Anyone wanna join the 100 club ?

[ColeyS1]

From reading all the responses it does seem its more a problem with metric nowadays. Surely someone must have came up with a solution :ugeek: id certainly pay £20 + for a tape measure that got over the problem. A spare blank 3 inchs at the beginning with a definite line where the beginning starts and jobs a goodun :lol: if they put the hook on the other way around there'd be no chance of another ballsup waiting around the corner - wouldn't this work .......?

 

[Westfield]

A 1 metre metric steel rule has been one of my best buys, I just butt it up to a set square on the end and it seems to work well.

 

[spinks]

Same here.....being a plater welder i have forgotten the times i have lost 100mm.....i now have a cheap magnetic square which i put on my mark and butt the tape to that!!

 

[Peter Sefton]

It is so easily done, I have a mate (honestly) who made a pair of credenzas worth about £15,000 delivered them to site to find they would not fit the alcoves, called the site Forman to point out the builders inaccurate workmanship only to discover he had made the mistake on the first day of setting out in the workshop. A very expensive mistake and very humbling in front of the builders who suggested they set out accurately with mm but double check with inches, not a bad idea even if a bit old fashioned.

Welcome to the club we have all been in it.

 

[johngraves]

On a similar note -apparently in the late 60's Birmingham University built a swimming pool on the first floor of the sports building. It was never used however as they had forgotten to allow for the weight of the water in the calculations!

 

[Peter Sefton]

Oops (hammer)

 

[No skills]

I seem to be suffering from a different strain of the 100mm bug...

Taking the measurement isnt (normaly) the problem for me, and to compound the shame for rough work at work (ie most of it ) I dont bother starting 100mm up the tape measure, the end tab does fine. The problem is my memory! taking the measurement then going and marking it on the work piece is where it goes wrong 2230mm becomes 2330 or 2130 etc etc

 

[Hitch]

I'm in!

Done it a few times, but i normally take a measure from the 100, then do a rough double check using it normally.

Had a spate of our measurer upper at work doing this a lot. Not too much bother if its something small.... but when you've a few big steels and a crane on site, its not funny!

 

[Lons]

the other problem if you're on site and more than one person is that the tapes are not accurate. Just try comparing one against the other, especially if they are from the cheap end of the market.
I didn't believe it the first time and blamed my brother until we realised his tape differed from mine by 5mm over 1mtr.

Bob

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I put a new door on my bedroom. Very careful to measure from the blade to the side of the base of the saw (twice), worked out the measurement from the the bottom of the door to clamp the fence (twice), measured and marked the door (twice) and went ahead and cut the the door from the wrong side.
Thank heaven for biscuit joiners.

 

[Dangermouse]

Cant go wrong with FOUR INCHES ! (hammer) :?

 

[SammyQ]

S

Cant go wrong with FOUR INCHES ! (hammer) :?

Sorry Dangermouse, would you like to rephrase that? In these PC days, I am sure there are some bretheren out there reading that and knowing that Nature sold them short, could be deeply hurt......... :-"


Sam

 

[bugbear]

On a similar note -apparently in the late 60's Birmingham University built a swimming pool on the first floor of the sports building. It was never used however as they had forgotten to allow for the weight of the water in the calculations!

That sounds like this;

http://www.snopes.com/college/halls/sinking.asp

BugBear

 

[marcus]

Does it happen to anyone else?

Oh yes....

 

[johngraves]

Thanks for the update on the swimming pool Bugbear. Great bit of detection work to find the article.

John

 

[davin]

I'm there as well.
Also I only use metric tape measures to lower the mistake factor. I also have a continental style folding rule, took a bit of getting used to but very useful in the workshop.
I am abroad next week, and will drive my wife mad by visiting diy shops looking for metric only measures...
davin

 

[Racers]

Hi,

Don similar thing loads of times, being dyslexic I get numbers mixed easily, I have some Fisher steel rules that are matt finished and I mark them with pencil by the measurement so I don't go wrong as often.

Pete

 

[Graham Orm]

Just to spice up my Friday I used the 100 method today at work. ooooooooo it was fun.....not a single mistake! :norm: :ho2

 

[marcus]

Slightly off topic: I met someone who told me the story of how he found a nice second hand steel rule which he bought and took to work. After a few weeks he was going quietly nuts because he kept getting little errors he couldn't account for in everything he did. In the end he noticed the writing in small letters on the rule: "1—10 to foot".

It was a pattern maker's shrink rule... (hammer)

 

[graduate_owner]

Having read all these replies I don't now feel so bad when I think about all the mistakes I've made. I have often measured (twice) then cut, then found the length is wrong (always too short of course) and I just think - 'how the hell could I have done that?' But it happens, and so easily.

Regarding the 100 club - perhaps if people tried starting the measuring at 1000mm instead then they might realise their mistake before it's too late - 1000mm too long or short is a lot of error and might just trigger the 'hello, what's going on here then?' response before cutting.

K