Heard a foreman say "measure twice, cut once is for amateurs" and it stuck with me

Guy was overseeing a big tank job in Baton Rouge. Said real pros measure three times. One for the tape. One for the scribe. One for the guy holding the other end. Tried it on a recent flange layout. Saved me from a costly screw up when I caught a half inch offset. Any of you fellas do something extra like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan_henderson133d ago

Hold up, did he say one for the tape and one for the scribe separately? In my experience, I've always just trusted the tape once and the scribe once, but maybe I'm missing something important here. How do you keep from getting confused on which measurement is which when you're doing all three?

pat_roberts552d ago

Jordan, I had the same problem when I started doing it that way. What worked for me was to write down the tape measurement first on a scrap piece of wood, then mark the scribe measurement right below it with a little dash. After I cut and fit, I check both numbers against the actual gap. I keep a small notepad in my tool belt just for this, so I don't mix them up in my head. It sounds slow at first but after a few times it becomes second nature. That way you never trust your memory over what's written down.