Hello. I'm actually a woodworker who occasionally works with metals. I've come up with something which may be of use to some here- or not (heheheheh). Either way, feel free to check it out. It's an adhesive tape with a repeating 1 foot ruler (subdivided into 1/16"), with parallel and perpendicular markings. Since it's tape it can wrap around anything or odd shapes, which may help with layouts and cutting. The tape is clear and the ruler is printed in red- hence 'Red Tape'. It's priced at $6.50/roll.
I noticed your post in the woodworking forum and checked out your link... Neat product. Might not be precision enough for lots of metalworking stuff, but it's sure a "yes, I've got that in my toolbox" item.
That looks really useful. You should see if you can get Woodcraft to carry it. I don't want to pay alot to ship one or two rolls but I would certainly pick it up at Woodcraft when I was there. Karl
Chris, YOU BEAT ME TO IT!! Congratulations. \ I was going to do an identical product 14 years ago, got lazy and never followed through. Here is my idea of highest and best use.
1) Sell to people putting up horizontal siding (clapboard). Pre-mark tape on 8" centers, or whatever. Staple several strips vertically from the eave down to the ground and install siding thereon. The beauty is that the tape gets buried and must be repurchased. Definitely a time saver!
2) Same idea as above but sell to roofers. Mylar is much more dimensionally stable than roofing paper with white lines. Again, product gets buried, leading to more sales.
3) Teach construction (housing primarily) foreman to lay out all of the walls, doors, windows, king studs, penetrations etc. on the tape. The carpenters in the field simply staple it to the plate and follow the graphics. This can be done whether the plate is in-place or tipped waiting for a tilt-up wall. This is especially useful in tract building where the homes are similar.
I don't want to be a naysayer, but I've been a carpenter for 40+ years doing
60% commercial 40% residential/stick building and a lot of it remodeling/repairing. In my whole career I've never longed for a product like this. Brick/block layers have storypoles, roofers have lines on felt and ice/water shield, also pins on their hatchet head to gauge 5" or whatever, as a siding applicator I put a notch on my hammer handle 8" from the end of the handle to gauge the siding, framers have stud spacing on their tapes, IOW there are tricks for every trade to do this job and most of the tricks are free or nearly so. This tape would sell to homeowners or inexperienced craftsmen who don't know any better and tool junkies who just think it's cool. I am a tool junkie, and think it's cool but I've filled up every tool box I have and there is no more room in the shop. Tom
Thanks for your note Tom, Using gauges on hammers, or whatever, leads to the accumulation of error. When doing siding one end can 'grow' at a much faster rate than the other. It is always better to measure from a known point than to 'gauge' from the last installed piece of siding. HOWEVER, I do defer to your vast experience.
My thoughts (14 years ago) came from watching an experienced carpenter install siding. Wanting to stay parallel to the eaves (not necessarily the same as horizontal) I witnessed him walking from one end of the board to the other constantly measuring down from the eave to keep him honest. When I (total amateur) did a similar installation 2 years ago, not knowing any better and not having the 'magic tape' simply hung my pocket tape from the eave line at several places and stood up nails indicating where the tops of the boards should be. I then simply slid each board up to the nails, fastened it, pulled out the nail and then repeated. Much more positive than a string line and beats pacing back and forth with a tape.
I suppose if I were really good I should have been able to 'eyeball' the entire job. Not with my (lack of) skills.
I just ordered a couple of rolls. There have been many times when I needed a rough measurement...but the eyeball was a little too rough. Or those times when I need one hand on each end of the roll of paper and one hand on the tape measure... I expect to find a few uses for this stuff.
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