A glimmer of hope

[MiTasol]

Also, "micrometer" used as a dimension in a machine shop setting can be confusing given that the primary tool in that venue has the same name.

But ONLY in the USA where some clown/committee with the power to do so in a fit of petty bastardry (or just to prove he/they had POWER) decided to misspell all metric measurements and did not have the brains to realize that the proper spelling of metre and meter automatically indicates the nature of the subject - metre for a measurement and meter for a measuring instrument.

Obviously the same clown/committee decided that the proper spelling of Aluminium (again as used in every country except the USA) was another way to deliberately create confusion and prove how powerful he/it was.

On the other hand when it comes to total METRIC stupidity then Australia takes the cake.

The first formal thread system invented was the British Whitworth system and was a great leap forward for mass production and ease of repair.

Early on the Americans also used Whitworth but soon realized that the 47 degree thread angle was not as strong as a 60 degree thread angle and created the American National Course (ANC) threads using the British TPI for most threads but with a 60 degree angle. They also recognized that the British head sizing sucked and fixed that problem.

During WW2, with lend lease, hardware interchangeability became a massive problem and the British and Americans jointly decided to address the problem with a new thread combining all the best features of both the Whitworth and ANC systems (and the related ANF and BSF systems) and created the Unified threads in 1947. Both countries transitioned as quickly as possible.

In November 1946 (71 years ago) the Brits classified Whitworth as Inactive for new design.

By 1952 Whitworth had disappeared from the vast majority of British mass produced products.

Sixty five years later in Australia Whitworth is still the preferred thread for many people and industries and small Unified hardware such as 8-32 and 10-32 is extremely hard to find in shops. Using Whitworth in an export item is a great way to destroy an export market as anyone outside of Australia will instantly recognize because no-one outside Australia has Whitworth hardware and tools.

In 1947 Australia signed the Metre Convention making metric units legal for use in Australia, and in 1970 passed the Metric Conversion Act with the aim of making the metric system the sole system of legal measurements in Australia.

By 1974 every school in Australia was teaching metric only. This means everyone over the age of 49 was schooled exclusively in metric and those as old as 61 received some schooling in metric. Early on it was illegal to sell goods in inferial (a great word Marv) but now it is legal to use both and many companies owned or managed by troglodytes have gone backward to inferial. The next time I am in any of several large clothing shops I shall photograph a typical trouser size label INCHES in big letters and cm in a much smaller font. I do not shop in those stores any more. And no, these are house brand products, not name brand products imported from the US or UK.

But getting back to threads and other steel products.

Australia loves Whitworth so much that they have recently introduced the 13mm bolt. When you measure it up it is 100% a 1/2 inch Whitworth bolt. No other country has a 13mm bolt as a common standard, let alone one that is a 100% bulls**t size.

When Australia started to manufacture Metric bolts they decided to use the head sizes of the nearest Whitworth size bolt.

When you buy an ISO standard tool set you do not get, as an example, an 18mm spanner because an 18mm tool is not used for any International Standard metric bolt.

In Australia you must buy the 18mm spanners and sockets because Australia, unlike the real world, uses the 18 head size. Naturally when Australia exports "metric" goods that means that when the customer goes to assemble or maintain or repair the product he/she does not have the right tools in their tool kit. Another great way to destroy an export market as anyone outside of Australia will again recognize.

And then we get to tubing - I will cover that in a few days time but the Australian tube diameters are, like Whitworth, from an archaic British measurement system. I have purchased REAL metric tubing from the US for several projects recently because it is not available here. Another great way to destroy an export market.