Measuring Tape

 

As a boy I watched my grandfather use his tape measure - it has a big red button to retract the tape. 

The tape measure was recently given to me. The first foot had a lot of damage and it was hard to use. It also lacked metric markings.

When I looked for a replacement tape blade I found that The Evan's measuring tape was a well loved artifact and is even collected by enthusiasts. Replacement blades were expensive and with freight some offered prices were over $100. And none of the replacement blades were metric.

Instead I purchased a 2 metre metric tape measure with the same blade width for less than $6 from my favourite hardware warehouse. Then I transferred the measuring blade from the new tape measure to the Evan's tape measure.

For curiosity, I disassembled the Evan's tape measure and it is in perfect condition internally - no wonder people collect them.

The tape measure is now ready for another 50 years service.

I also note that the Evan's tape measure has no plastic components and  the $6 tape measure is plastic except the spring and the measuring blade.