Learning to Use Measuring Tape

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Mark Blocker and in this segment we're going to cover learning to use a measuring tape. O.k, here I have a measuring tape, and they come in different sizes, this is one that's broken down to U.S. feet and inches, they also come available in metric. Basically, what it is, its metal measuring tape that's loaded on a spring assembly that allows you to pull it out, and it has a spring retraction. It also has the ability to lock the tape itself out into the outright position. How the tape is broken down is in inches, it'll climb up from one through twelve, and you also feet readings from then on. This one here is broken down to sixteenths, you can get them down as far as thirty seconds, and sixty fourths, depending on what you're attempting to measure. But, for most carpentry applications, sixteenth is good enough. On the end of your tape you'll have a sliding tip, and this can be allowed so you can pull over a board for pulling a measurement, or push up against a board for an inside measurement. If you'll notice that tip slides back and forth about a thirty second of an inch, the same width as the actual latch itself and that makes up for the difference in the latch when you're pushing from an inside measurement to an outside measurement, so you get a correct measurement. Let me give you an example how to pull width measurement on this particular board. I'll pull up with my tape tight on one end, pull over, and I'll read where the board stops, in this particular case, the board stops exactly five inches, five and nine sixteenths inches, one notch past the half way mark on the, in between the five and the six. That's how to read a tape measure."