Ed Huntress wrote:

I got one of those Stanley FatMax TLM 100 laser measures for Christmas, and
I've started to calibrate it. So far I've tested it at 3 ft., 6 ft., and 10
ft. It's consistently reading within +/- 1/16 in. versus my 30 ft. Stanley
Leverlock steel tape.

I tested mine the same way out to the full 30' on my Powerlock and it
was dead on at every random point I tested it at.


Has anyone else tested one? I'm very interested to see what results others
are getting. As soon as I get a chance I'm going to check it at 100 ft. on
the floor of a basketball court, to avoid big cosine errors with the tape. I
have three Stanley 100 ft. tapes of different vintages, and I'm interested,
also, to see how they read against each other.

So far this TLM 100 has been very useful and easy to use. I'm startled to
see how accurate it is. Stanley only guarantees it to +/- 1/4 in. My gut
feeling is that it's the same basic innards as the more expensive versions
(mine was $99), but that Stanley either de-rates this one to encourage sales
of the more expensive models, or else they don't test the cheap version and
leave the extra margin for manufacturing variations. If so, I got lucky.

If you look in the back you'll note the indications that it uses Leica
Swiss technology, and is made in Austria. Basically it's the little
brother to the big 600' range lasers, in a more compact package, limited
to 100' and a whole lot cheaper. Great little unit. Harbor Freight seems
to be carrying it for $89.