What's your favorite tape measure?

[keith wootton]

stanley 30 foot powerlock at work. 25 footer in the shop. they last a very long time unless you drop them in the lake, which is an occupational hazard when you work over water. easy to read and measure consistantly. what i do not like are the newer style and cheaper stanley. the ones that only have 7 foot holdout do not last, but they are what i buy my crew because they are prone to dropping them before they wear out! also hate the little flange on the the top side of the hook on the new ones that catch your thumb when you retract the tape. ouch. never near a grinder when that happens, either...

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have a strong preference to the Fastcap tape measures. I find them to be the easiest to read. Even my Father-In-Law was enamored by them.

http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/ProCarpenter-3p112.htm

[peter gagliardi]

I have never seen the Fisco or Sola ones here in the States. I have also never seen here the rating system for the accuracy of the tape like what appears to be standard in England, or Europe for that matter.
In the shop, the tape measure plays second fiddle to the digital fences on the Martin saw.
As a colleage of mine said to me once, "one of your instruments needs to be "the boss" as far as measuring goes. Are you going to trust a $10-15.00 tape measure, or the digital readouts on the $30-50k saw?"

[stan shields]

I found a website in the U.S. that sells the Frisco tapes:
https://www.needthattool.com/bt12e.aspx
Interesting that the major brands like Stanley don't talk about accuracy. I ordered a BT16E, will report back when it arrives, looks interesting.

[Darcy Warner]

Tigerstop

Extra characters

That's a good one. Lol

I like the Komelon ones anymore.

[peter gagliardi]

I have used the Stanley fat max 16' tapes in the shop since they came out, and the fat max 25-30' on construction sites for just as long. The Stanleys seem to have a thicker blade that resists kinks and breaks better than others.
I also only buy the yellow plastic case models.
The chrome coating does not last, and once it starts to flake is sharp as #%*%!
They are pretty consistent in accuracy from one to the next.

[Dave Lehnert]

I did a quick read through all the post and surprised I did not see Lufkin Quick Read.
Great for setting the fence on the table saw. You are not looking at the measurement upside down.

51FgWRxkRaL._SL1346_.jpg

[Bill Bukovec]

Milwaukee. Picked up two from a sale at True Value.

[Jeff Duncan]

In the shop it's Stanley 16's in the chrome plastic case. It's perfect size for cabinet making, don't like bulky tapes in the shop. For on site measurements I use a 25' Fat Max as it has the best standout.

good luck,
JeffD

[andy bessette]

Miniature 10' Lufkin is always in my pocket.

[Chris Parks]

So what do you like for use in the shop, cabinet making and other smaller projects.

I use a steel rule(s), way more accurate than a tape. If I am forced to use a tape for longer than one metre it is a BMI Quicky. Guaranteed accuracy standard, the edges lay on the material so it can be used to draw lines, fits in my pocket etc. All the rest are for working on landscaping and carpentry projects. The three metre version has dual imperial/metric scales while the 2 metre is straight metric.

[Justin Ludwig]

On site: Stanley 25’
in shop: Fast Cap lefty/righty

In shop supreme accuracy: Tigerstop

[Jamie Buxton]

A Lee Valley 10' tape that is marked in decimal inches. Lee Valley offered them only for a couple of years. I bought ten. I've given away several of them, along with my speech about how decimal inches is way way better than fractional inches. The rest I'm hoarding.

[Jordan Lane]

Chris where did you purchase your BMI rules?

[Chris Parks]

Chris where did you purchase your BMI rules?

Jordan, I bought my 2 metre fully metric versions locally but my three metre imperial/metric version came off Ebay out of Hong Kong as that was not sold locally. I found this http://www.bmitools.com/conttrade/sm...vels_tapes.htm but they don't show the Quicky which I find strange and it might pay to contact them and ask the question. Ebay Germany would definitely be a candidate as would Ebay UK. I like the concept of the Festool type but I have too many tapes none of which I use in the workshop at all, I bought a few Hultafor tapes simply for their ability to measure internally very accurately and the ability to measure a cylinder very accurately. From now on I will only buy European made tapes as they have a certified accuracy and that is stated on the tape.

I have to admit to being a convert to BMI as when I bought the first one I thought it would sit in the drawer and gather dust but on the contrary I use it all the time for quick confirmation measurement, finding a length of timber to cut etc all the time. I simply like the way the Europeans have of printing easy to see crisp markings on the tape and it makes them a pleasure to use. If I am cutting and measuring for a project them I always use a steel rule as the engravings can be used to set dividers, trammel bars etc, mortise gauges etc way more precisely than the eye can do.

I may as well add something here that a lot of people most probably do not realise and that is if we measure something then transfer that measurement to a fence on a machine have we transferred the measurement or using the fence tape just put the same number in? I have about six fences in my workshop on various machines and they were accurate to the fence tape but they all cut slightly differently. I had made a standard measure that was machined and measured to a vernier which is as accurate as we as WW's are likely to need and set all my fences to that so they all cut the same no matter which fence is used.