"Ivan Vegvary" wrote in message
news:hMjHi.1854$fz2.67@trndny03...

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"Ivan Vegvary" wrote in message
news:4hcHi.1822$fz2.1760@trndny03...

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

When it comes to measurement, the advantages of metrics are illusory.

--
Ed Huntress


Ed, could you please explain the above so I can understand.

Thanks,

Ivan Vegvary

Sure. If you're doing a calculation involving, say, force, volume, and
mass, metrics usually (but not always) make your work easier. If you're
measuring the diameter of a crankshaft journal, metrics provide no
advantage whatsoever.

Most manufactured metal parts can be measured in inches; we don't get
involved with feet, yards, etc., and the rest of the red herrings that
the pro-metrics folks toss into the discussion. It's mostly inches and
decimal inches.

So the units don't matter. Mathematically, we handle them the same,
whether they're inch or metric. And most of the occasions we have in
manufacturing to use inch (or Imperial) units versus metric ones are
cases of linear measurement.

--
Ed Huntress

Ed, thanks for the insight. I do agree that most machining can be done in
inches and decimal parts thereof. However, at some point you still have
to reach for a drill and get involved with fractions and letter
designations. That part of the process could use some improvement. Why
don't they simply make/package drills in decimal inches?

Ivan Vegvary

Actually, they do, if you're buying in quantity and you buy from somebody
who supplies volume manufacturers. But the answer to your question is that
it's one of those old traditions that are hard to break.

--
Ed Huntress