"Tom Wait" wrote in message
...


"Ivan Vegvary" wrote
Chris, YOU BEAT ME TO IT!! Congratulations. \
I was going to do an identical product 14 years ago, got lazy and never
followed through.
Here is my idea of highest and best use.

1) Sell to people putting up horizontal siding (clapboard). Pre-mark
tape
on 8" centers, or whatever. Staple several strips vertically from the
eave
down to the ground and install siding thereon. The beauty is that the
tape
gets buried and must be repurchased. Definitely a time saver!
2) Same idea as above but sell to roofers. Mylar is much more
dimensionally stable than roofing paper with white lines. Again, product
gets buried, leading to more sales.
3) Teach construction (housing primarily) foreman to lay out all of the
walls, doors, windows, king studs, penetrations etc. on the tape. The
carpenters in the field simply staple it to the plate and follow the
graphics. This can be done whether the plate is in-place or tipped
waiting
for a tilt-up wall. This is especially useful in tract building where
the
homes are similar.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!!!

Ivan Vegvary


I don't want to be a naysayer, but I've been a carpenter for 40+ years
doing
60% commercial 40% residential/stick building and a lot of it
remodeling/repairing. In my whole career I've never longed for a product
like this. Brick/block layers have storypoles, roofers have lines on felt
and ice/water shield, also pins on their hatchet head to gauge 5" or
whatever, as a siding applicator I put a notch on my hammer handle 8" from
the end of the handle to gauge the siding, framers have stud spacing on
their tapes, IOW there are tricks for every trade to do this job and most
of
the tricks are free or nearly so. This tape would sell to homeowners or
inexperienced craftsmen who don't know any better and tool junkies who
just
think it's cool. I am a tool junkie, and think it's cool but I've filled
up
every tool box I have and there is no more room in the shop.
Tom


Thanks for your note Tom,
Using gauges on hammers, or whatever, leads to the accumulation of error.
When doing siding one end can 'grow' at a much faster rate than the other.
It is always better to measure from a known point than to 'gauge' from the
last installed piece of siding. HOWEVER, I do defer to your vast
experience.

My thoughts (14 years ago) came from watching an experienced carpenter
install siding. Wanting to stay parallel to the eaves (not necessarily the
same as horizontal) I witnessed him walking from one end of the board to the
other constantly measuring down from the eave to keep him honest. When I
(total amateur) did a similar installation 2 years ago, not knowing any
better and not having the 'magic tape' simply hung my pocket tape from the
eave line at several places and stood up nails indicating where the tops of
the boards should be. I then simply slid each board up to the nails,
fastened it, pulled out the nail and then repeated. Much more positive than
a string line and beats pacing back and forth with a tape.

I suppose if I were really good I should have been able to 'eyeball' the
entire job. Not with my (lack of) skills.

Ivan Vegvary