How To Rescue A Nicked Tape Measure Blade
A tape blade crack can be repaired in a flash with a rotary grinder or sheet metal snips.
A tape measure blade can get small cracks / cuts along the edge when it’s kinked or nicked with a knife.
Once a crack starts it’s only a matter of time before the blade snaps and spins up inside of the housing. And in the meantime the nicked edge can cut your fingers when the blade retracts. Instead of replacing the blade or getting a new tape measure, the cracked blade can be repaired in just a minute using a rotary grinder with either a sandpaper drum or abrasive stone bit. Grind a quarter-moon shaped recess in the blade to the depth of the crack. Ease the top and bottom surfaces of the recess so they aren’t sharp.
I used to cut the quarter-moon shape with metal snips — and they work just fine though the edges of the cut are very sharp.
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