Was a post I was reading recently about not being able to remember length of something just measured by the time you get to the saw. Can’t seem to find it, so I thought I would post this thread.
I started using a Fast Pad by Fast Cap about 5 months ago and really like them. Just a small round disc of plastic that you stick to the side of your tape. You can write on it with your pencil and then just wipe it off with your finger – somtimes need a little spit too.
They only cost about a quarter a piece and don’t add any bulk to the tape or require you to carry anything else in your belt.
Maybe most of you have heard of them. Was new to me, and works well. Once I saw it, I rembered an old timer I work with that used to cut pieces of white laminate and do the same thing, sticking them on with contact cement, but for a quarter – I like these.
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I like it! I usually use a small scrap of plywood that will fit in my pouch and scratch out the measurments as I cut them. When it gets full I toss it and grab another one out of the scrap pile.
This sure would be a lot easier - thanks for the tip. Now, if I can just find a local source for them.
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
I also use scraps of lumber and plywood for my notes. Gotta draw a picture if there's more than one cut...................(-:Rigid flexibility is the key to indecision.
That would be damn handy if I could remember where I left my pencil.............
Joe H
Those were mentioned in tha thread but it is worth mentioning again. They're great.
Excellence is its own reward!
I use these too. It's amazing what I can't remember from the top of the ladder to the bottom. Got a really nice 3 ring binder from FastCap full of samples of all their stuff. Stuck a rectangular shaped pad in a visible but out of the way place on my miter saw and slider. Good place to record measurements or leave good natured insults to co-workers.
http://www.fastcap.com
And I thought it was just me....HA! I think I need a really sticky version so I can stick pencils to it too. I wonder how many hours I have spent looking for pencils...Least I get to blame it on the kids! NOT!
Not sure there'd be a better value/$ than something like that...
When I was trimming houses, I'd measure all the base for an entire floor, and write the length and whether the piece was a cope left or a miter right on cardboard, plywood, whatever was at hand. I'd number the floor, number the list, then I'd go back to the saw and cut it all at once, long pieces first, shorts out of the scraps. The cut pieces got numbered on the back. There'd be no waste at all, and very little running back and forth to the saw. Then I'd go nail it all off at once.
I don't miss running base. <G>Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
You make it sound as though all the pieces FIT the first time you tried 'em................(-:Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else -- Frederic Bastiat
Pretty much....
Twenty/fifteen eyes make reading between the lines of a tape quite simple.Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
He's not kidding anyone, Boss. You mess up a couple just to keep things interesting.
Well, unless his memory is 20/15 too. ;-)
gee, i thought my method was so difficult!!
i just put a piece of masking tape on my tape measure. measure, write it on the tape, then erase or get a new piece of tape, simple, cheap
I used to do the masking tape on my tape measure. It worked great. Back then I was refacing kitchens and did a ton of masking so the tape was always handy.
Now I'm remodeling and I buy 3"x5" spiral notepads. I always have one in my shirt pocket so along with measurements I keep track of time, make notes for things I need to ask or tell subs, write down things my boss tells me, or whatever i need to remember.
I'm so glad you mentioned writing those measurements down. I thought you were going to say that you 'membered them all like a waitress I know who could get every order at the table right AND remember all our names.
Me - I've been exposed to too much kryptonite in my life to rem,ember that much.
;(.
Excellence is its own reward!
If you ever go to Providence, there's a restaraunt on Federal Hill called Angelos. There's a waiter there at lunch time who I've seen memorize an order for a table of 12 or so. He's so impressive that you don't mind the stuff he gets wrong <G>. Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
Fine dining is as much about how you are made to feel as how you are filled!.
Excellence is its own reward!
I wouldn't call Angelo's fine. Fun, yes, and good calamari at lunch, but not fine. Andy Engel, The Former Accidental Moderator
Haven't seen the sticky pads I usually write on back side of tape with pencil. A little spit on thumb and I got a eraser.
Nice going. My wife read your thread, now I have one stuck to my dash reminding me to come straight home after work.