Measuring tape

From RISDpedia

Measuring tapes come in different styles. For measuring rooms, or large areas, the heavy duty style, in a case that pulls open and snaps shut is often used. Measuring tapes also come in soft material, used for the dress maker, or to measure a hem and everything in between

1. Note that most measuring tapes have the same unit of measure on the top and bottom of the tape. This guide assumes that this is the case.
2. In the standard system on most full-sized (1" wide) measuring tapes, inches are broken down into 1/16 fractions. Each line represents 1/16 of an inch starting with the first one after any given number or the start of the tape
3. There are five line lengths. The 1/16 inch is the shortest. The 1/8 inch line is longer than the 1/16 inch line. The 1/4 inch line is longer than the previous two. The 1/2 inch line is longer than the previous three.
4. The long lines that cross the entire 1" width of the tape are inch markers. They usually are preceded or followed by numbers.
5. Every second line is 1/8th of an inch.
6. Every fourth line is 1/4 of an inch.
7. The eighth line is the half-inch marker.
8. The 1 inch line is the longest and usually stretches across the entire width of the tape.
9. To measure, simply hold the front of the tape at the point you wish to start the measurement from, and extend it to the point where you want to stop.
10. Read the first large number before your stop point - this will tell you the number of inches.
11. Read the smaller lines of various sizes (remembering what the various sizes mean) up until your stop point. This will tell you your fraction of an inch.
12. With contractor measuring tapes, used for measuring large areas, you often cannot get a measurement using just the tape, as the body or case of the measuring tape gets in the way. That's why these bodies are carefully designed and marked to a certain width. Look on the case body for the width indicator. Many are 3". To measure a room from one corner to the other:

1. Lay the tape on the floor and hook the end into one corner of the room.

2. Pull out the tape along the floor.

3. When you reach the other corner push the butt of the tape case into the corner (the butt or back of the case has been flattened for this purpose).

4. Take your measurement from the tape and then add the 3" for the complete width.

TIP

1. This would not work exactly the same for a metric tape measure. Metric tape measures are based on a different system of measurement.