metric only tape measure recommendations

[Deleted member 174758]

I'd have recommended one tape - Stanley Fat Max metric only (the newer design with the magnetic end). My latest is one of these:

(also available in 5m - below 5m I find tapes to be too short for most uses) - partly because of this:

(best stand-out on the planet) and partly because it lines up with my 8m Bahco, my older 8m Fat Max, my Hultafors Talmeter and the German panel saw in gthe workshop (very important, that). Cheap tapes are generally pretty useless for accurate measurement. I find

I thought Imperial was back in now after Brexit.

In that case you'd better change the laws which require architects drawings to be produced in metric... I hope you are willing to pay from all the innacuracy that moving to an anachronistic out of date measurement system like Imperial will cause, and the millions it will cost to retool manufacturing industry so that they are even less competitive than they currently are with all the Brexit "advantages". I'd love to be there listening to someone like you trying to convince a German sawmill to manufacture everything in Imperial sizes...

Hear Hear! It's high time we reverted to the Imperial measurements and REQUIRED all schoolchildren to learn yards, feet and inches, ounces, pounds (avoirdupois) hundredweights and tons. Outlaw the use of metric measurements! Rule Britannia.

B@ll@x! Said by someone who learned both and works measuring stuff all day long, every day. Metric is faster ane easier to use and less error prone. Imperial is a dead system and should be quietly laid to rest - along with the people who support it

 

[SFK]

B@ll@x!

I believe they were joking.
If not, quote:


"NOTE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND AMERICANS -- It helps [] if you know the original British monetary system:

Two farthings = One Ha'penny. Two ha'pennies = One Penny. Three pennies = A Thrupenny Bit. Two Thrupences = A Sixpence. Two Sixpences = One Shilling, or Bob. Two Bob = A Florin. One Florin and One Sixpence = Half a Crown. Four Half Crowns = Ten Bob Note. Two Ten Bob Notes = One Pound (or 240 pennies). Once Pound and One Shilling = One Guinea.

The British resisted decimalized currency for a long time because they thought it was too complicated."

― Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

 

[opps]

If you are measuring the insides of cupboards and shorter distances, I would recommend the Connex 3M Viso

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Connex-COXT700233-Interior-Measure-White/dp/B00CFXZH3U

In the past it has been branded under the BMI and Festool name.

The top of the tape measure has a little window so that you can see internal measurements.

 

[opps]

I'd have recommended one tape - Stanley Fat Max metric only (the newer design with the magnetic end). My latest is one of these:

View attachment 269526

(also available in 5m - below 5m I find tapes to be too short for most uses) - partly because of this:

View attachment 269527
(best stand-out on the planet) and partly because it lines up with my 8m Bahco, my older 8m Fat Max, my Hultafors Talmeter and the German panel saw in gthe workshop (very important, that). Cheap tapes are generally pretty useless for accurate measurement. I find






In that case you'd better change the laws which require architects drawings to be produced in metric... I hope you are willing to pay from all the innacuracy that moving to an anachronistic out of date measurement system like Imperial will cause, and the millions it will cost to retool manufacturing industry so that they are even less competitive than they currently are with all the Brexit "advantages". I'd love to be there listening to someone like you trying to convince a German sawmill to manufacture everything in Imperial sizes...


B@ll@x! Said by someone who learned both and works measuring stuff all day long, every day. Metric is faster ane easier to use and less error prone. Imperial is a dead system and should be quietly laid to rest - along with the people who support it

What on earth is the guy in the photo trying to measure?

 

[stuart45]

I believe they were joking.
If not, quote:

Hard to believe someone thought they were serious quotes.

 

[^woody^]

If you are measuring the insides of cupboards and shorter distances, I would recommend the Connex 3M Viso

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Connex-COXT700233-Interior-Measure-White/dp/B00CFXZH3U

In the past it has been branded under the BMI and Festool name.

The top of the tape measure has a little window so that you can see internal measurements.

I've always wondered if those things are accurate, due to the diameter of the wound tape - ie is there a tolerance/less accuracy if you pull out the tape a few mm and fully extend it?

 

[blup]

I bought the hultafors talmeter which can measure internally and that has proved useful as it doubles as an external tape as well, with both measurements showing as above and below markings.

I have the stanley 8 metre tape which is robustly made but more bulky and never seems to live up to its advertised standout.

The dual metric advent vice versa tape which gosforth handyman promotes has the left to right metric markings on the underside so defeating the purpose of measuring from the top, I believe the stanley doesn't do this.

Ideally I would have a joint imperial and metric tape with metric on the upper side and imperial below, it is is useful to sense check measurements sometimes, and for those of us who still occasionally have to "translate".

Blup

 

[opps]

I've always wondered if those things are accurate, due to the diameter of the wound tape - ie is there a tolerance/less accuracy if you pull out the tape a few mm and fully extend it?

The bit visible in the upper window is printed on the underside of the reel. If you pull it out by, for example, 900mm, You are only looking at the extended part of the reel. The rest of the reel has no bearing on the measurement.

I would say that as a 3m tape, if you pull it out past 2.5m it will never be the same again, but that is often the case with all tape measures that I have owned to date.

I find them to be very accurate, but not very sturdy.

 

[^woody^]

The bit visible in the upper window is printed on the underside of the reel. If you pull it out by, for example, 900mm, You are only looking at the extended part of the reel. The rest of the reel has no bearing on the measurement.

I started to sketch it out to understand it, but soon realised where I was misunderstanding things! I was thinking of a reducing diameter of tape as the tape extends and so the measure line being gradually out as the tape reduces. But the amount of tape does not reduce! Doh.

 

[^woody^]

If you are measuring the insides of cupboards and shorter distances, I would recommend the Connex 3M Viso

Damn you. I now realise I need one of these things

Let the hunt begin ....

 

[Notch7]

53 all metric tapes to choose from here

https://www.thetapestore.co.uk/tapes-rules/tape-measures/measurement/metric-only-tape-measures


For those obsessed about tape measures and accuracy, this website has class 1 and class 2 tapes.

 

[opps]

Damn you. I now realise I need one of these things

Let the hunt begin ....

View attachment 269556

I have never used either of the other two, but the Connex/BMI/Festool is great. You will no longer need to bend a tape in to the corner and guess at the reading based upon the angle at which you are looking at it. As I said though, they are rubbish once you go past 2.5M. They also get damaged if you accidentally stand on them/etc.

I carry one in my rucksack and a Stanley Fatmax 5M for longer readings.

 

[opps]

53 all metric tapes to choose from here

https://www.thetapestore.co.uk/tapes-rules/tape-measures/measurement/metric-only-tape-measures


For those obsessed about tape measures and accuracy, this website has class 1 and class 2 tapes.

Cool link, but the Connex tape measure that I linked to is £17 (under the original BMI branding), rather than £11 at Amazon.

 

[^woody^]

I have never used either of the other two, but the Connex/BMI/Festool is great. You will no longer need to bend a tape in to the corner and guess at the reading based upon the angle at which you are looking at it. As I said though, they are rubbish once you go past 2.5M. They also get damaged if you accidentally stand on them/etc.

I carry one in my rucksack and a Stanley Fatmax 5M for longer readings.

In a fit of impatience, I've just ordered the Stabila version from Amazon Germany.

Then I've only gone an found a few more of this type from other manufacturers thanks to Notch

I think I'll duck out of this thread for a while.

 

[opps]

In a fit of impatience, I've just ordered the Stabila version from Amazon Germany.

Then I've only gone an found a few more of this type from other manufacturers thanks to Notch

I think I'll duck out of this thread for a while.

Yeah, I noticed that there is a 5m version on his link.

You can cancel the Amazon order and then not have to worry about the 8%(?) plus 20% VAT (and handling charges).