- Joined
- Oct 29, 2012
- Messages
- 1,329
I have this tape measure that I inherited from my late grandfather's estate when I was a child. It has moved around from place to place in my shop for years and I've always known it was "off" so I didn't use it. I just assumed it was defective (improperly printed) or else it was meant for measuring circumference or some other oddball singular purpose but I never sat down to really figure it out until just now. The answer is quite simple; it doesn't measure inches. It measures feet, in graduations of 10. Instead of 12 inches between each foot, there are 10. Beside another tape measure the feet line up but not the inches.
I would like to know a bit more about this tape measure as I've never seen another like it. Seems it could be a lot easier to measure things like 10.55ft instead of 10ft + 6 & 35/64ths in. My grandfather was an aircraft mechanic as well as a foreman in a cement plant and the owner of a muffler shop (not all 3 at once). Is this type of tool a hallmark of any of those trades? He also did hobby carpentry.
I would like to know a bit more about this tape measure as I've never seen another like it. Seems it could be a lot easier to measure things like 10.55ft instead of 10ft + 6 & 35/64ths in. My grandfather was an aircraft mechanic as well as a foreman in a cement plant and the owner of a muffler shop (not all 3 at once). Is this type of tool a hallmark of any of those trades? He also did hobby carpentry.