On Sun, 24 Apr 2016 19:57:48 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

wrote:
On Sunday, April 24, 2016 at 8:49:03 AM UTC-4, Ed Huntress wrote:


Anyway, the point is that no one here is old enough to remember the
use of "mil" for thousandths of an inch, but some of us who were
deeply involved in metalworking history have seen it used a lot in the
deep past.


--
Ed Huntress




Sorry about that, but I and Cydrome Leader both remember mil as being the same as a thousandth. We are not all as young as you.

I've been trying to figure out where I learned mil from. While I do have
an electronic-ish background, it's not really a unit you'd use when
repairing something. It's likely from an an older designer or engineer
friend.

Circular mils are still common enough when it comes to electrical guages,
such as a 500MCM cable, even though that's sort of a weird unit- "thousand
circular mils." Pretty sure that's the same as a 1/2" copper rod.


its been used a lot in miltiary parlance, generally visa vis maps and
artillery fire