nortos's Full Review: Stanley 30' Powerlock Tape Rule 33-430
I’ve had my own personal Stanley PowerLock 30’ Tape Measurer for over 10 years. It’s not my husbands or my sons, and it wasn’t left in error by any of the contractors who have been at my house - it’s mine, it’s clean, no paint or dried up glue and they are NOT allowed to touch it.
The Stanley PowerLock 33-430 can measure up to 30 feet 3 inches (the extra inches are in the length of the metal case and the tape measurer itself is 1 inch wide. The tape measure is yellow and has markings between each inch dividing it into 1/16 inch increments. There are 4 different line sizes between each inch mark. The longest line represents ½ inch, the next longest is the 1/8 inch mark and the shortest line represents the 1/16 inch mark.
The Tape measure also notes with a black arrow the number of feet every 12 inches with 1F, 2F, etc inside it. Once you see the arrow showing the number of feet, you will start to see numbers in red so you can see if it’s 1 feet 2”, 1 feet 4” etc. My Stanley also has a PowerLock so you can lock the measurer in place and do whatever writing down of measurements you need to do or finish making dinner. With the PowerLock you can take the measurements on your own and not have to wait until someone is not too busy to help hold the tape measurer in place! The Stanley PowerLock 33-430 is housed within a metal case and also has a belt clip on the back.
Why did I want my own personal Tape Measurer, I needed it when I had to measurer for furniture for the kitchen, the living room and dining room. I tried the cloth tape measurers but found they weren’t as accurate since they stretched or sagged in different areas.
Although it’s a little bulky, I’ve carried it in my pocketbook when going to stores to measure the furniture I might purchase there and it really wasn’t any heavier than having a couple of weeks worth of change sitting in the bottom. I bought my Stanley from Home Depot over 10 years ago and don’t remember the price I paid for it back then, however Amazon.com has them for under $15 with supersaver free shipping available.
One other thing I have done is to store my Stanley in my kitchen closet. I took one of my husbands old belts, cut off about 8 inches and screwed it lengthwise inside my kitchen closet (a thick door, not a kitchen cabinet) with 2 screws on each side of the belt. I just slip that belt clip over the belt and it stays.
Some additional information I found out about the 33-430 when searching for where you can buy it today - is on the very end of the tape measure where the metal hook is, there is a small groove on it and an oval hole. This is what Stanley calls a special Tru-Zero Hook which you can use if you hammer a nail in place and rest the oval so the nail head is in it and it allows you to pivot the tape measure to draw circles and arcs. There are also 2 other notations on the tape measure that I learned about and that are the 16” and 19.2” stud center markings for simplifying framing jobs (bet that’s something my husband didn’t even know.)
Also, if you extend the tape measure out about 6 to 10 inches – it can make a great back scratcher if no one is around (I’ve actually done this - it’s mine so I can do what I want with it). Also be careful when let the tape measure rewind, I’ve gotten a slice or two on the side of my fingers for having them too close as it was rewinding back into the metal case.
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