A tape measure, or measuring tape, is a must-have in any toolbox. Whether you’re measuring distances before you buy new furtniture, or need it in your latest DIY projet, it’s a staple.
But have you ever noticed that the end of your measuring tape is a bit wobbly, and been worried it’s broken? If so, you aren’t the only one. And many people are only just now realising there’s an important reason all steel measuring tapes have a metal tip which moves slightly.
One DIY expert recently took to TikTok to explain why this function exists, and many DIYers had no idea. Posting on Tool Talk TV’s social mediapage, the expert urged people to “get rid” of their measuring tapes if the metal end doesn’t move.
He added: “All the ends on the end of the blade of these tape meaasures move. This is by design. So whether you’re measuring against something, or measuring away from something, that small movement in the tip allows you to get true zero.”
If it doesn’t have this clever design feature, you will “never be able to get a true zero when measuring,” he added.
And it turns out many people had no idea this was the reason. Taking to the comments section, one person said: “Thank you for that information (genuinely). I didn’t know that till now.” Another added: “Wow, all this while I thought mine is spoiled”.
Someone else commented: “Mine does it. I didnt know till i came across this clip,” while a fourth wrote: “Was shopping for a tape measure and I was looking for one that didn’t do that, cause i thought it was a flaw. Now I know.”
In a previous clip posted to TikTok, a company that make skate boarding ramps called Keen Ramps uploaded a video with “things you didn’t know about your tape measure”.
Cory Keen, a skateboarding enthusiast who has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional planning, first explained: “There’s a number on the back or the side of your tape measure. In this case it’s three and a half inches, that is exactly how big the tape measure is.”
Second, Cory pointed out that there is a hole on the end of your tape measure that actually serves a purpose – hooking it onto a nail or screw. This is useful if you have to measure across a large distance and can’t hold one side of it, so you can hook it onto something.
Another thing you can do if hook a screw or a nail so that you can “scribe a perfect radius”. Lastly, he agreed that the end of the measuring tape serves a purpose.
Cory said: “It’s actually like that on purpose. The first inch of a tape measure is not a true one inch. It’s actually 1/16th shy because the metal end of a tape measure is 1/6th of on inch.
“If you’re doing an inside measurement and you want to but that piece of metal, it’s taking that into account and not throwing off your measurement, but if you want to do an outside measurement, and you want it to pull, that 16th [of an inch] is now freed up so you can get that true measurement.”