"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...

After 3 major measuring screw-ups this week I put 3 employees on
notice that
they had one month to learn to read a tape measure or...else. They
are 60,
55, and 45 years old. How they got through life so far is beyond me.
I
have tried to make go/no-go gauges for everything but this basic skill
is
still needed and I can't be everywhere. I know I've been down this
path
before and I'm so embarrassed that I still haven't been able to teach
this
on this level. I have yet to find instructions for tape measures. I
only
want 1/16" accuracy. Any thoughts?

I feel your pain. Can't help with the problem, but I do have a good
story that's barely related..... ;-)

Told to me by an 80 plus year old machinist --- seems many years ago he
was given a drawing with exact specifications for a very important part.
Spent a bunch of time making it just right. The part fit in a socket on
something near the ceiling in a high-tech installation. Since he'd built
the part, he was carried by crane way up to put it in. Men in white lab
coats gathered below in anticipation. But the part was a half-inch too
big and wouldn't fit in the socket. The machinist yells down to the
ground with the bad news, causing a white-coat huddle to discuss the
problem. They finally reach their decision, and holler up their plan
........ TRY IT AGAIN!

The old guy told the story a lot better than I did here, and I was in
tears when he got to the end.

Wayne