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#1
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Advantages of the metric system
I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather.
After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. |
#2
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Advantages of the metric system
On Fri, 4 Oct 2013 18:57:28 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather. After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. Good grief, just use 16ths (or 32nds, if you need the resolution) and stick with it. There is nothing magic about the number 10, unless you have to use your fingers to count. |
#4
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Advantages of the metric system
wrote:
On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:13:00 -0400, wrote: On Fri, 4 Oct 2013 18:57:28 -0700 (PDT), " wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather. After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. Good grief, just use 16ths (or 32nds, if you need the resolution) and stick with it. There is nothing magic about the number 10, unless you have to use your fingers to count. The problem with using english numbers on wood products is they are increasingly being made in metric sizes That is why that, except for specialty cabinet material, 1/2" plywood is now 15/32" ... or 12MM Your handy dandy 2x4 is not exactly 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" anymore. it is 32mmx95mm But then they can't call it a tubafor. -- Bill In Hamptonburgh, NY In the original Orange County. Est. 1683 To email, remove the double zeros after @ |
#5
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/05/2013 11:34 AM, willshak wrote:
But then they can't call it a tubafor. What's a tubafor? |
#6
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 11:44:48 -0400, Straight Mann
wrote: On 10/05/2013 11:34 AM, willshak wrote: But then they can't call it a tubafor. What's a tubafor? Oompah, Oompah, Oompah. |
#7
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Advantages of the metric system
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#8
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/5/13 10:44 AM, Straight Mann wrote:
On 10/05/2013 11:34 AM, willshak wrote: But then they can't call it a tubafor. What's a tubafor? To keep the accordion player in line. |
#9
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Advantages of the metric system
Straight Mann wrote:
On 10/05/2013 11:34 AM, willshak wrote: But then they can't call it a tubafor. What's a tubafor? We're not making any headway. What's a headway? Oh, about 8 pounds. |
#10
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/5/2013 3:19 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
But then they can't call it a tubafor. What's a tubafor? We're not making any headway. What's a headway? Oh, about 8 pounds. Updoc? What's updoc? .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
#11
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 11:44:48 -0400, Straight Mann
wrote: What's a tubafor? Oktoberfest |
#12
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/5/2013 11:44 AM, Straight Mann wrote:
On 10/05/2013 11:34 AM, willshak wrote: But then they can't call it a tubafor. What's a tubafor? One size less than a tubasix. Mostly used for framing walls. Some places cheap out, and use a tubatree for walls. Trailer homes, for example. .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
#13
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/5/2013 1:59 AM, wrote:
On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:13:00 -0400, wrote: On Fri, 4 Oct 2013 18:57:28 -0700 (PDT), " wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather. After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. Good grief, just use 16ths (or 32nds, if you need the resolution) and stick with it. There is nothing magic about the number 10, unless you have to use your fingers to count. The problem with using english numbers on wood products is they are increasingly being made in metric sizes That is why that, except for specialty cabinet material, 1/2" plywood is now 15/32" ... or 12MM Your handy dandy 2x4 is not exactly 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" anymore. it is 32mmx95mm Um, could it be called a three by nine? A 3.5cm X 9.5cm could also be called, affectionately, a threesie ninesie o_O TDD |
#14
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Advantages of the metric system
In article ,
" wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather. After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. Yes! Metric is very much easier in almost every respect... wish the US had bit the bullet and completely converted eons ago. My only complaint is that the Celsius degree is a tad too big (a degree C = 1.8F), but I'll gladly deal with that. One trick for toning down the math dealing when forced to deal with imperial units is to convert all the fractions to to their decimal equivalents, do the math with a calculator, then convert what ever result/s you need back to the closest suitable fraction with a decimal equivalent chart. Such charts are easy to find & download. Here's one that has metric equivalents and tap die info as well... there are thousands of these things available... http://www.imperialsupplies.com/pdf/...alent&TapDrill Chart.pdf Erik |
#15
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Advantages of the metric system
On Fri, 04 Oct 2013 20:08:45 -0700, Erik wrote:
In article , " wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather. After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. Yes! Metric is very much easier in almost every respect... wish the US had bit the bullet and completely converted eons ago. The way to switch is to just start teaching Metric in school. Forget about teaching conversions. Most measures can be used without needing to know the English equivalent. Anytime you need to know the exact conversion, Google it. The English system made sense when you are dealing with a few people. Just take a pail of milk and divide it in half. Take a measure of grain and divide it in half. But if you have to do that for more than a few people, the math gets hard. I can remember trying to lay out a floor plan where the engineer used 3/16 inch = 1 foot. I had to keep one of these in my tool box. http://goo.gl/KUgL7x I kept one of these in my tool box in case I ever met the architect responsible. http://goo.gl/xW76XK |
#16
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Advantages of the metric system
On 2013-10-05, Metspitzer wrote:
Yes! Metric is very much easier in almost every respect... wish the US had bit the bullet and completely converted eons ago. Agree. grain and divide it in half. But if you have to do that for more than a few people, the math gets hard. The other problem, is, too many Americans (Eng) have no clue of the difference between volume and weight. I can't tell you the number of times this has come up on rec.food.cooking, when ppl jes do not know the difference between fl oz and wt oz. Jes this morning I ran across a baking recipe on King Arthur Mills website. It gave a bread recipe in ounces for both flour and water, but didn't specify what measure the water was in, fluid or weight. Fortunately, it had a radio button that instantly converted the recipe to grams. It was weight for both. If you get any higher education and take any science/eng majors, you WILL learn metric. If not, yer pretty much screwed and gotta learn it on yer own. Not good mojo. nb |
#17
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Advantages of the metric system
notbob wrote in :
The other problem, is, too many Americans (Eng) have no clue of the difference between volume and weight. I can't tell you the number of times this has come up on rec.food.cooking, when ppl jes do not know the difference between fl oz and wt oz. Jes this morning I ran across a baking recipe on King Arthur Mills website. It gave a bread recipe in ounces for both flour and water, but didn't specify what measure the water was in, fluid or weight. Fortunately, it had a radio button that instantly converted the recipe to grams. It was weight for both. No, you stated that particular problem backward. The problem there is that *you* don't know something that most other Americans who cook *do* know, namely, that for cooking purposes, it doesn't matter at all whether you measure 'x' ounces of water by volume or by weight, because they're almost exactly the same. To be precise: One quart of water has a volume of 32 fluid ounces or 946 cubic centimeters. 946 cc of water has a mass of 946 grams. One pound (16 ounces weight) is 453.6 grams, so 946 cc of water weighs 946 / 453.6 = 2.08 pounds = 33.37 ounces weight. Now divide that into 32 fluid ounces volume, and you get -- drum roll, please -- 1 fluid ounce of water weighs 0.96 ounces. That's more than close enough for cooking. Nobody cares, because it doesn't matter. The ignorance on display here is yours, not everyone else's. |
#18
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 23:44:23 +0000 (UTC), Doug Miller
wrote: notbob wrote in : The other problem, is, too many Americans (Eng) have no clue of the difference between volume and weight. I can't tell you the number of times this has come up on rec.food.cooking, when ppl jes do not know the difference between fl oz and wt oz. Jes this morning I ran across a baking recipe on King Arthur Mills website. It gave a bread recipe in ounces for both flour and water, but didn't specify what measure the water was in, fluid or weight. Fortunately, it had a radio button that instantly converted the recipe to grams. It was weight for both. No, you stated that particular problem backward. The problem there is that *you* don't know something that most other Americans who cook *do* know, namely, that for cooking purposes, it doesn't matter at all whether you measure 'x' ounces of water by volume or by weight, because they're almost exactly the same. To be precise: One quart of water has a volume of 32 fluid ounces or 946 cubic centimeters. 946 cc of water has a mass of 946 grams. One pound (16 ounces weight) is 453.6 grams, so 946 cc of water weighs 946 / 453.6 = 2.08 pounds = 33.37 ounces weight. Now divide that into 32 fluid ounces volume, and you get -- drum roll, please -- 1 fluid ounce of water weighs 0.96 ounces. That's more than close enough for cooking. Nobody cares, because it doesn't matter. The ignorance on display here is yours, not everyone else's. My wife is a long time chef, so I asked her how she dealt with recipe measurements. No measurement that she has used is metric. It's pretty simple with weight vs volume. Doesn't matter if it's dry or liquid. If the recipe says teaspoon, cup, pint, quart, gallon that's the measure. Volume. If the recipe says ounces, pounds, it goes on the scale. Weight. She often weighs flour, rice, etc, and very rarely weighs fluids. In thousands of recipes she can only remember weighing a fluid a couple times. Only one she remembers was vinegar. But you're right that is sometimes doesn't matter. She said she takes shortcuts with well known recipes. Like using a scoop she knows contains close to 2 lbs of rice. Never touches the scale. |
#19
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Advantages of the metric system
On Saturday, October 5, 2013 4:44:23 PM UTC-7, Doug Miller wrote:
notbob wrote in : The other problem, is, too many Americans (Eng) have no clue of the difference between volume and weight. I can't tell you the number of times this has come up on rec.food.cooking, when ppl jes do not know the difference between fl oz and wt oz. Jes this morning I ran across a baking recipe on King Arthur Mills website. It gave a bread recipe in ounces for both flour and water, but didn't specify what measure the water was in, fluid or weight. Fortunately, it had a radio button that instantly converted the recipe to grams. It was weight for both. No, you stated that particular problem backward. The problem there is that *you* don't know something that most other Americans who cook *do* know, namely, that for cooking purposes, it doesn't matter at all whether you measure 'x' ounces of water by volume or by weight, because they're almost exactly the same. To be precise: One quart of water has a volume of 32 fluid ounces or 946 cubic centimeters. 946 cc of water has a mass of 946 grams. One pound (16 ounces weight) is 453.6 grams, so 946 cc of water weighs 946 / 453.6 = 2.08 pounds = 33.37 ounces weight. Now divide that into 32 fluid ounces volume, and you get -- drum roll, please -- 1 fluid ounce of water weighs 0.96 ounces. That's more than close enough for cooking. Nobody cares, because it doesn't matter. The ignorance on display here is yours, not everyone else's. And how close does an ounce of milk come to being "not important". It weighs more than water you know. Harry K |
#20
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Advantages of the metric system
"Erik" wrote in message ... In article , " wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather. After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. Yes! Metric is very much easier in almost every respect... wish the US had bit the bullet and completely converted eons ago. My only complaint is that the Celsius degree is a tad too big (a degree C = 1.8F), but I'll gladly deal with that. One trick for toning down the math dealing when forced to deal with imperial units is to convert all the fractions to to their decimal equivalents, do the math with a calculator, then convert what ever result/s you need back to the closest suitable fraction with a decimal equivalent chart. Such charts are easy to find & download. Here's one that has metric equivalents and tap die info as well... there are thousands of these things available... http://www.imperialsupplies.com/pdf/...alent&TapDrill Chart.pdf Erik In the UK we changed to the metric system years back. There are no significant advantages. Everything that is changed to metric sizes is always that bit smaller so you end up getting less for your money. The kids become dumb at arithmetic. There are no exact divisors for problems in tens. Eg what is a third of a metre? No answer. What is a seventh of a kilometer? No answer. Why are there 360 degrees in a circle? Why are there 2240 pounds in a ton? Why are there 1760 yards in a mile? You can blame the French and Napoleon. They even wanted a ten day week/ten month year. |
#21
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/7/2013 1:44 AM, harryagain wrote:
"Erik" wrote in message ... In article , " wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. I was tired of having to replace the painted wood slats every few years as it is exposed to the weather. After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. I got out my metric ruler and solved the problem in a matter of a few minutes. I don't know why I didn't think of that after the first few minutes of English measurements. Hopefully I will have learned my lesson. Yes! Metric is very much easier in almost every respect... wish the US had bit the bullet and completely converted eons ago. My only complaint is that the Celsius degree is a tad too big (a degree C = 1.8F), but I'll gladly deal with that. One trick for toning down the math dealing when forced to deal with imperial units is to convert all the fractions to to their decimal equivalents, do the math with a calculator, then convert what ever result/s you need back to the closest suitable fraction with a decimal equivalent chart. Such charts are easy to find & download. Here's one that has metric equivalents and tap die info as well... there are thousands of these things available... http://www.imperialsupplies.com/pdf/...alent&TapDrill Chart.pdf Erik In the UK we changed to the metric system years back. There are no significant advantages. Everything that is changed to metric sizes is always that bit smaller so you end up getting less for your money. The kids become dumb at arithmetic. There are no exact divisors for problems in tens. Eg what is a third of a metre? No answer. What is a seventh of a kilometer? No answer. Why are there 360 degrees in a circle? Why are there 2240 pounds in a ton? Why are there 1760 yards in a mile? You can blame the French and Napoleon. They even wanted a ten day week/ten month year. Back in the 1970's during the Arab Oil Embargo, service stations switched their pumps over to liters because the price in dollars overwhelmed the mechanical measuring systems which couldn't handle higher fuel prices in dollars and cents. I remember the absolute confusion among drivers when confronted by The Metric System when trying to fill their car's fuel tank. ^_^ In The U.S. we use the short ton which is 2,000 lbs, Folks will usually give a mile as 5,280 feet instead of 1760 yards. Our military has been using The Metric System for many years. I recall interviews with soldiers back during The Vietnam War where the soldiers described distances in meters rather than yards. I suppose the switch to metric in our military was necessary because of NATO. ^_^ TDD |
#22
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The problem you had wasn't just that you were using Imperial measurements of feet and inches, you were also using fractions like 16ths, 32nds and 64ths of an inch. The metric system doesn't have fractions. In metric, all fractions become decimals, and decimals are inherently easier for calculators to crunch.
Just thank your lucky stars that you didn't have to do those calculations using Roman numerals. It's amazing that some of the greatest engineering in history was done using Roman numberals. The buildings, aquaducts, roads, bridges and weapons of war built by the Romans were all designed and built using Roman numerals rather that the Arabic numbers we use today. PS: One of the biggest problems with the Roman numeral system is that it had no numeral for the number "zero", and that was problematic. If, for example, a census taker noted that one farmer had no cattle, he would simply not say anything about cattle owned by that farmer, and that led to ambiguity. Anyone reading that census wouldn't know for sure if it meant the farmer had no cattle, or that the census taker simply forgot to ask that farmer about his cattle. A number for the concept of "zero" clears up that ambiguity. Last edited by nestork : October 5th 13 at 05:09 AM |
#23
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Advantages of the metric system
1/16 and 1/32 for a park bench? Are you sure you weren't building a
piano? https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/fractions |
#24
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Advantages of the metric system
" wrote in
: After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. -- Tegger |
#25
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Advantages of the metric system
On Saturday, October 5, 2013 5:53:01 AM UTC-7, Tegger wrote:
" wrote in : After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. Tegger Had you ever _used_ the metric system for anything you would see how ridiculous the English system is. I lived in Germany for 6 years and did all my work in metric. Cursed our stupid system the day I got back here and am still doing it some 40 years later. One of the stupidest arguments against going metric I heard was from a mechanic. "I won't know what wrench to use with out looking at the size marking" "Hey, stupid you don't look at the size marking on a 9/16 now, why would you have to on an 11mm?. You just reach for "that" wrench now just as you would in mm size" One of the big advantages of metric for mechanics is there are a lot fewer bolt/nut sizes to deal with. Harry K |
#26
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 07:59:45 -0700 (PDT), Harry K
wrote: On Saturday, October 5, 2013 5:53:01 AM UTC-7, Tegger wrote: " wrote in : After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. Tegger Had you ever _used_ the metric system for anything you would see how ridiculous the English system is. A lie. I lived in Germany for 6 years and did all my work in metric. Cursed our stupid system the day I got back here and am still doing it some 40 years later. Irrelevant. One of the stupidest arguments against going metric I heard was from a mechanic. "I won't know what wrench to use with out looking at the size marking" Stupid people say stupid things. "Hey, stupid you don't look at the size marking on a 9/16 now, why would you have to on an 11mm?. You just reach for "that" wrench now just as you would in mm size" After many years, he probably knows which wrench to reach for without looking. One of the big advantages of metric for mechanics is there are a lot fewer bolt/nut sizes to deal with. Yeah, right. sheesh |
#27
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Advantages of the metric system
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#28
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/5/2013 1:00 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:47:59 -0400, wrote: "Hey, stupid you don't look at the size marking on a 9/16 now, why would you have to on an 11mm?. You just reach for "that" wrench now just as you would in mm size" After many years, he probably knows which wrench to reach for without looking. Of course he does, just like the mechanics that use metric on a regular basis. Some people are just afraid of change, but in a couple of weeks, it is just as simple, maybe more so. I imagine anyone who's been in the military would have no problem with The Metric System since the military converted to metric many years ago. Of course if any readers of the newsgroup left any of the engineering and construction corps of the military in recent years, they could tell us how things are. I wonder if there is still a 2&1/2 ton truck and 40' trailer or has everything gone metric? ^_^ TDD |
#29
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 14:00:16 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:47:59 -0400, wrote: "Hey, stupid you don't look at the size marking on a 9/16 now, why would you have to on an 11mm?. You just reach for "that" wrench now just as you would in mm size" After many years, he probably knows which wrench to reach for without looking. Of course he does, just like the mechanics that use metric on a regular basis. Some people are just afraid of change, but in a couple of weeks, it is just as simple, maybe more so. If he's done it a for a lifetime, he knows exactly which wrenches are used for each nut. Changing that isn't a couple of weeks. |
#30
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 15:49:20 -0400, wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:47:59 -0400, wrote: On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 07:59:45 -0700 (PDT), Harry K wrote: On Saturday, October 5, 2013 5:53:01 AM UTC-7, Tegger wrote: " wrote in : After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. Tegger Had you ever _used_ the metric system for anything you would see how ridiculous the English system is. A lie. I lived in Germany for 6 years and did all my work in metric. Cursed our stupid system the day I got back here and am still doing it some 40 years later. Irrelevant. One of the stupidest arguments against going metric I heard was from a mechanic. "I won't know what wrench to use with out looking at the size marking" Stupid people say stupid things. "Hey, stupid you don't look at the size marking on a 9/16 now, why would you have to on an 11mm?. You just reach for "that" wrench now just as you would in mm size" After many years, he probably knows which wrench to reach for without looking. One of the big advantages of metric for mechanics is there are a lot fewer bolt/nut sizes to deal with. Yeah, right. sheesh The real reason is we are in an international world now and fewer things will be available in "American" sizes. You can't even call it english because they converted to metric years ago. Did you have a point? Your mechanic has needed metric tools for years unless he only works on 20 year old American cars. Even most of those had significant metric content. Oh, good grief. ...and this has to do with cutting slats, how? |
#31
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Advantages of the metric system
On Saturday, October 5, 2013 12:49:20 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:47:59 -0400, wrote: On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 07:59:45 -0700 (PDT), Harry K wrote: On Saturday, October 5, 2013 5:53:01 AM UTC-7, Tegger wrote: " wrote in : After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. Tegger Had you ever _used_ the metric system for anything you would see how ridiculous the English system is. A lie. I lived in Germany for 6 years and did all my work in metric. Cursed our stupid system the day I got back here and am still doing it some 40 years later. Irrelevant. One of the stupidest arguments against going metric I heard was from a mechanic. "I won't know what wrench to use with out looking at the size marking" Stupid people say stupid things. "Hey, stupid you don't look at the size marking on a 9/16 now, why would you have to on an 11mm?. You just reach for "that" wrench now just as you would in mm size" After many years, he probably knows which wrench to reach for without looking. One of the big advantages of metric for mechanics is there are a lot fewer bolt/nut sizes to deal with. Yeah, right. sheesh The real reason is we are in an international world now and fewer things will be available in "American" sizes. You can't even call it english because they converted to metric years ago. Your mechanic has needed metric tools for years unless he only works on 20 year old American cars. Even most of those had significant metric content. Fortunately the English through out Whitworth measure at the same time. Back when a good mechanic needed 3 different sets of wrenches. Harry K |
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 12:53:01 +0000 (UTC), Tegger
wrote: " wrote in : After trying for the better part of an hour to figure out how many equal-sized slats I could get from a particular width of plank, including the scrap caused by the width of the cutting blade, I was calculating things in 16ths and 32nds of an inch and not coming out even. You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. Public schools don't teach arithmetic anymore. 2+2 is whatever makes you feel good. |
#33
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/5/2013 12:45 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 12:53:01 +0000 (UTC), Tegger wrote: You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. Public schools don't teach arithmetic anymore. 2+2 is whatever makes you feel good. As long as it's Bush's fault when you don't get the right answer? .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
#34
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Advantages of the metric system
On Sun, 06 Oct 2013 01:25:16 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote: On 10/5/2013 12:45 PM, wrote: On Sat, 5 Oct 2013 12:53:01 +0000 (UTC), Tegger wrote: You're flummoxed by a measurement system that has been used to build just about everything under the English-speaking sun for over 1,000 years? Maybe it's you and not the measurement system. Public schools don't teach arithmetic anymore. 2+2 is whatever makes you feel good. As long as it's Bush's fault when you don't get the right answer? NO, there is no "right answer" and it's Bush's fault anyway. |
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Advantages of the metric system
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Advantages of the metric system
On 10/5/2013 1:12 PM, Anonymouse wrote:
On 10/04/2013 09:57 PM, wrote: I needed to rip some Trex decking into narrow strips to replace the wooden slats in a "park" bench we have on our front porch. Be careful when you sit on your bench the first time. Trex decking is not very strong. Silly rabbit. Trex are for kids. .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
#38
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Advantages of the metric system
I thought that there had been some legislation afew years ago mandating a change over to the metric system about a 10-year period. But that seems to have died.
As an electrical engineer, I have learned to think in more than one language/metrology system. I can convert lengths pretty much in my head. But weights and volumes/measures still require me to stop and try to remember the conversion factors. The liquid oz and the volume oz still give me fits when reading something and I don't know the exact context so I don't know which the author means. |
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Advantages of the metric system
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Advantages of the metric system
In article ,
Frank wrote: On 10/5/2013 4:39 PM, wrote: I thought that there had been some legislation afew years ago mandating a change over to the metric system about a 10-year period. But that seems to have died. As an electrical engineer, I have learned to think in more than one language/metrology system. I can convert lengths pretty much in my head. But weights and volumes/measures still require me to stop and try to remember the conversion factors. The liquid oz and the volume oz still give me fits when reading something and I don't know the exact context so I don't know which the author means. As a chemist, it would have been practically impossible to work in a lab encumbered by the English system. Didn't NASA loose a Mars probe 3 or 5 years back? If I recall correctly they think they tracked it down to an incorrect english to metric conversion (or perhaps vice versa). Also pretty sure they mandated Metric (or SI) for all future projects at that time. Remember being astounded that they of all people were still piddling with imperial units... and to make matters even worse were using both! Wonder if they have any Whitworth stuff flying. Anyone remember that mess??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Whitworth (BTW, just looked, believe it or not, Snap-On still makes Whitworth combination wrenches! They're listed as 'British Standard' on their web site) Erik |
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