Why Not Convert to Metric?

[Curt Harms]

Good point! although I am willing to bet the metric system would be used for any future moon landings?

Pretty safe bet, I think. China uses the metric system.

[Rod Sheridan]

Here is a question- Why do some metric socket sets skip the 16mm? I have also seen them skip the 18mm, i.e. The set has 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19...

The sets with few sockets skip 16 and 18 because they're rarely used sizes.

I have complete sets that start at 10 and go to 32 in 1mm increments.

It's the same for SAE sets, I have wrench sets in X/32" sizes, not commonly used today.....Rod

[Rod Sheridan]

There are two types of countries. Those that use the metric system and those that have put men on the moon.

Yup, and the people who put men on the moon are now metric..............Rod.

http://www.space.com/3332-nasa-finally-metric.html

[Chuck Wintle]

Pretty safe bet, I think. China uses the metric system.

I am hoping the united states will retake the lead in space exploration...and return to the moon and start a settlement.

[Wayne Lomman]

Keith, there is no need to worry. All these issues exist in Australia and forty odd years on, the old infrastructure is being maintained just fine. Costs have not gone through the roof and we have to maintain a country nearly as large as the USA with 1/10th of the population. I know this first hand from working on many power stations and road/rail bridges (to pay the bills) and in engineering shops over the past 20 years. You can still buy all the imperial tooling and fasteners etc to maintain everything.

New work is metric because now no-one wants to use imperial. The change is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. As one old timer used to say to me, "95 years from now, we will have forgotten all about it!" Cheers

[Keith Outten]

Wayne,

I'm not worried, I'm semi-retired
When I receive requests for job quotes that have drawings that use metric dimensions I no-bid those jobs. Obviously I can convert measurements but I know how risky it is to accept a large project and make a mistake and I'm not alone. For me small jobs are a nuisance and that narrows down my work options considerably.

I just bought a new Polaris Sportsman 570 ATV so I'm planning on more trail riding and even less work but I just can't quit working altogether until I'm not able.
.

[Rich Riddle]

Keith,

Besides administrating the Creek, what is your job?

[ron david]

Fuddy Duddy = Old Fart

Its true but I'm not alone

Its not you hobby guys who are the holdup converting from Imperial to Metric, its power plants, dams, huge earth moving machines, shipyards, etc, etc.
I've seen micrometers so big they had to be handled with a crane, metal lathes that are close to 75 yards long and boring mills that just fifty years ago were the largest mills in the world. Huge industries that were built on the Imperial system that cannot be changed in a century, they may never change to the metric system. They manufacture and install boilers that weigh more than a house, reactor vessels, steam generators, and pumps so large that the average person can't even imagine their size. The ships and machines will be in service for over fifty years in some cases, some machines over a century (think Hover Dam). You have to maintain the necessary equipment and expertise to be able to rebuild or replace this stuff.

Once the Imperial system takes a back seat to Metric Imperial fasteners, simple lead screws and other mechanical parts will all have to be custom made. The cost will skyrocket. In some cases it won't be feasible financially to replace the machines that are necessary to provide new parts. I know that a machinist can generally produce metric parts on an Imperial lathe but that isn't always the case. Mathematical conversions can also be very difficult as well in some types of industries and the probability of making a mistake increases.

This is a VERY BIG issue, its way more complicated than a woodworker using a 20 dollar caliper in his home shop. Even the automotive industry is minor in comparison. Have you ever used a drill bit that is so small you can't see it? They are very expensive.

everything evolves sooner or later. there are only 3 countries left in the world that still use imperial measure. most of that big equipment is now coming offshore to you.
Fuddy Duddy = Old Fart or curmudgeon.
ron

[William Adams]

Article on the Heavy Press program here: http://boingboing.net/2012/02/13/machines.html

To come full circle, the 1/8" titanium sheeting which was used in early versions of the Knew Concept fret/coping saws came from one of these presses or one of their successors.

[Curt Harms]

I just changed the oil on my F150. The drain plug was 14mm. Seems like car manufacturers made the change more than I thought.

2001 Ranger also has a 14 mm. oil plug. I can't recall finding an SAE fastener on that vehicle though there may be some.

[James White]

Thank you for sharing that! It really bolsters what Kieth was saying regarding the monumental task it really is to change over.

Article on the Heavy Press program here: http://boingboing.net/2012/02/13/machines.html

To come full circle, the 1/8" titanium sheeting which was used in early versions of the Knew Concept fret/coping saws came from one of these presses or one of their successors.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thank you for sharing that! It really bolsters what Kieth was saying regarding the monumental task it really is to change over.

It isn't a monumental job at all to change.

Modern measuring systems are being refitted to old machines all the time.

Mechanical systems such as lead screws can remain Imperial, all that changes is the drive ratios for them.

As machines become obsolete they're replaced with modern machines that are no longer Imperial.

To think you can't make an Imperial dimensioned part on a metric machine is generally not true. The standard for the inch is 25.4mm, this value is used to calibrate Imperial devices.

To not update means to be left behind, when an engine manufacturer sends out requests for quotations for pistons and the supplier comes back with the answer that they can't make a metric piston, they're out of the running. You can only turn down so much business before you go out of business.............Rod.

[ron david]

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt.
What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years - and most people didn't see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on paper film again? Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law.
So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time, before it became superior and mainstream in only a few short years. It will now happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs.
Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Welcome to the Exponential Age.
Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.
Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.
Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.
Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world.
This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.
In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs.
Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.
So if you study law, stop immediately.
There will be 90% less lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain.
Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurately than human nurses.
Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans.
In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.
Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear in public.
Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted.
You don't want to own a car anymore.
You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination.
You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving.
Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car.
It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% less cars for that.
We can transform former parking space into parks. (1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide.)
We now have one accident every 100,000 km, with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km.
That will save a million lives each year.
Most car companies might go bankrupt.
Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.
I spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.
Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper.
Their car insurance business model will disappear.
Real estate will change.
Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.
Electric cars will become mainstream until 2020.
Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run on batteries
Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact.
Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil.
The price for solar will drop so much that all coal companies will be out of business by 2025.
With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water.
Desalination now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter.
We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water.
Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.
Health: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year.
There will be companies who will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breath into it.
It then analyses 54 bio-markers that will identify nearly any disease.
It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.
3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years.
In the same time, it became 100 times faster.
All major shoe companies started 3D printing shoes.
Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports.
The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have in the past.
At the end of this year, new smart-phones will have 3D scanning possibilities.
You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home.
In China, they already 3D printed a complete 6-story office building.
By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.
Business opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself: "In the future, do you think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?
If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea.
And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed to failure in the 21st century.
Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years.
There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.
Agriculture: There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future.
Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all day in their fields.
Aeroponics will need much less water.
The first petri dish-produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow-produced veal in 2018.
Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows.
Imagine if we don't need that space anymore.
There are several startups who will bring insect protein to the market shortly.
It contains more protein than meat.
It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).
There is an app called "moodies" which can already tell in which mood you are.
Until 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying.
Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.
Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.
Longevity: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year.
Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it's 80 years.
The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year.
So we all might live for a long, long time, probably way more than 100.
Education: The cheapest smart-phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia.
By 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smartphone.
That means, everyone has the same access to world class education.

ron

[William Adams]

Here are some other numbers:

- we're currently burning 10 calories of petro-chemical energy to get 1 calorie of food energy
- the limiting element for biomass in the earth's crust is phosphorous --- look up the reserves for that and note which country has stopped exporting it
- one hard limit on industry and lifestyle is the planet's ability to radiate excess heat to space

[Pat Barry]

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees....<snip>

ron

So, lots of fluff mixed with an occasional fact. ... what does this say about the metric system and the need to convert to it??