Converting decimal inches to the nearest fraction

[Saltfever]

As a machinist I have never worked with only an integer in my entire career. Whether the dimension is 25+/-.03 mm or 1.000 +/- .001” it’s all kind of irrelevant to me. I’m always working with decimals regardless of any system. And with the popularity of cheap digital calipers I believe many HMT viewers are going down the digital path also. So this constant harangue about one system or the other is getting rather old.

The US has been metricized (one form or another) for more than 134 years! The commerce act 1886 legalized the metric system in all courts and commerce. Then a few world wars intervened. It’s not prudent to change your system of units when going to war and tremendous economic expansion after the war further disincentivized change. But in reality we are mostly metric without knowing it!

Photography, wine and spirits, medicine, US Military, have been fully metricized for more than 50 years! The last time I had a “hip flask” (1/5 pint) of whiskey was in the 60s. Nobody orders a “quart” of wine with dinner. Every kid in 8^th grade since the early 70s knows that a “key” is a kilogram of illegal drugs. All groceries are dual dimensioned and quite a few consumers now know what kg vs lb. means on a package of hamburger. Most don’t need the precision or simplicity of metrics so life will go on until economics becomes a force for change.