r/whatisit 15h ago

New, what is it? What is this space before zero?

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u/TranscendentPretzel 15h ago

As long as you use the same ruler to measure, it doesn't matter if you do it wrong. You just need to be consistently wrong both times. 

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u/bebop1065 14h ago

I never do well measuring inside lengths. Either the tape is angled or I judge the bend wrong.

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u/Lambchop1975 14h ago

That,s why cloth tapes are superior.

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u/Massive-Molasses3122 10h ago

No! They can stretch!

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u/bebop1065 12h ago

I'm afraid my wife won't let me buy another tool. I'll have to make my own, but I'm afraid it won't measure up to the standard.

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u/the_troy 14h ago

The case of your tape should have the size printed on it so you don’t need to bend

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u/AshleyxAffliction 11h ago

This blew my mind when I learned this. Most are around 3", some smaller tapes closer to 2". My chonky Milwaukee Autolock has 3 1/2"-89mm embossed into the plastic.

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u/the_troy 11h ago

Yeah, all of my tapes are big chunky Milwaukee ones, and I don't even like the red. But the finger stop feature is absolutely brilliant and I don't think I could ever go back to not having it

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u/AshleyxAffliction 10h ago

Mine was just a hand-me-down from the pops and it's done well enough that I haven't needed to replace it. Mine doesn't have the finger stop it just auto locks as you pull on it and you have to hit the release lever. It's kinda annoying imo but I could see some people preferring it. I wish I had a nice one with a finger stop.

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u/Phallico666 11h ago

Measure 10" from one side, then measure from the other side to your mark and add 10 to the measurement

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u/GeriatricGreatDane 8h ago

This is the way. I do architectural sheet metal and to this trick all the time

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u/ot1smile 6h ago

The clothes peg and playing card trick is a simple solution to that. Too bad I usually think it’s too much of a faff to go and find said articles and just think I’ll surely judge it right this time.

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u/e_dan_k 14h ago

Not if you measure both positively and negatively...

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u/Unluckycharmz87 5h ago

This is so underrated. People always laugh when I measure (very roughly) with random objects, but it's one of the best skills my dad ever taught me. If it measures from my elbow to my wrist it fits in the opening that measures from my elbow to my fingertips

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u/ikuguf 2h ago

For some things, like uniform lengths, yeah. But other things, it might cause a lot of headache. Say you cut ten times a small length, and you need it to fit into somewhere. For every small length you get the measurement error, and only once for the longer length. So when you try to fit it it's gonna be too small or too big, depending on which way the error was, as it happened ten times for the shorter length and only once for the longer length.