On Mon, 25 Nov 2013 09:42:59 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote in
message . 3.70...
"Mike Marlow" fired this volley in
:


D'Oh! Ok - guess that proves I'm not a machinist. What happened
to
the 100 thousandth though? Wouldn't half a tenth be 50 one
hundred
thousandths?

yes, but that's not common 'jargon'.

Most machinists work to somewhere between 1 and 5 tenths (of a
thousandth
of an inch). Some work to major fractions of a 'tenth' -- half,
quarter,
whatnot... and they usually express it that way, saying stuff like,
"half
a tenth".

A very few work to less, and then they mostly discuss micro-inches.
Lloyd

The downfeed on my 1940's-vintage surface grinder is graduated in
half tenths.
jsw

I wrote that wrong. The graduations are 0.0005" apart.

Resolution accuracy