McBrownie
Well-known member
I have to admit that I do not like the term "hack". It used to mean shoddy, or half-assed work. Now it means something good, fast, and easy, I suppose. Excuse me while I tell some kids to get off of my lawn......
This was definitely fast and easy, so the term "hack" came to mind.
I really like the small Mezurall tape measures for use in the garage. They're cheap, come in 6, 8, 10, and 12 feet lengths, and you can still find vintage replacement tapes for them. They fit in your pocket easily, but tend to end up all over the place even when they have a home.
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I picked up a 12' one, thought about expanding the "parking spaces" in the tool cabinet, and had an idea for something easier and better, i think. This took less than 5 minutes to complete. So fast, I didn't even take in-process pictures.
I had some rare earth magnets with cups for use on cabinet doors, etc... Using the existing center screw in the tape measure that holds the case halves together, I mounted the rare earth magnet and cup directly to the tape measure. I did have to countersink the hole in the cup a little deeper to make room for the oval head screw, but no modifications were required for the tape measure itself.
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Now, I can stick the tape measure directly to a machine just like a refrigerator magnet. No more running back to the tool cabinet and hopefully no more lost tape measures.
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Sometimes things just fall together. Probably going to pick up a few more and mount them directly on more machines.
Now to figure out how to do the same thing with pencils......
This was definitely fast and easy, so the term "hack" came to mind.
I really like the small Mezurall tape measures for use in the garage. They're cheap, come in 6, 8, 10, and 12 feet lengths, and you can still find vintage replacement tapes for them. They fit in your pocket easily, but tend to end up all over the place even when they have a home.
View media item 97163
I picked up a 12' one, thought about expanding the "parking spaces" in the tool cabinet, and had an idea for something easier and better, i think. This took less than 5 minutes to complete. So fast, I didn't even take in-process pictures.
I had some rare earth magnets with cups for use on cabinet doors, etc... Using the existing center screw in the tape measure that holds the case halves together, I mounted the rare earth magnet and cup directly to the tape measure. I did have to countersink the hole in the cup a little deeper to make room for the oval head screw, but no modifications were required for the tape measure itself.
View media item 97159View media item 97160
Now, I can stick the tape measure directly to a machine just like a refrigerator magnet. No more running back to the tool cabinet and hopefully no more lost tape measures.
View media item 97161View media item 97162
Sometimes things just fall together. Probably going to pick up a few more and mount them directly on more machines.
Now to figure out how to do the same thing with pencils......
