Pencils and tape measures

[Willemjm]

Am I the only one?

I have a whole drawer full of tape measures and pencils. Reason being, they tend to disappear, nowhere to be found, and then miraculously show up a few days later.

 

[danmart77]

Same experience in my shop

 

[mpholway]

That is why I have 10 tape measures though I do make sure that I use the same one on a specific project as tape measures are not as standard as we might hope.

 

[tvrgeek]

I made a holder at every machine so I can keep them handy. I don't sit on as many that way.

 

[Mike Davis]

I must have near a hundred pencils plus a few very nice mechanical pencils.
5 tapes but more than that in Starrett heavy metal rules.
I trust a rule more than a tape but depend on dividers for critical fitting.
A nice small point beats a fat pencil mark all day long.
How many dividers? Well, sometimes you just need to set a few and leave it till the project is done.

 

[ScottM]

They are like herd animals. They tend to gather together in groups and always at the opposite end of the shop from where they are needed.

 

[Oka]

I never can find my tape ...... never have one in the truck, then I sell the truck and clean it out......... hmmm... now I have 6.
Then I clean my shop and adjacent area correctly and completely.......... hmmm... now I have 18, not counting the machinist rules, 50,100 and 250ft steel tapes and 2 laser measure types. Glad I am not OCD.

What it is funny, I always seem to go back to either a Ticonderoga #2 or a marking knife, all the other things I got I only use sporadically.

One thing of note if you want one of those plastic marking pencils that you replace the lead with, getting from China is way cheap I got 5 sets with replacement leads (red,yellow and normal lead) for 12 bucks. Gave 2 away and kept 3. Cheaper than buying locally.