Stop trusting a fresh tape hook, bend it first like I finally did

I was laying out studs for a shed last Saturday and kept losing my mark because the hook on my 25-foot Stanley tape would slide a hair every time I hooked the edge of the plywood. Drives me nuts, especially when you're doing 16-inch centers and half an inch off means the whole wall is crooked. So I grabbed my needle-nose pliers and gave the hook a slight downward bend, maybe 5 degrees, so it bites into the material harder. Tested it on a scrap board with a pencil line and the readout stayed dead solid through 12 pulls. I know some folks say to file the notch or use a magnetic tip, but this little fix cost me zero dollars and took 30 seconds. Has anyone else done this to their tape, or do you just live with the wiggle and check your start point every time?

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1 Comment

stone.troy18d ago

Man, I been using the same 25 footer for like 8 years and never bent the hook. Half a hair on a shed wall? Just pull a 16 and mark the next one off the last mark instead of hooking every time. That way you dont even need the hook until you hit the end of the board. Seems like extra steps for a problem that takes 2 seconds to check with your eye.