Measuring Tape Repair by PocketBrain

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

I have an old 10-foot measuring tape that the center pin broke out off; the spring no longer retracted the metal tape. I didn't want to pitch it and have it end up in a landfill, so I whipped up this fix. It has been in my pocket daily for about a year.
I included the Autodesk 123D Design source file and three .stl files:
MeasuringTapeGuide.stl is the drilling guide you can use to make the holes needed to keep the pin from spinning.
MeasuringTapePin.stl is the part you use to fix the tape.
MeasuringTape is an all-in-one with an older version of the pin. If the top of the shaft is too big to fit through the hole drilled in the tape's case, use the straight shaft version.
If the split pin (shaft?) in your similar measuring tape breaks out and it unwinds inside, the fix:
Print this thing.
Take the case apart: there are two #1 phillips screws at the corners.
Drill out the center of where the shaft was attached with a 7/32" drill bit and directly opposite it on the other half of the case.
Push the shaft piece from the inside of the case on the half you choose to mount it to.
Fit the guide on the shaft and slide it all the way down; use a 1/8" drill bit to start two holes in the case.
Remove the two pieces and finish the holes.
Insert the split shaft part through the large hole from the outside, and match the two pips on it to the smaller holes you drilled.
Thread the tape onto the split shaft and wind it around to tighten it up. It may be best to wind it tight with the tape extended to 10'. This should allow the full use of the measure.
Put it back together; the end of the shaft should snap into the hole in the opposite half of the case.
If it doesn't retract or extend all the way, you can push it out by a little bit, so the pips clear the small drilled holes, and carefully rotate it by hand, then snap it back in place when done.
You can stuff some scraps from printing (suports, raft, etc) into the split to keep it from collapsing.
Tools:
7/32" drill bit
1/8" drill bit
Drill