Finally, a tape measure made exclusively for woodworkers! What makes this tape so special? Besides a standard inch/feet scale on the top of the tape, the bottom features a scale for surface measurements, which allow you to easily calculate board feet! Manufactured by the Rich Lumber Company of Beardstown, IL, the tape is constructed of a solid plastic material with a rubber grip along the top and rear, and it has a fairly light-weight feel to it but you can tell it is tough. It has a 7/8" wide by 16 foot long blade with 3 extra inches thrown in at the end. Nice touch that! I've used Stanley 16' Powerlock tape in my shop for years and this tape is just a bit larger but the weight is about the same.

As with most tape measures, the belt-clip is mounted on the left-hand side, which makes it practical for right-handed users but not so for you southpaws. I leave the tape clipped to my belt sometimes when taking measurements. It's like having a third hand. I guess lefties can do this too but it's probably awkward. The tape lock has a nice, solid feel to it too, and doesn't stick like some I have encountered. Of course this tape hasn't been used in my wife's garden yet, so it's hard to say how well the tape lock works in a year. I also wonder just how durable the lock is considering it is made of plastic. But then the lock on my Stanley is plastic too and it has survived thus far.

The hook is one of the unique features of the tape that makes the two-sided blade work. It extends out from not only the bottom like standard tapes but also has an extension at the top for when you flip it over to use the surface measure scale. At first glance I thought this might be a problem when recoiling the tape after a long measurement, but just like you would flip a standard tape over to recoil without catching on things, you can just flip this blade over on its side. I also found the upper extension helpful as a little handle when aligning an inch mark on a line rather than clipping the hook to the work piece.

The inch/feet scale comes with a 1/32" gradient - fine enough for precision measurments but not so much that my aged eyes can't see the marks. I checked the scale against a Starrett machinists scale and the markings are dead-on. Believe it or not I have other tapes that are off by as much as a 1/64th inch per inch!

On the underside of the blade is the surface measure scale. There are instructions for using this scale on the package and it's very easy to understand. The scale is set up for quick calculations of 8, 10, 14, and 16 foot boards but you can make simple calculations from those to figure board feet for any length board.

All in all, this is a quality tape measure with a nice feel to it and the added bonus of the surface measure/board foot scale on the back. The recoil spring is strong and smooth all the way to the hook. (Tip: be sure to always use your finger to catch the hook on recoil and avaoid letting it strike the tape body. That will stretch the holes in the hook for inside/outside hooking!) Although I have been extremely fond of my 16' Stanley (and a 25' Klein for big jobs) I find myself reaching for the Woodworker's Tape/Rule more and more even though I'm not performing board foot measurements. I just like the feel of it in my hand. And the real beauty os that the tape costs only $12.95!! You won't buy the Stanley for that! Visit Rich Lumber's www.tapeandrule.com website today and check out a couple of other great tape measures that will be available soon: the Righty/Lefty that you never have to read upside down, the Woodworkers English/Metric Tape/Rule, and the Logger's Rule.

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İFebruary 2002 Robert J Brown and Internetwoodworking.com. All rights reserved.