Anti-Imperial

[Ashley Burton]

Anyone else get fed up with Imperial measurements?

Not sure if it's an age thing!

 

[mike os]

You rebel you!

 

[cumbriasteve]

I am flexible either way, yesterday I cut a bit of flat bar 6.5" plus two of them mm things and it fit perfectly.

 

[brewdexta]

I'm in two minds about this, 3/8ths of me hate imperial measurements and 5/8ths doesn't care

 

[Ashley Burton]

Inches & Feet I'm fine with, But its all these fractions of an inch business!

 

[Kayos]

Bigger sizes it’s 6 foot 5 inch and 4mm often....,

I measure most things in mm, even radiators are ordered 2000mm long, imperial fractions are just another thing for me to work out wrong

 

[rtbcomp]

I'm just getting back into imperial, they're used on my lathes and drill.

I prefer mm when using CAD though because you're working with integers most of the time.

I can visualise measurements in imperial easier than metric, especially room sizes.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Anyone else get fed up with Imperial measurements?

Not sure if it's an age thing!

No. Most of us had a complete education, so are able to understand and use logical stuff like feet, inches and gallons.

 

[Cobbler]

I tend to use whatever fits the bill best, everything at work was metric, but I grew up on imperial, so happy using either. I'm the same as RTB, though it's easier to visualise sizes in feet & inches

 

[ronan]

We had a lecturer in tech, who would snap and have a really nasty rant if anyone used imperial, until several of the apprentices said they worked either on trains (made in America, so imperial) or aircraft, so again imperial. I am teaching myself to use imperial for machining, because most old bike parts are made in imperial.

 

[ronan]

I'm the same as RTB, though it's easier to visualise sizes in feet & inches

Yes, an inch-the width of your thumb, a foot-the length of your foot, a yard-the length of a mans stride.

 

[grim_d]

When machining or doing diy I prefer metric.

At work it's all imperial. (Though limits are often given in metric too if desired)

So I'm both, it takes a long time to get to grips with fractional inch after a life of metric though.

 

[mrsbruce]

No. Most of us had a complete education, so are able to understand and use logical stuff like feet, inches and gallons.

My education was definately lacking, then.

Could never understand fractions of inches, when there was a perfectly good count to ten system available (ten fingers, ten toes). Although I do find myself measuring in inches one minute, and cetipedes the next.

 

[Rob85]

Was told in school(I'm 33 btw) that EVERYTHING in engineering is metric now, so I go on to leave school and start a building studies course...happy days all metric, then I left that and started serving my apprenticeship as an aerospace fitter...the vast majority of stuff in this instance is imperial, quite a shock to the system at 17 years old when you're being asked to file something to 5 thou tolerance and you try think how many mm's is that?

 

[Dieselman 63]

I bought a 38mm brush the other day. 38mm - handy size eh? Better known as 1.5"

 

[ajlelectronics]

My education was definately lacking, then.

Could never understand fractions of inches, when there was a perfectly good count to ten system available (ten fingers, ten toes). Although I do find myself measuring in inches one minute, and cetipedes the next.

Fractions are a doddle. Divide half an inch by two 1/2" > 1/4" or by four 1/8".

Measuring centipedes must be difficult because they won't keep still. Also, do you have to multiply the result by 100 legs?

What goes 99 bonk?




A centipede with a wooden leg.

 

[ajlelectronics]

My education was definately lacking, then.

Could never understand fractions of inches, when there was a perfectly good count to ten system available (ten fingers, ten toes).

A girl I once knew was dreadful at maths. She could only count to twelve in the bath.

 

[rtcosic]

I generally prefer SI but can tolerate Imperial for simple length measurements.
But once you get into working with gallons, slugs, barrels etc I get the rats!

US units are even worse - volumes measured in acre-feet, concentrations in grains per hundred cubic feet anyone?

However I reserve my full ire for those ridiculous 'hard' conversions Dieselkid mentioned.

"Can I have 568.3 ml of Doom Bar please?"

 

[Bobtail4x4]

The building trade went metric in 1971, no one told them,

you still buy 2x4 timbers and even young lads build to inches, after a week or so.

 

[brightspark]

The building trade went metric in 1971, no one told them,

you still buy 2x4 timbers and even young lads build to inches, after a week or so.

are you American there 4x2over here americans say 2x4 a...se 1st