Putting some OSB down for an attic floor and I remember it falling off my belt at one point while crawling in the low clearance area . Well now the floor is down, and I can't find my tape measure...

Pretty sure it's under the floor...

Tried a magnet on top, and a rod probing for it where I still had access, but no dice.

It was a nice 25' Stanley one too.

I can't NOT find one now. Had the same issue, and ended up with 8 or so and strategically placed throughout the house/truck/shop.

Started buying the brightly colored ones. I've lost a pink, an orange and a yellow now.

Yes, you can never have too many. When they are on sale I pick up a couple and keep them around various places.

Try working in a boatyard and having stuff fall in the water, never to return.

Just based on title I was assuming GF/wife. That's usually a safe bet when mine go missing.

"I'll just set it down here so I remember where I put it." Famous last words. I can set the tape measure down to do something, and not cover it up or move it, and STILL manage to lose it.

This power doesn't just apply to measuring implements. During the course of building a table top for my desk build (a 3 month process), I lost 3 16oz hammers. In fact, I just found the last one while I was cleaning the garage today.

We have 5-10 tape measures floating around the house, but as soon as one might be pressed into service they all scatter to the wind.

 
I have at least 5 of the 25 footers, plus the same amount of 6ft zig-zag rulers (Lufkin/Starrett)_. They are spread out everywhere in the house/garage/shed. Sometimes, a couple will end up in the same place, but this system keeps me sane.
 

It always amazes me that the dryer doesn't make more noise, because I figure all those missing tools must have fallen in there and disappeared with my socks.

It also amazes me where I'll later find the tools.

That's me at work. I always keep my tape on my right side, until I have to do a metric ton of measuring. I swear it senses it needs to work and runs away.

I know approximately where this tape measure is, to an 8'x8' area at least, but I don't really want to pull up the newly nailed down OSB to get it...

If I could narrow it down to exactly where it is, then I would undertake a recovery effort.

I have 4 of them. 3 cheap HF ones and 1 Fat Max one. They're always in the way except for when I need one. When I need one, I can never find it and I'm always asking my wife if she's seen the tape measure...

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
Putting some OSB down for an attic floor and I remember it falling off my belt at one point while crawling in the low clearance area . Well now the floor is down, and I can't find my tape measure...

Pretty sure it's under the floor...

Tried a magnet on top, and a rod probing for it where I still had access, but no dice.

It was a nice 25' Stanley one too.

Glad you are not my proctologist!

So I'm not the only one.
My wife isn't the only one who is bad at putting tools away, but she invents new places to put things, and doesn't distinguish "mine" from "hers".
OTOH she does a lot on her own that I would otherwise have to do, so who's to complain, right?
I just worry about the Festool stuff; I've given up on keeping a set of screwdrivers away from the paint-can-opening job.
Oh, and chisels used for various purposes (cutting tree roots) that leave them not only dull but chipped.
Fortunately she doesn't try using my Lie-Nielsen planes.

After reading your theead title, just be glad it's only a tape measure .

For me its, T-Squares, hex keys, etc..if you get my drift.

I found a box of 25 foot stanly fat max tapes a few years back. 3.99 plus tax each. I bought all 20. I can find one.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
I've given up on keeping a set of screwdrivers away from the paint-can-opening job.
Oh, and chisels used for various purposes (cutting tree roots) that leave them not only dull but chipped.

When we first got married, I gave her a nice Craftsman toolbox filled with everything she would ever need, and quality stuff too. I call it the sacrificial tool box. But that still does not prevent some incursion into my stuff. One thing I did was go to the local hardware store, and offer to buy a couple of dozen of those paint can openers/bottle openers that they give you with a purchase of paint. The owner just gave them to me. He buys them by the gross. They are now within easy reach virtually anywhere, and make great prying devices (as well as opening a beer bottle).
 
Thankfully I learned early on how to sharpen my own chisels and plane irons using a grinder. It is quick and easy, and with the right wheel provides an edge that needs no further work, unless you are some sort of purist. If it cuts wood well, that works for me. I don't need paper thin shavings.
 

I have four of these,
http://www.harborfreight.com/2...bs-casing-69030.html

they offer them free , on a regular basis

That would be God's way of telling you to buy a Starrett

For Christmas, my wife gave me a 25ft Lufkin "self-centering" tape measure. It came with no instructions and drove me nuts trying to figure out the second row of numbers until I finally Googled it .