On Apr 26, 9:34*am, 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.)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

One of the stupidest arguments against metric (surprised it hasn't
surfaced here) is:
"I'd have to look at the wrenches to get the right size." - nope, you
would do the same as now 'grab 'that size wrench'. Even as rarely as
I do nut-n-bolting' now, I still reach for a wrench 'that size' not a
"9/16".
It would be the same in metric except you would have considerably
fewer wrenches to fiddle with.

For a time to be a mechanice in the US when working on cars, a
mechanic had to maintain 3 sets of tools, US, Whitworth, Metric.

Harry K