Awesome Tape Measure Improvement

This little improvement (for a metric tape measure) is both awesome and incredibly easy, and you need only 5 minutes for it.

The whole Instructable is:

Glue a board, with 10 cm length, onto the bottom of your tape measure.

That's all!

Now

• you can easily measure between two surfaces.
• you have a sharp edge, where you can make a mark
• you can transfer a measure directly to your table saw

All you need:

• tape measure
• a board
• glue
• saw (table saw or hand saw)
• sandpaper
• scissors or knife to remove the loop

Step 1: Preparing the Measure Tape

Remove the loop with scissors

Remove the flap (not necessary) and put the screw back into the hole.

Sand the bottom of the tape measure, if it is not flat. (You don't need a machine for this, a sandpaper will also do this work as well.)

Step 2: Preparing a Board

You need a little board with a length of exact 10 cm, height and width are doesn't matter.

Cut it with a saw you have. I my case it was a table saw.

Sand the edges and paint the front edge with a pencil so you can see it better.

Step 3: Glue the Tape Measure Onto the Board

Glue the tape onto the board. It doesn't matter where, just anywhere in the middle. It should be parallel

I used super glue and accelerator spray, but you can use a different glue as well.

That's all!

For details how it works, please watch the video!

Let me know what do you think in the comment section below!

Comments

[stickmop]

I just made one (sorry, it's still clamped down as the glue sets, so no photo).

Metric tapes are a little bit hard to come by in the States and they usually call them "engineer's tapes" (so they can charge a bit more for them?). I wasn't ready to convert my only metric tape to the cause, so I used a Harbor Freight 25' tape. I have a half dozen of them lying around since they often give them away free with a purchase.

One good thing about the HF tape is that the bottom is flat, once you peel the soft plastic cover off, so no sanding was needed. My base is 4 inches, a squoosh more than 10 cm.

[StephanP1]

Thank you for your comment!

[sheilamommy]

I really like the cat. I like the idea also. Even I could do this!

[StephanP1]

Thank you!

[FrancescoK2]

Genius!

[StephanP1]

Thank you!