Advantages of the metric system

[hrhofmann]

I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the w eather.

After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-si zed slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16th s and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I di dn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Ho pefully I will have learned my lesson.

[krw]

Good grief, just use 16ths (or 32nds, if you need the resolution) and stick with it. There is nothing magic about the number 10, unless you have to use your fingers to count.

[Erik]

Yes! Metric is very much easier in almost every respect... wish the US had bit the bullet and completely converted eons ago.

My only complaint is that the Celsius degree is a tad too big (a degree C = 1.8F), but I'll gladly deal with that.

One trick for toning down the math dealing when forced to deal with imperial units is to convert all the fractions to to their decimal equivalents, do the math with a calculator, then convert what ever result/s you need back to the closest suitable fraction with a decimal equivalent chart.

Such charts are easy to find & download. Here's one that has metric equivalents and tap die info as well... there are thousands of these things available...

Chart.pdf

Erik

[nestork]

The problem you had wasn't just that you were using Imperial measurements of feet and inches, you were also using fractions like

16ths, 32nds and 64ths of an inch. The metric system doesn't have fractions. In metric, all fractions become decimals, and decimals are inherently easier for calculators to crunch.

Just thank your lucky stars that you didn't have to do those calculations using Roman numerals.

It's amazing that some of the greatest engineering in history was done using Roman numberals. The buildings, aquaducts, roads, bridges and weapons of war built by the Romans were all designed and built using Roman numerals rather that the Arabic numbers we use today.

PS: One of the biggest problems with the Roman numeral system is that it had no numeral for the number "zero", and that was problematic. If, for example, a census taker noted that one farmer had no cattle, he would simply not say anything about cattle owned by that farmer, and that led to ambiguity. Anyone reading that census wouldn't know for sure if it meant the farmer had no cattle, or that the census taker simply forgot to ask that farmer about his cattle. A number for the concept of "zero" clears up that ambiguity.

[gfretwell]

The problem with using english numbers on wood products is they are increasingly being made in metric sizes That is why that, except for specialty cabinet material, 1/2" plywood is now 15/32" ... or 12MM

Your handy dandy 2x4 is not exactly 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" anymore. it is

32mmx95mm

[Fat-Dumb and Happy]

1/16 and 1/32 for a park bench? Are you sure you weren't building a piano?

[krw]

So what? Use 1/32nds, if you must. Sheets are still 48" x 96". That's usually the more important measurement. If the thickness matters, it has to be measured and it varies quite a lot. :-( If you need a tight fit (dados, etc.), it has to be measured and fit.

It's good you measure framing to the hundredth millimeter but most of us do not. 1/16th inch is good enough for most.

[Tegger]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system.

[Harry K]

Had you ever _used_ the metric system for anything you would see how ridiculous the English system is.

I lived in Germany for 6 years and did all my work in metric. Cursed our stupid system the day I got back here and am still doing it some 40 years later.

One of the stupidest arguments against going metric I heard was from a mechanic. "I won't know what wrench to use with out looking at the size marking"

"Hey, stupid you don't look at the size marking on a 9/16 now, why would you have to on an 11mm?. You just reach for "that" wrench now just as you would in mm size"

One of the big advantages of metric for mechanics is there are a lot fewer bolt/nut sizes to deal with.

Harry K

[Metspitzer]

The way to switch is to just start teaching Metric in school. Forget about teaching conversions. Most measures can be used without needing to know the English equivalent. Anytime you need to know the exact conversion, Google it.

The English system made sense when you are dealing with a few people. Just take a pail of milk and divide it in half. Take a measure of grain and divide it in half. But if you have to do that for more than a few people, the math gets hard.

I can remember trying to lay out a floor plan where the engineer used

3/16 inch = 1 foot. I had to keep one of these in my tool box. I kept one of these in my tool box in case I ever met the architect responsible.

[willshak]

But then they can't call it a tubafor.

[Straight Mann]

What's a tubafor?

[krw]

Oompah, Oompah, Oompah.

[krw]

Public schools don't teach arithmetic anymore. 2+2 is whatever makes you feel good.

[krw]

A lie.

Irrelevant.

Stupid people say stupid things.

After many years, he probably knows which wrench to reach for without looking.

Yeah, right.

[notbob]

Agree.

The other problem, is, too many Americans (Eng) have no clue of the difference between volume and weight. I can't tell you the number of times this has come up on rec.food.cooking, when ppl jes do not know the difference between fl oz and wt oz. Jes this morning I ran across a baking recipe on King Arthur Mills website. It gave a bread recipe in ounces for both flour and water, but didn't specify what measure the water was in, fluid or weight. Fortunately, it had a radio button that instantly converted the recipe to grams. It was weight for both.

If you get any higher education and take any science/eng majors, you WILL learn metric. If not, yer pretty much screwed and gotta learn it on yer own. Not good mojo.

nb

[Anonymouse]

Be careful when you sit on your bench the first time. Trex decking is not very strong.

Yes, the metric system is superior in every way.

[The Daring Dufas]

Um, could it be called a three by nine? A 3.5cm X 9.5cm could also be called, affectionately, a threesie ninesie o_O

TDD

[Dean Hoffman]

To keep the accordion player in line.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Of course he does, just like the mechanics that use metric on a regular basis. Some people are just afraid of change, but in a couple of weeks, it is just as simple, maybe more so.