smorgasbord
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- Jan 7, 2022
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And to bring this back to tape measure, here's a closeup from Home Depot's site of the popular FatMax tape (recently recommended by Spencer Lewis):

What's obvious just from the shape of the tick marks is that you're supposed to read from the middle. The edges of the tick marks are tapered, getting narrower on both sides as they approach the ruler's edge. At their thickest, the tick marks themselves are about 0.022" wide (about 0.57mm), so as I've been saying, we're talking a quite a difference as compared to metal rules at 0.006" wide.
If one were to try to read to the left edge of the tick marks, one would have to decide to read at the very edge of the tick mark, as that left edge is a varying distance from the metal hook at the left. If this were intended, then the tick marks would themselves be straight on the left edge. The right edge then could be straight or could be tapered. But, tapering both edges is clear proof that the design intent is for the middle of the tick mark.
Now, maybe someone wants to argue that FastCap or some other tape measure brand has a different design intent than Stanley.

What's obvious just from the shape of the tick marks is that you're supposed to read from the middle. The edges of the tick marks are tapered, getting narrower on both sides as they approach the ruler's edge. At their thickest, the tick marks themselves are about 0.022" wide (about 0.57mm), so as I've been saying, we're talking a quite a difference as compared to metal rules at 0.006" wide.
If one were to try to read to the left edge of the tick marks, one would have to decide to read at the very edge of the tick mark, as that left edge is a varying distance from the metal hook at the left. If this were intended, then the tick marks would themselves be straight on the left edge. The right edge then could be straight or could be tapered. But, tapering both edges is clear proof that the design intent is for the middle of the tick mark.
Now, maybe someone wants to argue that FastCap or some other tape measure brand has a different design intent than Stanley.
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