Metric

I now make parts for different people who e-mail/fax me drawings so I can quote on them. Some parts are such that I can't tell what they are or what they're the purpose of them are. Sometimes I see dimensions as obviously imperial ones, sometime it is hard to tell, especially when I have NO clue what these parts are. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass what system is used as I work in both metric and imperial. But what seems to be the reason for the US hold-out to stay with an archaic system?

Robatoy wrote: ...

Comfort...it's what people grew up with so it's what's natural.

Ok, What ia half of 5.3 mm?

What's half of 5.3 inches?

Can you see an mark 2.65 mm?

So, six of one and half a dozen of the other... :-)

The hold-out is that the US is still at least somewhat responsive to the will of the people and the public doesn't _want_ some bizarre French system crammed down its throat.

Irrelevant if you've truly converted to metric. Just like learning a foreign language. When you've truly gotten it, you don't translate in your head, you *think* in the language in which you're speaking. No different here. 5.3mm=5.3mm. period.

1. Though a PITA, it is what we are used to.
2. Precision? The metric scales I have seen are marked in millimeters...

The Freemasons are the ones keeping the Metric system out of the US.

Larry C

One has to look at the basics for each system:

Now I ask you: which is more meaningful to the average person?

"Leon" snipped-for-privacy@swbell.dotnet wrote in news:ZLydnReSXu7cyzvXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Floating point error might have occurred.

Puckdropper

Here are the main arguments for both sides of the debate:

PRO IMPERIAL: There is absolutely no question; traditional imperial measurements are far superior for woodworking. Most wreckers use it for very good reasons:

PRO METRIC: There is absolutely no question; metric measurements are far superior for woodworking. Most woodworkers in the world use it for very good reasons:

Intuitiveness:

1. Imperial is much more intuitive and natural. Feet and inches (thumbs) have been used throughout human history as they are related to human body parts (fingers and feet). As Michelangelo said: man is the measure of all things.
2. Metric is much more intuitive and natural. Humans always use a base

Communicating measurements:

1. Imperial is easier to hear and leads to less confusion. Someone calls out a measurement for a piece of wood, & before you notice it, you cut 10mm instead of 10cm.
2. Metric is easier to hear and leads to less confusion. Quickly now, is 19/32" bigger or smaller than 5/8"? On the other hand, it is immediately obvious that 15mm is smaller than 16mm.

Ease of learning:

1. Imperial measurements are easier to learn. You don't have to memorize all those crazy prefixes: femto, nano, micro, milli, centi, deci, deka, hecto, kilo, mega, myria, giga, etc.
2. Metric measurements are easier to learn. You don't have to remember all those crazy measures like inches, hands, feet, cubits, yards, fathoms, rods, cones, chains, furlongs, cables, miles, etc.

Arithmetic:

1. Imperial uses simple fractional arithmetic which we all learned in grade school. Not like metric where you need to know all those prefixes and can easily make a mistake on your calculator & cut something 10 times too big or 10 times too small.
2. Metric uses simple decimal arithmetic where you can use your calculator directly without springing big bucks for one that calculates inches and fractions.

Division:

1. It's a lot easier to divide stuff in imperial measurements. What do you call half a millimeter? Ever try to divide 304.8mm by four? A foot is real easy - 12" divided by four is 3".
2. It's a lot easier to divide stuff in metric measurements. Ever try to divide 39 9/16 inches by four? While 1000mm divided by four readily gives 250mm.

Accuracy:

1. Imperial is more accurate. You can easily go to 1/32 which is more precise than 1mm.
2. Metric is more accurate. You can easily go to 0.5mm which is more precise than 1/32"

The REAL Reason:

1. Metric is a stupid cowardly French system. You don't want to support those smelly unwashed arrogant ingrates, do you? GOD BLESS AMERICA!
2. Inches and feet are a stupid warmongering American imperialist system. The rest of the world and all scientists use the much more rational metric system. It's about time the US gets into the 19th century, never mind the 21st! VIVE LA FRANCE!

which I think means 16oz in a lb and 16oz in a pint, but only in the US. An Imperial pint is 20 fl oz the world around.

Tim W

I assume that's tongue in cheek, 'cause if it was intended as a serious statement, it's unadulterated horseshit.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

The cost for wholesale switchover would be a huge one-time cost, while the cost for staying is paid incrementally. There isn't enough incentive to make it worthwhile in the minds of regulators.

Kind of like keyboard layout...Dvorak is 10-15% faster for a trained typist, but the cost of switching is too high to make it worth doing.

I'm in Canada, so we get everything...metric, US, and Imperial. Personally I like metric for most things, but living so close to the US it's just easier to use US units for construction/woodworking.

Chris

It was a joke

An unadulterated joke.

I meant to say Stone Cutters - a Simpsons reference but I typed quicker than I thought. The Freemasons are the guys who have all that treasure hidden somewhere in the US.