News about Pipes and Drilling
It’s the age-old question: should Daylight Savings be permanent or not? Sure, we get to have an extra hour of sleep this Sunday, but that also comes with an earlier sunset. Having the sun set before dinnertime is a little silly, right?
What if a diameter tape measure could solve this problem? To be honest, it probably wouldn’t help at all, but it would be a nice promotional gift to your customers.
Are you itching for a promotion or a raise? Usually hard work pays off, but when it doesn’t, you can always resort to a little harmless bribery, right?
Okay, maybe that is not the best route to take in the business world, but a kind gesture does go a long way. Today is National Boss’s Day, so go ahead and give your boss a little gift to show your appreciation.
Need ideas? Here are a few!
– a pipe diameter tape measure with “World’s Best Boss” printed on it
– gift card to his/her favorite coffee shop
– a thoughtful basket filled with snacks & treats
It’s a worldwide debate: Imperial vs. Metric
Which side are you on? Here in the United States, we follow the imperial measuring system, which consists of inches and feet. However, most of the world follows the metric system (centimeters, meters).
For the benefit of everyone, diameter tape measures come in both metric and imperial styles, so no matter which side of the debate you are on, you can find a style on which to put your company logo.
What is the “average” diameter of a pipe? This term would come into play only if the pipe is not exactly round in cross section.
If the pipe were deformed and flattened out, what would be the diameter of it? It would have a long diameter and short diameter. So how would you determine its original diameter?
Instead of using a caliper or micrometer and doing
some kind of calculation, you can do it the easy way. Use a pipe diameter tape measure. It will easily tell you what the original, or average, diameter is. Just wrap it around the pipe, and read off the “original” or “average” outside diameter.
Next week is National Construction Appreciation Week. How can we celebrate that?
Here are 4 recent questions about diameter tape measures.
Here are my best answers:
In 2021 and still in 2022, there are widespread supply chain issues worldwide. Many products that are made in China have had 2 problems making it to the United States. First of all, is their labor problem. Covid 19 outbreaks have closed down Chinese factories at least twice since 2019. Secondly, transportation issues have been another major issue. The price of shipping has increased drastically, and the port of Los Angeles had a bottleneck issue several months ago.
All these issues have contributed to the dramatic slowdown of raw materials and
finished products. Pipe diameter tape measures are no exception. Lufkin makes the most popular one, and has shipped only a small amount of inventory in the last 12 months to its distributors. At this point, August 2022, the future of more shipments is uncertain. An alternative diameter tape is made in China, the Pi-Cobra Diameter Tape. Shipments are due in the United States shortly, but maybe not soon enough or big enough to satisfy the need of customers.
A Pipe Diameter Tape Measure is used by oil companies and Water utility companies. The oil companies are doing very well right now, due to the profitability of oil drilling. So their need for these tapes is higher than the supply. This is driving up the price of the Pi-Cobra tapes. Hopefully, this supply chain problem will soon come to an end.
July 14 is National Tape Measure Day in the United States. We don’t know who started this, but it does exist, according to NationalDayCalendar.com. A patent was obtained on July 14, 1868 by Alvin J. Fellows of New Haven Connecticut. It was for improvements in tape measures. We don’t know what the improvements were. Today’s best tape measures are a flexible steel tape in a durable metal case, with a retractable feature and a belt clip. Smaller pocket tapes are very popular, too, like the Barlow 6 foot tape measure.
The most intriguing tape is the Pipe diameter tape measure. It measures the
diameter of a round object like a tree or pipeline, when you wrap it around the circumference. It eliminates the need to divide by pi (3.14159).
Today, tape measures are so inexpensive, that it pays to have one in your tool box, tool belt, garage, vehicles, and house, and boat.
Ask any Arborist. Ask any oilfield worker. They will tell you how vital a diameter tape measure is to their jobs.
An Arborist needs to quickly determine the diameter of a tree, because he probably has to do this to another thousand trees. He uses this measurement to determine the amount of wood contained in the tree, so it can be sold for the wood content. For convenience and speed, he measures the diameter at the height of his chest. Diameter breast high (DBH) is the term used for this height. A tree diameter tape has a hook at the beginning, so the user can attach it to the bark, walk around the tree, and have the tape meet the zero mark. He reads the number on the tape, which is the diameter in inches.
An oilfield worker doesn’t need a hook on the end of his diameter tape measure.
He just cleans off the pipeline and wraps the tape around it. The answer is shown on the tape where it lines up to the zero mark. It’s important to him because he needs to know how much oil or gas the pipe can carry. Also, if a fitting needs replaced or modified, he needs to order the right size. Diameter tapes are a vital part of the oil and gas business.
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