I found this handy little trick, call me ignorant, I never seen this before. I am sure someone here has. But say you measure the width of a board at 4 and 3/16 inches. I would want to divide that in half in my head and measure to the center, or you could just do this, using whole numbers, what a no brainer!

 

 

I learned that trick but I use a number evenly divided by 2 for “half”, evenly divided by 3 for thirds, divided by 4 four quarters, etc. 

 

The video used 7 but I would have used 8. Either way, it works great. 

52 minutes ago, lew said:

The video used 7 but I would have used 8. Either way, it works great. 

Actually he used 6

One of the few instances that I find a tape useful. 

I had to watch it a second time because I thought he used 7 also.

After watching it again, I agree with @lew, he used 7.  This is one time that you can't mix and match the lines on the tape, start with the top edge and finish with the top edge...

25 minutes ago, Cal said:

I had to watch it a second time because I thought he used 7 also.

After watching it again, I agree with @lew, he used 7.  This is one time that you can't mix and match the lines on the tape, start with the top edge and finish with the top edge...

guys, he used the bottom edge, 6 and marks it at 3

On 4/22/2024 at 6:57 AM, John Morris said:

guys, he used the bottom edge, 6 and marks it at 3

 

My bad John, he did use the "0" and 6...

Just now, Cal said:

 

My bad John, he did use the "0" and 6...

Well we did need something to disagree on after all, we all get along so well around here it's nice to have some type of conflict now and then!

I'm an idiot. What else can I say...

8 hours ago, lew said:

I'm an idiot. What else can I say...

"Donuts in the break room for everybody"

8 hours ago, lew said:

I'm an idiot. What else can I say...

I say the same thing everyday Lew, join the club!

I simply pull the diagonals to find the centers  and a steel ruler at that....Then to test it, a combo square comes in from both edges...set to the mark on the board flip the square over to the other edge, and see IF it is the same...

6 minutes ago, steven newman said:

I simply

Steven, there's about 4 steps in that simple option!

The guy in the video just angled his tape up a bit and done.

2 steps..for this..

2 diagonals, where the lines cross, is the center point...

7 hours ago, steven newman said:

2 steps..for this..

As in his example, what if your board is 10 feet long? 4 plus inches wide? I used the diagonal too like you do for center finding in larger boards, not harassing ya Steven, just thinking it's too different applications for two different scenarios. Either way though, whatever floats our boats right!

I just realized, the title of his video should be "Finding the Middle With a Tape Measure". As in the middle of a long board. Your scenario Steven is truly finding "center" from all four corners. His scenario is finding the exact middle of the board without much mind math if the numbers are funky.

@John Morris, IMHO the method you described is both effecient and accurate.  Who could ask for more?

OTOH, in some cases, finding a center starts with picking the tallest guy or gal in the room. 

Don't  mind me. I just woke up.

Edited April 24, 20242 yr by Gene Howe

 

I just bend the tape so both ends land on the same number, then the bend marks the center — fast and no math needed. Works great for quick layout jobs.

During set construction a few weeks ago, I had to help out the manager (who by the way has a degree in math).

 

We wanted the angle on a wall to be 30 degrees.  I told him if we measure out a number of feet, then half that, you'll get 30 degrees ( sin(30) = 0.5 ).  It also works if you want to do something like a 30 degree bevel on a chisel, the polished edge should be twice the thickness.

 

Edited June 23, 2025Jun 23 by kmealy