Dave Ronyak
Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2007
- Messages
- 2,234
Has anyone else seen or used Festool's new steel tape measure? I have. The online FestoolUSA catalogue entry does not yet contain a photo. Seehttp://www.festoolusa.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=0&prodid=495415. This is one very slick, compact, versatile unit in my opinion. It has quickly become my favorite, replacing longtime "friends" from Stanley and Craftsman. [My Stanley tape will still get use when I need a tape that can be extended and support itself in air over several feet distance since I don't have one of those new fangled laser measuring devices.] I think this innovative Festool measuring tape is also a good "prop" to use when trying to explain to people who not familiar with Festool why Festool is different from other tool manufacturing companies and how their products provide additional value in return for their relatively higher cost of purchase.
To begin, Festool's new steel measuring tape is a 10 ft length steel tape in a black plastic case. With it you can do all the things you usually do with any other steel measuring tape. And you can do a several additional things you cannot do with any other ordinary steel measuring tape, or those offered beginning a few years ago by FastCap that are marked in both metric and Imperial units. (I have a few of these tape variants from FastCap, and like them, too, especially the flat tape with the matte finish on which I can mark with a pencil and use like a story stick.) With Festool's new steel measuring tape, you can read inside measurements without having to compensate for the length of the case in which the tape winds up - it has a plastic window on the top of the case for that purpose. The steel tape has a painted yellow background with calibration marks (mostly) in black on both sides in both metric and US (Imperial) measurements. The backside (underside) of the tape is also calibrated which is what enables reading inside measurements through the window in the top of the case; the numbering on the underside of the tape is offset from the end of the tape by the proper amount to make this possible. And the US (Imperial) measurement calibration markings also include in red numbers dimensions expressed in the way commonly used by architects when annotating their drawings of buildings with the sizes of doors and windows, e.g below/beside the 30" mark in black there also appears 2' 6" in red. Additionally, there is a plastic arm piece on the bottom that when flipped out exposes a little, sharp, tapered metal pin located exactly inch from the back edge of the case that corresponds to a grommet reinforced pencil hole offset one inch in from the zero end of the tape. These features enable a user to draw arcs and circles from about 3 inch radius all the way to 10 ft radius using just this tape and a pencil or pen, but you are likely to need a helper to hold the center pin in position when the radius is greater than your arm's reach. There is a thumb-operated mechanism to lock the tape at any length, a feature you'll use when scribing an arc or a circle. This tape will be very handy for taking measurements, especially inside a box or window or door frame, and may eliminate the need to create an "inside measurement story stick" for windows and doors if I become convinced of sufficient and reliable accuracy. It will eliminate my need to add 2 9/16 inches to any inside measurement which I used to have to do when using my old Craftsman tape, and the risk of errors in doing so.
Dave R.
To begin, Festool's new steel measuring tape is a 10 ft length steel tape in a black plastic case. With it you can do all the things you usually do with any other steel measuring tape. And you can do a several additional things you cannot do with any other ordinary steel measuring tape, or those offered beginning a few years ago by FastCap that are marked in both metric and Imperial units. (I have a few of these tape variants from FastCap, and like them, too, especially the flat tape with the matte finish on which I can mark with a pencil and use like a story stick.) With Festool's new steel measuring tape, you can read inside measurements without having to compensate for the length of the case in which the tape winds up - it has a plastic window on the top of the case for that purpose. The steel tape has a painted yellow background with calibration marks (mostly) in black on both sides in both metric and US (Imperial) measurements. The backside (underside) of the tape is also calibrated which is what enables reading inside measurements through the window in the top of the case; the numbering on the underside of the tape is offset from the end of the tape by the proper amount to make this possible. And the US (Imperial) measurement calibration markings also include in red numbers dimensions expressed in the way commonly used by architects when annotating their drawings of buildings with the sizes of doors and windows, e.g below/beside the 30" mark in black there also appears 2' 6" in red. Additionally, there is a plastic arm piece on the bottom that when flipped out exposes a little, sharp, tapered metal pin located exactly inch from the back edge of the case that corresponds to a grommet reinforced pencil hole offset one inch in from the zero end of the tape. These features enable a user to draw arcs and circles from about 3 inch radius all the way to 10 ft radius using just this tape and a pencil or pen, but you are likely to need a helper to hold the center pin in position when the radius is greater than your arm's reach. There is a thumb-operated mechanism to lock the tape at any length, a feature you'll use when scribing an arc or a circle. This tape will be very handy for taking measurements, especially inside a box or window or door frame, and may eliminate the need to create an "inside measurement story stick" for windows and doors if I become convinced of sufficient and reliable accuracy. It will eliminate my need to add 2 9/16 inches to any inside measurement which I used to have to do when using my old Craftsman tape, and the risk of errors in doing so.
Dave R.
Fred