In the year 1842 in Sheffield, England, the smith James Chesterman used a new process of heat treatment to redesign a wire he had designed to make mirañique skirts in a strong iron device. The 'iron measuring bands' quickly became popular among surveyors.
Previously surveyors used heavy chains to measure, but this new invention was lighter; It could be rolled up and was more compact.

In the year 1868, Alvin J Fellows received a patent for his tape measure and is the common design of today. In this patent the design included an innovative clip that kept the tape in one position and did not move until the clip was released.
In 1871 Justus Roe and Sons launched the production of cheap steel flexometers that were patented as 'Roe's electrical tape' (although they did not have anything electrical). This tool was a total success and the company developed a tape measure.

But despite the availability of metric tapes at an accessible price, it was not until the early 20th century that they supplanted the traditional wooden rules used by carpenters as a measurement tool.