Shoutout to the old guy who showed me how to read a tape measure backwards

I was working on a cabinet install last week and another drafter pointed out I was measuring from the wrong side of the hook. He showed me how to subtract the hook thickness mentally and it saved me from recutting three panels. Has anyone else picked up basic habits late in the game from watching someone else work?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver8111mo agoMost Upvoted

Hang on, "subtract the hook thickness mentally" isn't quite right. You actually want to add the hook thickness when you're hooking over the edge, or subtract it when you're butting the hook against something. Most tape measures have that 1/16" or 1/8" slop built into the hook so it moves exactly that much. I learned this the hard way cutting melamine once. Had to scrap a whole shelf because I kept measuring from the wrong side of the hook.

the_sam1mo ago

Oh man, the hook slop got me too. I was building a bookcase and kept wondering why my cuts were off by exactly a 16th every single time. Felt like a total idiot when a framer on site just laughed and showed me how to burn an inch instead. Now I always hook the tape on the 1 inch mark and subtract from there. That little trick alone saved me from trashing a whole sheet of plywood last month.