 what the heck is the reason for the loose end or hook on my tape measure. So you may have noticed that on your tape measure that this end piece is loose. And they will, how can I get an accurate measurement if that thing is loose? Am I supposed to pull it tight or am I supposed to push it up? The answer is yes, both. The really good ones go to a lot of effort to secure that well, not tight but well, and it actually slides back and forth one sixteenth of an inch. This actual rule here is missing the last one sixteenth. This hook is one sixteenth wide. So when you put it down on the edge of a workpiece and pull it then that is separating by a sixteenth and so the edge of your board lines up with what we call true zero because this hook is not part of the measurement it's been pulled away one sixteenth. Well okay when do you when do you push it on the inside position well that's when you're measuring inside and you can't hook over something so you are pushing it against the edge of a workpiece that pushes this hook in through the edge and the hook itself is one sixteenth wide and so that makes up for the missing one sixteenth of an inch so when you push it up like that now you're measuring from the backside of the hook which is one sixteenth wide and you get the same measurement as when you're pulling it and measuring from the other side. Full round with it you'll see what I mean do not tighten that puppy down do not throw away your tape measure thinking that that's a mistake because actually you won't find any tape measure where that's not done that way the better ones like I say like this one from FastCap is secured really well with four different rivets if you're a beginner I hope you're enjoying these these videos they're designed for you remember you can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf small workshop guy signing off