Metric v. Standard measurement usage survey / ?

[Halgeir Wold]

Maybe - if you changed your page size to metric tabloid, it would be a lot easier... ?
WHich just proves my 10c's.... we either stick to what we are used to, or adapt to what we have to.. or find other work....
Those of us who have to, are well versed in working in microns when we have to, or Angstroms or nanometers, for that matter.. mil's is really no problem either - it's just a set of convertion factors embedded in the minds of those who need them, - or want them....no problem... but plain oldfashioned stubborness is one of the excuses I'll never accept from my crew collaborators or collegues - in a professional capacity, that is ...

[rick sawyers]

Yeah I got a little carried away with the math...

[William Adams]

The metric pages in question _are_ A4 --- the problem is it's harder to make a 3-column layout w/ nice margins and have all the numbers come out even in metric than it is when using points, picas and inches. This will remain true until there are readily available rulers w/ 1/3rd cm measures.

Sure, I could spec everything in integer scaled points (1/65,535th of an inch) but only TeX users use those.

[Martin C Wells]

I use both. I have metric and inch scales and tapes and the digital height gage switches back and forth, so what's the problem ?

[Jim Becker]

I will admit that eschewing inches and fractions for metric isn't an easy transition, since the former has been beaten into my head since early childhood. That said, my shop supports both measurement scales on my largely Euro machinery and I have rules and tapes that support both, too. But I also work a lot like Rich Engelhardt mentions in post #2 of this thread...story sticks and so forth get good action in my shop for nearly all real fitting work. I have only done one project so far "completely in metric", and will likely try to do that more when the opportunity avails itself. In fact, my tack trunks may avail themselves of that quite nicely.

[Mike Henderson]

I've used both. Metric is much easier and less error prone.

Mike

[Lloyd Kerry]

I grew up with the metric system, but still do all my woodworking in imperial. When I did field work for the dept. of agriculture, I constantly had to switch back and forth between acres and hectares, kilos and pounds, etc. Made my brain pretty sharp.
All my pouches are available in either system.

[Chris Parks]

I understand exactly what you meant, but you actually wrote was arse-about-face:



Would not go back to Metric?

Actually I have gone back to Imperial, but not out of choice. I was happy with Metric when I lived in Europe, but my US tools are all calibrated in Imperial, and the supplies are all in Imperial, so it's more practical to use Imperial in the US. The key word is (un)"willingly".

I am on night shift and writing stuff at 4am leads to arse about face. If I recall correctly the auto industry wanted the US to go metric or they would do it themselves and on their own. Are all domestic cars metric? I think the US has a fairly large use of metric without realising it and this will grow over a long period of time to the point where the mandated change won't be too much of an issue. It has already started without anyone realising it, you have people in this thread who are using metric due to have machines that require it and they don't exactly hate the system.

It strikes me odd that the US on one hand led the world in a metric system (money) and those that use those that use that system daily can't see the advantage of using it in measurement. When Australia first converted to a metric money format it was hilarious as no one could figure out what anything was worth and we all mentally converted back to pounds, shillings & pence for about two weeks until we got used to it.

[scott vroom]

You mean 10 inches doesn't equal 10 millimeters?? Crap, no wonder nothing fits.

[Kevin W Johnson]

I wonder what the current cost of switching in th US would be nowadays. Roadsigns and text books alone would be immense, not only in cost of materials, but also in man hours making the switch.

[Mike Davis NC]

I mostly work in pixels at my job, I do Jacquard design and one pixel on the computer equals one crossing of threads in the cloth.

In everything else I don't care, I can use what ever is handy. I like dividers for wood working.

I remember when they first decided to change in the US. They made a fatal mistake in the process. Instead of just showing a metric stick and saying "here is a meter, it is divided into ten parts and each of those are divided into ten parts" Easy right? Well no, they had to come out with 25.4 and 2.2 and 1.9 and all kinds of crazy conversions that no child in grade school could remember. And they went home and told their parents how horrible it was and so it was over before it got started.

I taught my kids to estimate measurements when they were 3-4 years old. I would hold stuff up and ask "how long is this?" sometimes I would ask How many mm and sometimes I would ask how many inches? They learned to use either or both it doesn't matter and no conversions. If you want to know metric use a metric rule if you want to know inches use an inch ruler. keep it simple.

[Rich Engelhardt]

So, how does everyone deal with plans and stuff that use a different system?
I'm not sure I want to convert inches to mm or vice versa.
If the plans are in inches, that's what I use.
If the plans are metric, then that's what I use.

W/plywood thses days being mostly a mystery as to what it's supposed to be, then I use who knows what.
I hate to say it, but, that's one really nice thing about MDF. If it says it's 3/4", then it's 3/4". Not some undersized something or other or some mystery size.

@ Jim Becker - I have to give credit where it's due.
You're the one that got me started using story sticks and pinch sticks, etc.

[Curt Harms]

Half of 29/64ths would be 29/128ths. Simple, no?

5 and three-eighths inches divided into sixths would be 64 and one-half points.

By way of contrast, 136.525 mm divided into sixths would be ~22.754 mm and 137 mm / 6 == 22.8335 mm which are exactly the sort of thing I'm complaining about.

It drives me to distraction at work when a column gutter and two columns in a three column layout don't add up to a sensible number which can be easily communicated and used to make an ad which can be placed accurately.

My pencil lead is not that fine . 23 mm would be perfectly adequate in most non-precision (think 0.0005" tolerance) applications I think.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I use imperial, but mostly I use "tick marks".

My Starrett dial calipers have tick marks that are exactly aligned with the tick marks on the venerable PC690 depth wheel which are exactly aligned with the tick marks on my rip fence which are exactly aligned wit the tick marks on my......................

You get the point............

[Rick Thom]

So, how does everyone deal with plans and stuff that use a different system?
I'm not sure I want to convert inches to mm or vice versa.
If the plans are in inches, that's what I use.
If the plans are metric, then that's what I use.

W/plywood thses days being mostly a mystery as to what it's supposed to be, then I use who knows what.
I hate to say it, but, that's one really nice thing about MDF. If it says it's 3/4", then it's 3/4". Not some undersized something or other or some mystery size.

@ Jim Becker - I have to give credit where it's due.
You're the one that got me started using story sticks and pinch sticks, etc.

There's the nub of the issue. You design and work in metric, not imperial, and there's no conversion required.