A glimmer of hope

[Ed Weldon]

Metric hardware is too expensive for most home shop folks in the USA. That includes me (retired mechanical engineer) But nowadays there is a lot of metric equipment around; so some concessions to metric measuring tools and fasteners is needed. I'm in the middle of identifying all the metric stuff that isn't immediately identifiable with red color markings. Red shrink tube is especially handy for hex wrenches. Red spray paint for sized wrenches. Red nail polish on the drills (right at the junction of the helix and shank.). Metric fasteners are fairly identifiable to the experienced eye. Only used for repairs and small scale model building (where metric is pretty much a standard due to the predominance of foreign sources of model trains, etc.). The biggest metric problem for me is the shift to use of metric measurements in specs for various products of interest to engineering types. I always try to keep conversion charts handy. Metric engineering measurements are a double whammy for folks like me who trained and grew up visualizing all manner of physical phenomena in English units. Metric measurements beyond simple linear dimensions are not only less instinctive but are too often out of the range of the human scale and our innate limitations in comprehending large numbers. You get used to it; but it is still a pain to have to deal with kilowatts of mechanical power, newtons and kilopascals when searching a list of engineering specifications.
But I guess that all doesn't matter in a society where anything not on a video screen is foreign and 90% of the population couldn't manufacture a ham sandwich if their life depended on it. .............. Ed Weldon, Los Gatos, CA

[Frank S]

There is no such thing as bad weather; just bad clothing.

I might argue that having been caught out in just about every kind of weather nature can throw at me while trying to repair an oil drilling rig. Chipping 4 inch thick Ice off of some structure of a cat walk under the rig 30 ft from water below so you can mount a safety cage before you can begin to weld a broken pipe when a rouge wave slams into the rig washing you 4 other guys and all of your gear away from the rig snapping several lines of securement in the process the only thing saving all of you is the tether of the crane line Right them you could care less if the wind velocity temperature or oceanic upheaval was caused by Ms MPH, F°/C°, Nm or Ftlb your are just preying that the tether is strong enough in any measurement to hold 5 guys and give or take short or long a couple of tons of gear

[tonyfoale]

Redefining the kilogram in terms of Planck’s constant

[mklotz]

Redefining the kilogram in terms of Planck’s constant

Yes! Get rid of the last prototype. Wonderful...plus the idea of defining mass in terms of quantum mechanics ought to drive the inferial dinosaurs right over the edge.

[volodar]

"I'm afraid that peeking may be about all though. at least until manufactures of materials normally listed in gauge sizes adopt a decimal measurement system"

To change, they'd have to be "encouraged" somehow. I don't see these dinosaurs changing on their own, unless their bottom line finally suffers. Not likely in my lifetime - at seventy eight.

[volodar]

Mark, I certainly couldn't have said it any better. Congratulations on an excellent exposition.

Now, about "I live in the USA, the only industrial nation on earth that hasn't adopted the metric system". I recall having read that in addition to the USA there is one other nation with the same predicament. It is a minor nation in Africa, can't remember which. It may not qualify as an "industrial nation", however.

[Ed Weldon]

What's this "USA, the only industrial nation on earth that hasn't adopted the metric system" all about? We most certainly have adopted the metric system. In the same sense that a family can adopt more than one child we have more than one measurement system. Our laws don't mandate the use of one or the other in most parts of our economy. (good thing we've avoided that trap) Defense contracts may be an exception (I'm decades removed from any of that). The automotive industry has mostly adopted the metric system in their design engineering process for good reasons. But which system to use is seldom mandated throughout America. There would be way too many potentially disruptive changes required in laws and legal practice. It's largely up to the businesses to do what is best for them. Major change will likely take most of this century. I expect to be long dead and forgotten before 4x8 sheets of plywood are as hard to find as 2 meter sheets are today (other than Baltic/Russian birch).
A thought on this ---- As each of us adopts a personal digital profile that we can easily communicate when necessary I suspect a time will come when any point of interaction with a digital device that involves measurements will include presentation of those measurements in the system in our personal preference profile. Like you stick your debit card in the gas pump and it knows to report the amount of gasoline you receive in liters or gallons or some other measure you prefer. (like you buy around a gallon of gas and the pump display shows "26 miles" because the pump already knows what kind of car the gas is being pumped into as well as the average mileage the car has gotten in some past period of usage.
Ed Weldon

[Frank S]

You can still get 4x8 sheets of ply in other countries they just call them 122x244cm

[Toolmaker51]

A lot of mechanics, engineers of all kinds have these really neat steel rules with a sliding pocket clip on them that doubles as a measurement stop. Quality micrometers if Imperial ones usually have decimals and their fraction equivalents etched in the frame, some verniers,(nearly spelt verynears), have the same on the back of the vernier frame.
If you wish to know more about ancient measurement systems and what they were based on and why the Egyptians had common and Royal Cubits have a look here:
Ancient Celtic New Zealand
There is over twenty years worth of research that NOBODY has yet managed to refute.

For whatever reason, I land on this thread repeatedly. It is more than enjoyable; because sophistication of measure required in various work. Just as the different contributors. Its best to be aware and practice measurements in accord with project at hand. And NortonDommi's bit of wordplay (nearly spelt verynears) tickles my humor-sense every time.
Over the years, a set of conditions makes my vernier collection pretty damn extensive. Ranging from a treasured 6" to a near unwieldy 60"; meaning some are marked dual, most imperial.
The attraction?
1, all have adjustable calibration, and all but one have fine adjustment screws for the moving leg, same as a proper height gauge. Also benefit from sturdy flat and radiused anvils compared to short beveled type. A bearing ball easily tells the legs are in parallel. |O|
2, Digital instruments are commonly not so equipped, and verification [by other means] is problematic increasing with distance.
3, A vernier is practically self verifying, including less bulk and width than equivalent micrometer.
4, Known thickness shim stock detects contact, not so easily felt when those 60"s are used.
5, 1-2-3 or 4-5-6 blocks are nice perches on which to insure a fairly decent plane to surface plate to reduce sine errors, since few [any?] calipers sit flat.
6, With calculator at hand, who cares imperial or metric created the original, replacement must fit.

[mklotz]

Mark, I certainly couldn't have said it any better. Congratulations on an excellent exposition.

Now, about "I live in the USA, the only industrial nation on earth that hasn't adopted the metric system". I recall having read that in addition to the USA there is one other nation with the same predicament. It is a minor nation in Africa, can't remember which. It may not qualify as an "industrial nation", however.

The African nation you're recalling is Liberia. It, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and the USA are the only nations that don't use the metric system.

I wouldn't describe Liberia or Myanmar as "industrial", hence what I said in the quote.

BTW, my name is Marv, not Mark.