Decimal, fraction or metric

[Bas]

So is no one using Biblical cubits? or hand breadths?

I wasn't going to go there, but if you want half a warhol of amusement: Strange, funny and baffling units for measuring almost anything | Pingdom

 

[bob vaughan]

My favorite little crosscut saw is graduated in Picas and points. Its a printer's saw and the typographic measurement system is a rabbit hole no woodworker wants to go down....ever.
The detent clicks on the stop are in .01383" increments.
I stuck down a segment of a left over mylar tape rule so I could at least read in inches. I figured that one day I'd put down a proper reading scale.

 

[Willemjm]

Board-meter feet of lumber? HHhhhmmm!

LOL

I use to buy lumber in m3 (cubic meters) then came over here and the first time I asked the lumber yard to give me a price per cubic meter I got a real Southern reply.

“Ya ain’t from here, ya far away from home!!!”

 

[mdbuntyn]

So is no one using Biblical cubits? or hand breadths?

I use my hand span whenever possible. I even have a board subdivided down to 6ths that I use to set dividers.

 

[tvrgeek]

My favorite little crosscut saw is graduated in Picas and points. Its a printer's saw and the typographic measurement system is a rabbit hole no woodworker wants to go down....ever.
The detent clicks on the stop are in .01383" increments.
I stuck down a segment of a left over mylar tape rule so I could at least read in inches. I figured that one day I'd put down a proper reading scale.

View attachment 203056

Points. I forgot about that one.

 

[Lhloy]

The U.S. is inching towards the metric system.

 

[Willemjm]

So here is how we calculate BF.

4/4, 8" wide 8' long = (1" x 8" x 8' x 12")/144 = 5.33bf

In Europe, that would be:

25mm boards, 25mm/1,000 x 200mm/1,000 x 2.5m = 0.0125 cubic meters

 

[RoyWarren]

I prefer decimal for figuring and fractional for measuring. In my earliest days I was a machinist and decimal was the way to go. Metric is a foreign language to me. When confronted with metric I use a Google converter and change it to decimals, then use the closest fraction.

Roy - Waxhaw, NC

 

[chris_goris]

Theyre just units, as long as you dont mix them, you can whatever suits you.

 

[Willemjm]

Theyre just units, as long as you dont mix them, you can whatever suits you.

PE exam, they mix the units in the same question.

 

[Mike Davis]

Theyre just units, as long as you dont mix them, you can whatever suits you.

You mean like 14 inches and 7 mm + 13cm and 13/64 inch?

 

[UncleJoe]

Just an informal query on preferences. We are so used to fractional but it can be a real pain. Been working more off decimal but was considering forcing myself to retrain to metric. Would have to recalibrate a "scooch" and an "***" to mm.

What are your preferences?

Enough thinking. Finished my second cup of coffee so off to the shop.

I switched to metric a while ago and I doubt I would ever go back. On the other hand, I was told there are two type of countries in the world those that use metric and the one that put a man on the moon

 

[Matt Furjanic]

I use all 3 and would prefer metric. I wish the USA would transition to metric. Having ounces to measure volume and weight is wacko. IMO.

I use all 3 also, but not because I want to. I have worldwide customers and have to conform to their system. My brain prefers inches and feet and I convert metric to decimal as that is what I was taught in school.

 

[chris_goris]

PE exam, they mix the units in the same question.

Yes I know, it is to determine if you can deal with it or not (I do it it daily myself) but, my point is, who cares which one? Theyre just numbers.

 

[Willemjm]

Yes I know, it is to determine if you can deal with it or not (I do it it daily myself) but, my point is, who cares which one? Theyre just numbers.

Not sure about the new ones, but helped my son a number of years back repair his Chevy Camaro. Front end was metric, rear end underneath was imperial, means one needs both metric and imperial tools to work on the same vehicle. I just thought that was really dumb and pretty bad Engineering.

I grew up and went through college on the metric system. The convenience of that is with even a bad memory, calculations such as stress, strain, torque, power, etc. one need not remember formulas. The units are the only thing one needs to know to figure out the formulas. For example power is force x velocity, Nm/s = watts. In imperial there is a whole lot more to remember, for example 1hp one has to move 550lbs over 12 inches for 1 second. In metric, really the only number constant one has to remember for almost all calculations is gravity at NPT being 9.81m/s2.

Getting back to the thread, everyone we deal with here in the US uses Imperial, so it is a lot easier just to talk one language.

 

[cfield60]

Several years ago I was at the Matthews Woodcraft store and asked one of the salesmen if I could see the Festool dovetail jig. His reply was that the store no longer stocked that particular item because it was calibrated in only metric increments and he could not sell a single one. I guess that may be why Festool began offering imperial measurement decals for their track saws.

 

[tvrgeek]

I switched to metric a while ago and I doubt I would ever go back. On the other hand, I was told there are two type of countries in the world those that use metric and the one that put a man on the moon

But that country is the one who missed Mars as they confused measurements!

On the other hand, a pint is just right as I can have two, but two half liters is pushing the legal limit.