Fastcap tape rulers

[Wim]

A few months ago I bought a Fastcap tape ruler. I want to keep my normal way of working so I needed a metric version and they could deliver. Beside that I have seen positive reports about Fastcap.
But at some moment the central shaft where the spring was attached to desintegrated when I was almost at the end of the tape. As an engineer I could see that the shaft material was way too britle. The old rule was true, the cheapest part of the unit caused it to fail. So I send a e-mail with some pictures of the damage to Fastcap. Next day I received an answer with excuses and a promise to replace the ruler. They have a lifelong guarantee. My pictures were send to their engineering department for evaluation.
Today I received a box from Fastcap with three (3) tape rulers, all metric.
Bottomline is that there are more companies with a Festool-style level of service. OK, Festool has no production in China so my type mishap will be less likely to happen.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

FastCap does have excellent customer service, but you must understand (or accept) the way their products are.  They seem to be hit or miss with the importance to them of keeping manufacturing costs extremely low and parts/design costs extremely low, all for efficiency.  They like to run a lean, profitable machine.  I'd venture to say that for the amount of people actually contacting them about tool failures compared to sales, it's probably such a small percentage that they don't mind sending those other couple of tapes your way -- barely affecting their profits.  That can be viewed in both a good and bad way.  Personally I would like them to put more thought and quality into their products and get a tighter quality control out of their manufacturing overseas.  I'm sure not everyone shares my feelings though.

 

[mastercabman]

FastCap does have excellent customer service, but you must understand (or accept) the way their products are.  They seem to be hit or miss with the importance to them of keeping manufacturing costs extremely low and parts/design costs extremely low, all for efficiency.  They like to run a lean, profitable machine.  I'd venture to say that for the amount of people actually contacting them about tool failures compared to sales, it's probably such a small percentage that they don't mind sending those other couple of tapes your way -- barely affecting their profits.  That can be viewed in both a good and bad way.  Personally I would like them to put more thought and quality into their products and get a tighter quality control out of their manufacturing overseas.  I'm sure not everyone shares my feelings though.

But i do! [wink]

 

[Ken Nagrod]

[thanks]

 

[Alan m]

i agree with you two ken.
i bought a chop saw hood off of them and the plastic part (most critical part that should be metal) cracked straight away. emailed them and they said it was the cold (we have the warm atlantic drift that keeps us warmer than places lower than us on the map) anyway they sent a whole new unit and a bottle of 2p10 to fixt the first one all the way over here. thats great service. sham about the lack of quality control

 

[Sparktrician]

I'd rather pay more for an item and know it's going to be 1) dead-on accurate, 2) dependable, and 3) of consistent quality all the way through than buy something extremely low-dollar and have the blasted thing quit when I'm in the middle of Bumwad, Virginia or on top of a ladder trying to mount a set of cabinets.  Frankly, having been burned a number of times by buying junk made in China, regardless of brand name, I choose to boycott anything made in China and tell the brand company that I won't buy from them so long as they manufacture crap in China.  That includes Fastcap. 

[mad]

 

[fdengel]

I actually just got one of their tapes.

1. Available in metric
2. The model I got has diamonds on the 32mm marks (nice plus)
3. The tape is one of the easiest ones I've seen to read.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

I actually just got one of their tapes.

1. Available in metric
2. The model I got has diamonds on the 32mm marks (nice plus)
3. The tape is one of the easiest ones I've seen to read.

Check out the full tape length carefully.  Look at all of the printing, make sure it's all on there and check it against a known quality standard--inside and outside measurements, because of the hook adjustability.  Just because it looks cool doesn't mean it's good.

Hope you did get a good one!

 

[RONWEN]

FastCap does have excellent customer service, but you must understand (or accept) the way their products are.  They seem to be hit or miss with the importance to them of keeping manufacturing costs extremely low and parts/design costs extremely low, all for efficiency.  They like to run a lean, profitable machine.  I'd venture to say that for the amount of people actually contacting them about tool failures compared to sales, it's probably such a small percentage that they don't mind sending those other couple of tapes your way -- barely affecting their profits.  That can be viewed in both a good and bad way.  Personally I would like them to put more thought and quality into their products and get a tighter quality control out of their manufacturing overseas.  I'm sure not everyone shares my feelings though.

But i do! [wink]

Me Too!
I have a variety of their measuring tapes -- if you stretch a few of them side by side you'll see differences in the linear dimension.  For the price I wouldn't expect Starrett quality.  As long as you work with the same tape through an entire project (don't mix them) it generally isn't a  problem, a little like using it as a story stick.  [unsure]

 

[fdengel]

I actually just got one of their tapes.

1. Available in metric
2. The model I got has diamonds on the 32mm marks (nice plus)
3. The tape is one of the easiest ones I've seen to read.

Check out the full tape length carefully.  Look at all of the printing, make sure it's all on there and check it against a known quality standard--inside and outside measurements, because of the hook adjustability.  Just because it looks cool doesn't mean it's good.

Hope you did get a good one!

Me too...

The printing is all there.  I checked the first few inches of it against a few things and it looks very close.  I don't have a general expectation of perfection in measuring from a tape measure -- this actually appears to be much closer to dead on than I would normally trust one for, so I'm happy with it at this point.

 

[JLB builders LLC]

Go to HD…hate that store around here but… and check out the Husky tapes. Life time warranty and the 16' tape I bought has metric and imperial with a 10x tougher material on it. I also like the magnetic triangle hook, it allows hooking from just about any corner(not Prostitution) or angle  [wink]

Been doing a lot of trim with it and haven't gotten frustrated yet. HD is local to most people and returns/swaps are easier than by mail.
http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tool-reviews/husky-tapes-review/

 

[rookie08]

Hey Jamie,

Went to the borg and checked out the Husky's (been using the Fastcaps for a couple of years).  Pretty impressed  [eek] and bought one to try.  Been using it for the last week or so and it's great.  Now if they could add the writing pad and the sharpener like the Fastcaps I have it would be pretty close to perfect. [big grin]

 

[JLB builders LLC]

Hey Jamie,

Went to the borg and checked out the Husky's (been using the Fastcaps for a couple of years).  Pretty impressed  [eek] and bought one to try.  Been using it for the last week or so and it's great.  Now if they could add the writing pad and the sharpener like the Fastcaps I have it would be pretty close to perfect. [big grin]

[thumbs up] Thats how I get my exercise, measure walk to the saw and then go back to measure.  [doh]

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Jamie,

I took a look at those Husky tape measures at HD today.  Those 16' tapes seem like a really good all around size.  I looked at the 25' also and those were strictly inch tapes showing 1/16th's.  The 16' tapes have either all inches or combo inches and meters showing 1/32ds for the first 12" and then 1/16ths thereafter with markings every millimeter for the metric edge of the tape.  The underside is marked in inches on all tape lengths and the numbers face the hook of the tape instead of the usual side facing numbers.

The hook seems extremely aggressive.  I'm sure it'll hold no matter what it grabs onto, magnetic or otherwise.  For that reason, I might have some reservations about using it on fine woods and furniture.  I didn't pick one up today, but I may, soon.  Thanks for letting us know about them.

 

[thiel]

Gang,

I highly recommend Tajima tape measures.  I made it my mission a few years back to find a good tape measure... and I did!

 

[SteveC]

FWIW http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2011/05/06/six-tape-measures/

 

[pugilato]

Has anyone every used the Festool Imperial/Metric tape measure?  Seems intriguing...

 

[JLB builders LLC]

Have one, not worth it…. reminds me of a tape for sewing. To tiny and flimsy

 

[thiel]

Agree with JLB.  It's a small, flimsy rule and it's hard to tell the difference between the metric and imperial scales.

 

[erock]

I have a Festool tape measure.  It collects dust in my shop.  I think I tried to use it a couple times, but it is too small for my hands.  The only good thing about it is the ability to measure for a radius.
I have a couple Fastcap tape measures and I am pleased with those.  I do like the flatback the most.