How do you read a tape measure?

Accuracy
Choosing a Tool

Reading a blade is a skill with a real error rate, which is why apprentices cut short and why two people read the same mark differently. The lines are simple once named: the long centre line is a half, quarters sit either side, eighths between those, and the smallest are sixteenths. A T1 Tomahawk removes the step entirely, but knowing the blade is what lets you check it.

The lines, from longest to shortest

Longest centre line is the half inch
Next longest are the quarters
Eighths sit between the quarters
Smallest lines are sixteenths
Heavy is past the line, light is short

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Between any two inch marks the smallest lines are sixteenths. The longest line in the middle is a half, the next longest are quarters at a quarter and three quarters, and eighths sit between those. Heavy means just past a line, light means just short of it. Once you can name the lines, a reading is just counting to the nearest one.