"Raymond J. Johnson, Jr." wrote in message
...
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
Steve Barker wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:
9/10???? Where the hell is that on your fractional ruler? See, you're
lapsing into the metric system without even realizing it. Must've
been something you ate.
actually there are dozens of tapes in tenths. Can't hardly do stair
stringers without one.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Survey/Me...825IE#features

steve
Ah, thanks for the info. And that's more proof that metric is easier
than fractions.

In the machine shop, everything is thousandths, even if it has a
fractional equivalent. So 3/8" is "375." So it's metric, it's just inch
metric instead of millimeter metric.
I thought something like .375 inch was called "decimal equivalent"?
I'm no expert machinist although I've repaired some CNC machinery.

TDD

Sure, .375 *is* the decimal equivalent of 3/8", but the point is, as soon
as you walk into the shop, 3/8 becomes 375. Not "point three seven five"
or even "three hundred and seventy five thousandths," but just "three
seventy five." You hear fractions sometimes, sure, but it's far more
common to speak in thousandths.

Above an inch, fractional references are even more rare. 1 1/4" is called
"an inch two fifty." The exceptions would be stock (material) sizes which
are still called out as fractional, and drill sizes which are usually
referred to by letter, number, or fraction. But everyone knows the common
ones, like a #7 drill is .201 and a #F is .257
(tap drill and clearance drill, respectively, for a 1/4" screw.)

And .0001" is referred to as "one tenth," which sort scuttles your theory.

Not really. I think the poster is indicating that the common 'speak' is to
say everything in 'thousandths'. So a tenth is simply a tenth of a
'thousandth'.
Finish carpentry (house construction, trim work) is often reduced down to
eights of an inch. So one would yell to the guy at the chop saw "cut me 37
and three". Meaning 37 and three eights of an inch. If they need a finer
increment (sixteenths) it becomes "cut me 37 and three large (or small).

Again the above usages are simply crutches to make our poorly cobbled
together system workable.

Ivan Vegvary