- Now I want you all to listen up very carefully
because I have a scientific fact
backed up by science.
Well, I'm not exactly sure who did the study
or where I read it,
but it's very scientific.
It's impossible for a man or a woman
to use a brand new tape measure
without first of all finding out how far they can extend it
before it collapses under its own weight.
(cracking)
Am I right or am I right?
Is this you?
Let me know down below.
See, that's science.
Can't I folks?
Uncle Knackers here from DIY For Knuckleheads
and welcome to episode five
of my workshop hacks, tips and tricks video series.
In today's video,
we'll be looking at the humble tape measure,
and hopefully I'll be able to share with you
some quick and amazing tape measuring tips
that I've learned along the way.
But first, before we do anything,
if you wanna see more videos just like this one,
do yourself a favour
and make sure you hit that subscribe button
and click the notification bell.
Oscar Sierra Foxtrot,
did you hear all that?
Over.
(clanking)
Yeah Roger That Mate,
loud and clear.
Over.
(clanking)
Now don't tell me you haven't done that before
'cause I know you have.
Yes, you.
Okay, let's kick off this series of tape measuring tips
with what I think is the number one reason
that bamboozles a lot of new tape owners.
You've gone out and you've bought yourself
your very first tape measure,
you bring it home,
go to use it,
only to find that the end feels a little wobbly.
And you think to yourself,
"Oh no!
"I've bought myself a dodgy tape.
"I better take it back."
Don't take it back.
There's a reason for that wobble.
And this is what it is.
The amount of wobble you find on the end of your tape
is the actual thickness of the hook.
And the reason for that is that it doesn't matter
if you're doing an outside measurement like that,
where you hook the tape over the end of the piece
that you're trying to measure,
or you're doing an inside measurement like that,
where you're lining up the outside of the hook
with the edge of the piece that you're trying to measure,
the measurements are going to be the same.
Now, hopefully you can now understand
that if the end of the tape was rigid
and didn't have any play or wobble,
any one of those measurements would be accurate
in relation to the marks on that tape.
Either the inside measurement or the outside measurement.
The other measurement is going to be ate
by the thickness of the hook.
Now here's a really good tip
for marketing a fast and straight line
by using your tape measure as a marking gauge.
Now this trick is used by carpenters
and dry wallers all over the world.
For instance,
say we want to cut 100 millimetres
or four inches of the bottom of this door.
Grab your tape measure
and line the 100 millimetre or four inches
up with the bottom of the door.
And then with your index finger and your thumb,
line them up with the 100 or the four inches.
Get your pencil,
place it hard up against the hook
and away you go.
Too easy!
Just between you and me,
I reckon hat turned out pretty good.
Now, if you don't need
to be particularly accurate with your line,
you can use your tape measure as a straight edge.
Not too bad,
and sometimes that's all you need.
And if by some chance
your tape measure has the hook that also extends
not only from the bottom
but also above the tape,
you can turn your tape over
and that'll give you a stronger straighter line.
Now this next tip is a little Ninja tip that I like to use
to help identify my tape measure.
If you work on a big building site
where there may be plenty of tradesmen there
who could have a similar tape measure to yours,
to help identify yours,
I suppose you could just paint it a different colour.
But what I like to do is
I like to go a bit more incognito,
a little more Ninja.
And I'll show you what I do.
Grab your tape
and extend that blade until it's almost run its full length.
Now, once you get toward the end of the tape,
just simply turn the tape over,
grab a permanent marker like a Sharpie
and write your name and sign it.
And there you have it.
There's my name,
there's my signature,
and a nice little reminder notice.
Just don't do this down the other end of the tape
within the first couple of metres,
because those measurements are used a lot more often
than these ones,
which means this will wear off quicker.
Speaking of tape measures, how's this?
I was on the couch the other day,
just relaxing, watching a bit of telly
when my 10-year old son comes up to me
within about five feet
and starts to tap me on the face
with the end of the tape measure repeatedly.
And I said to him,
"What the hell are you doing?"
And he says, "I'm just measuring your patience dad."
(smirks)
I said, "You cheeky little!"
The next tip I have is that
you may have noticed on the end of your tape,
on the end of the hook,
you can see a slot.
Now that slot can be found
on virtually every tape on the market.
And it's a very handy feature
as essentially it acts as a second pair of hands,
which is great
when you're working by yourself.
All you need to do is to place that slot
over the head of a nail or a screw,
which locks the tape in place,
and you're good to go.
(wood brushing)
Another thing to remember
with the slot on the end of the tape measure
is that when it goes over the head of the nail,
the end or the hook of the tape measure
actually finishes up where you want to measure from.
If that slot wasn't there,
the tape will be sitting out away from the line.
That way your measurement won't be as accurate
as it would have been like that.
Now in a pinch,
you can even use your tape measure as a compass.
Simply place a hook over the nail just like that,
work at your radius,
and then away you go.
Not too bad at all.
A little glitch here and there
only because I was trying to get around the camera.
But apart from that,
that works pretty good.
Now the next tip is great
for when you're working up high on a ladder.
Now, the first thing you need to do is to go out
and buy yourself a couple of those
really strong rare earth magnets.
I've got a big one.
Boy, enough of that.
A big magnet,
and I also went out and bought myself a smaller magnet,
which I just simply attach
to my nail bag on one of the rivets,
just like that.
So if you find yourself working up high on a ladder
or some scaffolding
and you drop your square, nail or screw,
just grab your magnet,
place it on the end of the tape measure
and retrieve your object.
Now, this is great for guys like me who have a dicky knee
because the less times
we have to get up and down a ladder, the better.
And I've also seen guys put double-sided tape
on the end as well,
which is great for retrieving a dropped pencil.
There you go.
How easy was that?
It actually makes retrieving dropped tools
a bit of fun.
This next tip is really handy for doing inside measurements.
You'll find on a tape,
most tapes at least,
they'll have a measurement down here.
Mine says 3/1/2 inches or 89 millimetres.
And what that refers to
is the actual size of the tape measure case.
The main problem you'll face
when you're doing an inside measurement
like between these two sides
is when you're trying to work out the exact measurement
at this point.
Now, because we have a bend in our tape here,
it's really hard to actually see exactly
what that measurement is going to be.
Now, the solution is really easy.
Just get your tape.
You know that it's 3/1/2 inches or 89 millimetres,
press it hard up against one side
and then run the tape out until it gets to the other side,
and then just simply lock the blade in place.
With the case locked,
we now know that we are 366 millimetres
to the edge of our case.
Now we know the case is 89 millimetres wide,
so if we add the 89 to the 366,
we get the distance between the two sides.
How easy is that?
Now the next tip I'm going to show you
is just a bit of a fun tip.
I'm going to call it the Guess Your Age Tip.
Pretty technical.
Now all you need to do first of all,
is bend your tape in half just like that.
Now this is where the magic happens.
Get the end of your tape, the hook,
and then line that up with the inch increments.
So 97 is the 1997,
99 is the 1999
or 101 is the year 2001.
Now we're gonna go up to the current year,
which is the year 2000,
and I think that's about the 10-foot Mark.
Okay, we've come all the way up to 2019,
and now here is 2020.
So what we're gonna do is turn that over,
pinch it together and lock that in place.
So with your tape locked in down the other end at 2020,
say I'm 92 years old.
Look pretty good for 92?
If we turn the tape over,
I was born in 1928.
How cool is that?
Now I was born in 1966.
So if we turn this tape over,
you'll see that I am 54 years of age.
How amazing is that!
Is there nothing that these tape measures can't do?
So after all those little gems,
I reckon that deserves
a great tip knackers!
Now, if you're gonna see more videos
just like the one you've just seen,
make sure you click on one of my playlists,
which will be popping up over there any time soon.
All right.
Well, I hope you found that selection
of tape measuring tips handy.
And if you did,
a big thumbs up would be greatly appreciated.
(kangaroos chuckling)
I'm in Australia.
All ready.
Well, after all that,
I think I really need a cup of tea.
So until next time,
be good, be safe,
and I'm out of here.
Cheers!