Kudos to Sears and a tape measure question

[Dan Mages]

Hi all.

The tape of my trusty 15-20 year old Craftsman tape measure broke during a little closet work. I decided to take the old beast to Sears and test their Craftsman guaranteed forever policy. The gentleman at the counter took a quick look at it, and true to their word, grabbed a new 30ffooter from the self and sent me on my way. No questions or harassment.

Woo hoo!! Thank you Craftsman!! Now for the question. There is a black diamond at 19 3/16, 38 13/32, etc.... Does anyone know what this is for?

Dan

[Peter Stahl]

Hi all.

The tape of my trusty 15-20 year old Craftsman tape measure broke during a little closet work. I decided to take the old beast to Sears and test their Craftsman guaranteed forever policy. The gentleman at the counter took a quick look at it, and true to their word, grabbed a new 30ffooter from the self and sent me on my way. No questions or harassment.

Woo hoo!! Thank you Craftsman!! Now for the question. There is a black diamond at 19 3/16, 38 13/32, etc.... Does anyone know what this is for?

Dan
This is the spacing used for trusses. For a 8' sheet they get 5 joist verses 6 for 16" centers. The black marks are probably 19.2" apart from each other. Not sure who or when they came up with this.

[Mark Rios]

Actually, I asked this question a loooooooooong time ago when I was apprentice before we used engineered joists. It's another layout spacing, as opposed to 16" oc and 24" oc, that was used to save framing material (joists and rafters, as it was explained to me) to try to extend out the span as far as they could. You could save one joist or rafter and decrease the load rating of your deck, floor or roof, at the same time; How wonderful. :rolleyes: You get more waste from your sheet goods though in a lot of situations. We saw it a lot when I lived in Santa Cruz (until I was 25) used in low income housing along with 2 x 3 studs. Since we don't have very many hurricanes on the central coast of California I guess they thought it was a good idea. :rolleyes:

It's also used for (maybe it's main use) roof truss layout when using undersized (thickness) plywood when 24" oc might yield a span that is too flimsy. There may be a metric equilivent history there too IIRC, although one span is equal to 48.8 centimeters so I"m not sure when that would be a real timesaver. :D Actually, there is nothing wrong with the layout, providing it is used appropriately. I'm just not a fan of it, as you may be able to tell. :D :D :D

[Keith Hall]

Dan.... If they replaced it with the new red and black cased tape, that will be the last replacement under the lifetime warranty program. About 6 months ago,+/-, they ended the lifetime program on their tapes and changed the color of the cases. Nor will they give you a free replacement blade for a DIY repair. In the past, when Sears changed the lifetime exchange on a given tool, we would tell the customer to keep the original receipt of the exchange to prove that the tool they returned was in fact a tool under the old warranty program and we would honor the original warranty. Of course, that was easier to do when there were some "old timers" working who knew if a tool actually had a lifetime warranty. Not many of the kids now working can tell you anything about a tool much less its warranty.

[Dan Mages]

Dan.... If they replaced it with the new red and black cased tape, that will be the last replacement under the lifetime warranty program. About 6 months ago,+/-, they ended the lifetime program on their tapes and changed the color of the cases. Nor will they give you a free replacement blade for a DIY repair. In the past, when Sears changed the lifetime exchange on a given tool, we would tell the customer to keep the original receipt of the exchange to prove that the tool they returned was in fact a tool under the old warranty program and we would honor the original warranty. Of course, that was easier to do when there were some "old timers" working who knew if a tool actually had a lifetime warranty. Not many of the kids now working can tell you anything about a tool much less its warranty.
So I noticed. The new packaging states in the fine print that the blade is not covered by the warranty.

Now I wonder what I can do with my grandfather's Monkey Wards tools that have a "lifetime" warranty in case they break....

So the little diamonds are for work that I will never do and is designed to cut corners. Thanks!

Dan

[Joe Trotter]

I have had two tapes replaced, several screw drivers, open end wrenches, and a clicker style tourque wrench.

My frist tape replaced was a much better unit than the last two.

Most recently my wife took back a large clamp I had for years. It wouldnt stay gripped onto projects. They gave her one of the cool new ones.

I buy allot of tools from them :)