The best measuring tape tutorial I've ever seen

I want to revisit a tutorial we made a few years ago because I think it helped actually a lot of people get and keep their jobs it was simply a tutorial about properly reading a measuring tape it seems to be a lost skill among more recent Generations that are entering the workforce but if you can't show up on a job site with the ability to read a tape without saying something like three inches and five little marks you're not likely to keep your job very long there are several decent tutorials online about reading measuring tapes but I think you'll find this one makes the most sense because it eliminates much of the math simplifies the fractions it's designed so you can quickly look at the tape and come up with the measurement with minimal thinking if you watch carefully you're going to be a pro in no time but before I start I I need to mention that this is about reading and Imperial or as we say here a standard measuring tape that's what we use in the U.S I understand that 95 of the world uses the metric system and many of them do seem to flip out over videos that explain a system that doesn't make sense to them we get it metric is simpler but we live in the world that exists Imperial is still a big part of that world and folks in the US have to learn it so if you want to insult our system or the people that use it I encourage you to just take your comments over to a different video that I made recently that does poke funded our system I'll put a link to it below you should watch it it's pretty funny and your ridicule will be welcome there unless you're French some of the French viewers seem to be a little upset over a remark I made in that video I guess you'll have to watch it to see what got their croissants in a wad but let's just concentrate on the measuring tape in this video the long lines that extend all the way across the tape are obviously inches now those are broken down with lines of various shorter lengths into halves quarters eighths and sixteenths remembering those increments are the key to reading a measuring tape you've got to know this so one more time the longest marks on the tape are the inches the next longest are the halves the quarters are next in length followed by the eighths and the sixteenths are the shortest halves quarters eighths and sixteenths there are only four of them to remember you should have no problem with these increments so don't call this point on a tape for example four inches plus three little marks the proper way to read this measurement is 4 and 11 16. now how did I quickly recognize that that was for an 11 16 when those little marks aren't labeled well because I remembered the four increments since this particular measurement falls on the shortest lines I immediately know my reading will be in sixteenths how many sixteenths well I don't have to count all the little marks to find out there's a shortcut anyone who's at least a little familiar with fractions and here in the United States most of us are at least a little familiar with them you know that there are 16 16 in a hole just like there are eight eighths four quarters and so on right so knowing that there are 16 16 in an inch I can glance at the tape and see that my measurement is past the halfway point so that's eight of my sixteenths right there I merely add the last three and I get 11 16. let's try another one this is five and seven eighths I can see that immediately because I know the second shortest lines represent eights and my measurement falls on the last eighth Mark in the inch since there are eight eighth Marks in My inch one less is 7 8. one more example this is 5 and 13 16. I don't have to count all 13 little marks to get here I just know that the shortest marks are sixteenths There are 16 of them in a full inch so I count back three to get a reading of 13 16. again I can't stress enough the key is being able to identify the increment you're working on based on the length of the line so you know if you're dealing with sixteenths eighths quarters or halves then you just count forward or back from either the beginning of the inch the end of the inch the halfway point whatever's closest in time it will be second nature you won't be counting at all the fraction is just going to come to you now one more thing to mention for those that are working in Building Trades you may hear someone say for example 4 and 5 8 strong that's a substitute for 4 and 11 16. what they're doing is they're ignoring the finest marks on the tape the 16s they're essentially saying it's just a little more than the nearest eighth mark because sixteenths are kind of meaningless when you're nailing two by fours into houses it's sort of a verbal shorthand but don't try that on a job interview because everyone should know the proper way to read a measuring tape another thing that is critical on a job site or in a workshop at home is hearing protection I really want you to think about what you're doing to your ears every time you use a noisy tool be it a saw or even a hammer please do your future self a favor and wear hearing protection I chose isotunes hearing protection years ago and I never looked back because they have a distinct advantage over everything else I've used in the past I'm simply more likely to use them because they are Bluetooth headphones so I can listen to music podcasts I can answer my phone if I need to whatever and I found that if I'm using them for that then I already have them on when I go to make a cut or do something noisy and so I don't have to make the conscious choice to go find them and put them on for that one or two cuts my ears are automatically protected if I'm in the shop and by the way if you do find music distracting when you're using something like a table saw you just hit the power button on the side when the saw is on these really changed my shop safety routine and I'm so glad I found them please consider us at either the earbuds or the over the head style which I prefer whatever you prefer and consider the isotunes brand in particular because they're just a great small family business in Indiana that's really committed to Quality and service in a way that is rare in this world today I've personally met these folks they're fantastic people and I want to support them and I hope you do too so I'm going to leave a link below that will get you a 10 discount on anything on the site please at least click on it once and see what they're all about see you next time

Channel: Stumpy Nubs

Views: 205,839

Keywords: woodworking, stumpy nubs, tips, workbench, table saw, scroll saw, drill press, quick tip, band saw, bandsaw, lumber, hack, hand plane, sharpening, tormek, worksharp, diamond stone, water stone, wood turning, bowls, lathe

Id: YyE9Q7n6eCI

Length: 7min 0sec (420 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 03 2023