My wife used these tape measure like devices to keep tension on the sides of quilts while quilting the piece on her long arm machine.
The vendor she got them from no longer makes them due to a patent troll.
I suggested ratch straps, but she likes the spring loaded roll up.
They are 3/4" wide nylon strap.
The vendor rivet attached the clamp. There is Velcro riveted to the tape measure body.
Has anyone seen something like this ?
Flexi Classic Tape Retractable Dog Leash, Medium, Black, 16’ ? You can probably get a few on an afternoon of yard sales. It’s a terrible idea for dogs, but a splendid idea for quilting.
https://www.petco.com/product/flexi-classic-retractable-dog-leash-in-black-mediumlarge-16-2685824
That could work. I will send it over to the work-acholic for review !
Thanks !
Not sure if these will apply enough tension, and how much adjustment you need, but a “heavy duty retractable lanyard” is what I use to hold my dust collection hose out of the way. Cheaper per unit.
Thanks. I will forward for review
Buy:
Cut the Nylon webbing into 5 or 6 foot lengths - whatever the existing ones are. Use a hot knife or a flame to melt the ends so they don’t fray.
On one end, cut with a hot knife two slots in the middle 1/3rd of the webbing parallel to the end of the webbing - one 1/2in from the end, and the other one 1in from the end.
On the other end, build up the clamp assembly as you see fit.
Set it aside for now.
Pull the tape measure out until there is only about a foot of the measurement portion of the tape left inside the body.
Secure it out so it doesn’t retract when you let it go.
Cut it with a few (4-5) inches sticking out for you to work with.
Cut away the outside edges, so there is only 1/3 of the width of the tape for 1-1/2 inches.
Sand off the paint /enamel / whatever is on this “finger” for lack of a better name.
Get the Nylon webbing and feed the finger through the two slits you made earlier. The finger should now be sticking through the farthest slit by about 1/2in.
Use the rubberized CA glue to adhere the finger to the webbing ensuring it is fully coating both surfaces.
Clamp with wax paper until cured.
Try it out and see if there is enough tension. With the spring loaded up - since you pulled most of the tape out - that’s all the tension you will get, so hopefully it is enough.
Edit: I did all the above on my phone and decided to transition to the computer to finish it up. Added pics for some of the things to give a better idea of what I was describing.
It is best to use a hot knife or heated blade to cut the webbing to keep it from fraying, and I use a soldering iron with a tip I reserve for this activity to melt holes in the webbing for rivets. I think you can get an Xacto blade holder for soldering irons, but I don’t do it enough to get one.
Another edit: I did a search for “Xacto blade soldering iron adapter” and found this: Excel Blades Electric Hot Iron & Knife Tip 30W – Micro-Mark
and this adapter only: Wall Lenk Soldering Iron Knife Blade Tip – Hardwick & Sons
Which makes me want to see if any of the soldering irons I have can accept the Xacto blade holder.
I am pretty sure you can cut the tape measure with tin snips, but I would use my Dremel and a cutoff wheel, because I have done it that way and it works well.
The Velcro can be secured to the tape measure body with epoxy if it is a hard plastic body, and the rubberized CA glue if it has the rubber over-mold. Just clean the surfaces well with 99%IPA before gluing.
Here is some Nylon webbing that has a tight flat weave and is only 1mm (0.039") thick, and comes in a bunch of colors. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832794997065.html
The rubberized CA glue I have is from the local hobby shop. I bought it for mounting RC car tires to rims. It can be picked up online all over the place as well.
Dang… I need to try this and not tell the bride.
So long as the nylon is not too thick it could work.
Thank you !
That does look fun to build, looking forward to seeing how things turn out.
As an aside, there are apparently auto-retractable ratchet straps as well. I’ve never used them personally though so I don’t know how well it compares to the feel of the traditional measuring tape spring:
Maybe interesting, maybe not 
Thanks ! It’s on the list
I was really looking forward to putting together one of the tape measure rigs but I stumbled on another potential solution in the process:
Apparently these are meant to hang tools with a reasonable counterbalance for easy accessibility?
But they’re essential compact, preload adjustable springs. A lot like what the tape spring is used for.
A wide flat bottom seems perfect for Velcro.
Plus they’re dirty cheap at only $8 a piece
BOM:
To ensure it was reasonably equivalent, I measured the pull force with a force gauge.
A 25’ tape is ~1lb pull force
A beefier 35’ tape is ~1.5lb
Whoa … That looks pretty good.
Well that’s a solid sale per the bride !
She’s says they are “pretty” also, always a good sign.
Thank you to the collective brain space on the forum.
Once again you have proved indispensable.
I appreciate all the valuable suggestions.
Thanks @HeuristicBishop ! You just solved my overhead dust collection hose support issue for a sander.
Replaced Velcro on existing units.
I realized the Velcro tab attaches to the top and back side of the long arm rails.
Waiting for Amazon to deliver next experiment.
These might work -
https://www.amazon.com/Retractable-Clothesline-Portable-Retracting-Installation/dp/B07FYR4Q55?th=1
Of that’s another cool item I’ve never seen.
Added to cart 
I just realized I don’t have the slightest notion of what a long arm machine looks like 
Glad to hear it’s working out though!
Looks like the new tensioners are a go. Thank you very much.
A long arm quite machine is used to stich patterns into a sandwich of a quit top, batting and backing material. The CFO’s machines are 10 ft ( X axis ) and 24 “throat” which becomes a 20" ( Y axis ) usable area.
The quilt is attached to the top roller , stretched over another roller then down to a third take up roller. As you finish a row, you roll the sandwich, re-establish the origin and go.
Her machines are CNC driven, but some quilts are manual done using free hand guided with or without plastic templates.
You can see the Tape measure type X axis tensioners on the near machine.
This is the current quilt on the far machine. 1" squares called a postage stamp quilt.
It is over 100" in both directions. That’s 10,000 squares, insane, seven years to make.
Squaring and stabilizing any quilt is a constant effort.
