In article , says...

"jbm" wrote in message
...

"Rich" wrote in message
...
| No response from UK.d-i-y, so I'll try my luck here. :c)
|
| I bought a cheap open reel surveyors type tape measure, but I'm not
sure
| how to use it.
|
| Top part has a handle grip section, and at the opposite end is a
kind of
| pointer.
|
| Like this:
|
| http://bigslickdeals.com/images/cham...apemeasure.jpg
|
| One side of the tape measures in feet and inches and zero is at the
tape
| end. Other side measures in metres and cm but zero is about 32cm
from
| the end of the tape.
|
| How am I supposed to use this tape meaure. In particular, I cannot
| fathom how to use the metric side of the tape measure. .
|
| Either there is a reason that metres scale starts 32cm from the tape
end
| or it's a production fault. I just don't know.Thanks
|

Gawd. That takes me back! Haven't seen one of them like that for
years.

The reason that the metric side doesn't start at the beginning of the
tape
is so it can be used for all lengths from zero onwards, and used more
accurately. Anyone who has used surveyors tapes a lot soon find that
the
first 30cm or so always become scuffed and obliterated due to ground
drag
and accidental damage. To use it, you have to anchor the end of the
tape so
that the zero mark coincides from where you are measuring from,
sometimes a
lot easier said than done. But at least you can always read the
millimetre
As I said in my other post I automatically assumed an error because all
the tapes in the oil industry (which I was used to) both sides start at
zero having read the above I am clearly wrong!! its sounds a perfectly
good reason for doing what at first glance seems daft
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea