exactly how it's done. Although not something many would ever do, it is enjoyable for wood workers to watch. Here are a few I grabbed at random, but he has a lot of them:

[Jack]

Yeah, it's opposite from NetFlix. I never found anything worth watching on NetFlix either. Both TV and Netflix are complete wastelands, almost completely void of any worthwhile content.

Besides, Leon was not talking about YouTube, he was talking about regular TV. Leon watches Youtube when on the treadmill.

[Jack]

I also have Roku but quit watching it when Comcast came out with the YouTube app, and AT&T bought Ustream and Roku stopped streaming Ustream, which I used to watch live pool matches. YouTube now has a zillion pool videos, and sometimes streams them live.

[Leon]

ROTFLMAO... Yeah, we wen of on a tangent,,,,,,again.