Metrication Victory

From what I see and read, the Brit's went the route of having metric rammed down them wholesale, without regard for the fact that there were a lot of legacy uses for the old stuff. Made it difficult if not outright illegal to get and stock materials in english sizes, etc. Or at least, uneconomical for the material producers to do so. End users have to pay and pay. Not that thta is any different anywhere, mind, but it seems more the tradition there.

Canada went wholesale and enthusiastically (at least the government did) metric in the 1970's. Now they are teaching Imperial measures in school again, as there was a time when all the new engineers had to be taught what feet and inches looked like so they could deal with drawings of installations already in place. :-)

The US has laws on the books dating to the time of the US Civil war era, that make doing business in metric units legal, but it was never sucsessfully made mandatory. Economic realities are slowly making it hard to avoid the stuff in the US, as you have to be able to deal in metric sizes to fix anything on your domestic vehicles now.

Cheers Trevor Jones

On or around Wed, 09 May 2007 23:29:40 GMT, Trevor Jones enlightened us thusly:

teehee.

On or around Thu, 10 May 2007 01:59:20 +0200, Nick Mueller enlightened us thusly:

UK industry is, I think, mostly metric, these days, apart from some of the smaller niches.

Mind, I was amused to note the holesaws come in imperial sizes, nowithstanding the metric labelling on 'em.

I do remember going to a large toolshop in Glasgow after metrication came in. I really wanted some very small number drills but went prepared with the equivalent metric sizes. I asked for the number drills and got the response that they were no longer stocked because they were not metric. So I asked for the metric equivalents and was told that they didn't stock them. So I asked what was the smallest size of drill they stocked - "Sixty-fourth, sir". :-)

Jim.

I meant the people, not the industry.

That is because of those damned tubes. Even here, a 25mm tube is nearly unobtainable. All that inch-crap, that doesn't mix with the metric rectangular tubes. That always drives me crazy.

Just coming to my mind: Here, some importer sold metric lathes. The dials were 2.5mm per revolution, but the spindle was in reality 1". Close enough, the Chinese thought. :-)

Nick

thought. :-)

...ha ha - it's done deliberately Nick, just to wind you up I suspect that BSP will persist in Europe for many years.

AWEM

I have suspected about that conspiration!

They remain forever. All the installation (gas, water, s*it) is imperial. So I stay away from that as good as I can. Whenever I need something for water etc., I have to take a sample with me. Never understood what is 1" on a 1" tube. I feel I'm too stupid for that.

-> Metric is for idiots. :-)

Nick

To be fair, I'm not sure that there is a standardised metric taper thread system...

Strangely, on older designs, BSP (parallel) was quite often used for large diameter threads because, with the large diameters, it had a finer pitch than the other standard threads.

Regards Mark Rand RTFM

He didn't think it was all that funny at the time. I did, though. He phoned me at 1 in the morning to borrow a 17mm wrench and socket so he could get his truck fixed so he could make it to a business meeting the next day.

What are friends for? He had the coffee on by the time I got to his place. :-)

Cheers Trevor Jones

BSwhat??? Oh, you mean those fittings listed as G threads in catalogues now. I thought that was quite a creative way to avoid metrication - Just do away with the reference to imperial, but keep the same numbers!

moray

Believe it or not it's often easier even now to get Imperial Bar Stock than metric.

I buy a lot of 2" sq HE30 (6082-t6) the job has two other parts made from 10x20mm, and 15x40mm. Both the metric sizes have to be ordered in specially, the 2" sq is normally from stock.

It is priced per 4 metre length though LOL. and weight in Kilo's.

Same with round barstock.

Wayne....

A few days ago I saw a set of hex wrenches (allen wrench) at a machine in the plant and I noticed it had a 7 mm one in it. Generally the progression here in the US goes 2.0 2.5 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 . I didn't think much of it until I ran into an linear indexer that none of my tools fit. Yup, it was 7.0 mm.

The other day, my uncle needed a 35mm socket. I figured he ment 36mm since that is common. No, 35mm which my set has a gap that misses it.

So now I wonder what is the normal steps in sockets from say 19 mm to 36mm?

Wes

Whatever "normal" is, you can be pretty much assured that within a week or so (if not the first time you use them) you will find that the one you need is in the middle of one of the gaps. :-/

I have a VW, a Mazda, and a Chev truck. I am constantly tracking down my "other" wrench set due to a gap in the sizes. IIRC the 16mm and 18mm wrenches get used a lot in places that the sockets (which every kit seems to have) won't fit. Phooey!

Cheers Trevor Jones

My 1/2" HAZET set is: ... 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32 (where it ends).

Don't remember that I missed a size. Some look like they have never been used in more than 20 years.

Nick

In message , snipped-for-privacy@lycos.com writes

You will also need it if you want to change the front brake pads of a Saab 9-3.

It's a very common size for brake caliper slides, and is pretty much the only place you'll find them on a car.

On Sat, 12 May 2007 18:55:46 +0100, "moray" wrote, in impeccable English,..

Except for the front seats of the Saab 900, its clutch slave cylinder, and oh, the drive shaft inner joints on VW Polo, Golf, (rabbit maybe) etc

Ray

Dollars, Dimes, Cents?

Any VW CV shafts I've unbolted have been 6mm, or splined.... Can't comment on the Saab though, as I've never worked on a 900.