Metric/imperial

Tom Gardner · 2007-05-25T03:43:43+00:00

Mike's post about a rifle receiver somehow started a very heated argument in my office today about the metric system vs. imperial measurements. My point being that the measuring system doesn't matter, as long as it is comunicatable and intuitive. Roger's point is that metric is so vastly superior in every way that Imperial should be abandoned and not taught in schools anymore. I say people in the US won't change and there is no NEED to change.1. Why did the USA not embrace the metric system? I remember the hoopla when I was in grade school, then it just died.2. How did the rest of the world adjust where the US couldn't/wouldn't?# I'd guess that half of us in the US, in metalworking, use metric regularly if not exclusively. I can't quite THINK in metric, almost but not quite.One of the Russian immigrant engineers I know once said: "No wonder US win Cold War, you are all brilliant...to be able to use this fu*ked-up system!"

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sk 19 years ago

Using just your eye, cut something into tenths, but cutting it into halves is easy. And if it's flexible material, just fold it into halves. My real gripe with the metric system is the size of the mm is wrong. It's too big for wood working accuracy. and too small to cut into tens and mark on a ruler. Where 1/64 of and inch is around .015 inches, I can see this with my eyes. I have several rulers where this is marked. To use a metric ruler, and to make a useful eye based measurement, you need to divide the mm by 1/3 so it could be marked and used effectively. Darn, back to bastard non multiple translations by 10's. This all could have been made simple, just define the mm to be 1/64 of an inch. This could be the new imperial metric system. Hee Hee. Ignator

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Nick Mueller 19 years ago

Get a ruler with 0.5 mm markings. No problem.

Nick

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Michael A. Terrell 19 years ago

Yes.

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Spehro Pefhany 19 years ago

I have one with 0.5mm on the top edge, and 1.0mm on the bottom. The other side has tenths of an inch and hundredths of an inch (about

0.25mm) graduations.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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Andrew VK3BFA 19 years ago

An interesting dilemma, and one I had to face when I started my machining course. I was raised on Imperial (ie, beaten into me by repetition) and I still cant "think" in Metric. But the course is in metric, all the measuring devices are in metric, and we were taught exclusively in metric. There are conversion charts on the wall if needed to match an imperial bolt,screw etc.

I have just bought a metric set of drill bits, (never needed them before, so used imperial) had to buy verniers and micrometers so went for metric - actually got an imperial micrometer at a sale, cant read the bloody thing!

Suggest you teach both, and provide formulas for conversion - half page of A4, laminated, to be carried in pocket, along with $2 calculator...

Andrew VK3BFA.

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sparky 19 years ago

One of the big things the government used to seduce Canadians into using the metric system was that all food items would be priced per KG. We all know that is total BS and everything is priced at whatever quantity is in the container, just like it was with the Imperial system. On the other hand the government was very happy to get the sales tax on another set of sockets, another set of wrenches. another set of drills, another set of taps & dies, and more yet. The only winner was the government.

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Gerald Miller 19 years ago

And flyers all show the price per pound because it looks so much better, but just try to find this number in the store - how fine a print is available to those that do show it.

Gerry :-)} London, Canada

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sk 19 years ago

So now you admit, the metric system is flawed, multiples of 10 don't work. Now fractional mm's are needed to meet human factored use.

some idiot along the way thought the base for this system should be the distance between the north and south pole of an oscillating prolate sphere.

I really don't have any problems with this base 10 system, but it fails when you don't use a physically useful incremental size. This is just as bad as asian lathes using 1/8th inch on feed screws. Ignator

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Nick Mueller 19 years ago

Honestly, do you think what you wrote is logic? At least to yourself? It doesn't matter if it isn't logic for others.

Nick

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Steve Ackman 19 years ago

So you're advocating the use of 1/2 mm markings. This sounds very fractional, and not so decimal. ;-)

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Martin H. Eastburn 19 years ago

The base ten runs 10^(+/-) 24 power with standard prefix names and is used with SI or any other units.

Dealing with .1 mm is baby talk. .01 mm is how about .001 mm (micro-meter)

I have Imperial drills and Metric drills. My Imperials are from 3/4" to #80 wire. My metrics are in .5 mm and off the top - I can't recall. As I recall it is 10mm to a small drill taking two drill boxes to do it. Hmmm - been a while since I used them.

I use the metric for metric and for stepping between fractional drill size.

Martin

Mart> sk wrote:

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Lew Hartswick 19 years ago

How about some 1/4 mm and even 1/8 mm markings? :-) ...lew...

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Roger Haar 19 years ago

HI,

The "Metric vs Imperial" debate really should be focusing on which makes the United States more competitive in the market place. IF you are making stuff for yourself, enjoy whatever system you like including cubits and fortnights. If it is only for the USA market then one can do whatever. But if you have any interest in selling internationally, you will probably not sell much if it is not made to metric spec's and metric bolts. In countries that use the metric system, imperial bolts are very hard to find.

This story is out of Toledo, Ohio and is now about 20 years old. A company had been making manufacturing equipment of some kind. There had been enough tweaks and changes that had been tacked onto the original design, the the company decided to re-engineer the product to eliminate all the kluges. They decided to go metric with the redesign. Before they re-designed the equipment they had never sold anything to Europe. Shortly after they introduced the re-designed equipment, they started to get requests from Europe. ________________

What happened to the switch to metric that started in the late 70's? Change of presidents. If the change had happened 20 years ago, most Americans under 30 would only know metric, and those under 40 would only just remember the English system.

Thanks Roger Haar

sparky wrote:

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Steve Ackman 19 years ago

I used to be able to fairly consistently measure a diameter to within +/-.002 using the 1/32 scale on a

6" rule. Always within +/-.005 but usually +/-.002.

Stick the 1/64th scale up there, and I could also do it, but it took twice as long. I think once the lines get too close together, it takes longer to "count" them than interpolating between coarser graduations... so I agree with Nick. 1/2mm might be nice, but anything finer than that would just slow me down.

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