Imperial V Metric

[Grahamshed]

It is interesting ( but not surprising ) to see on another thread how many people still work or think in imperial measurements........
But how many still think in, or convert to, LSD ?

I do it sometimes just to shock myself

 

[bugbear]

I invariably work in cicéros.

BugBear

 

[mind_the_goat]

I was born in the 60's so just missed out on the LSD experience

I believe I was in the first year at infant school where metric was taught, and hence never quite got to grips with feet and inches. I believe now the metrication battle has reached a stand-off, and both systems are taught in schools.

 

[RogerP]

I work quite happily with metric measurements but I have to admit that I really think in inches, feet, yards and miles. I'm past the three score and ten so was schooled in imperial and worked with it for many years before metric started to take over in the UK.

It's stuck in the old grey cells

 

[RogerP]

......... and both systems are taught in schools.

Not in the school I worked in for many years - metric only. BUT if you asked a pupil their height nine times out of ten they'd give it in feet and inches! For the boys something special about reaching 6 feet tall rather than 1.8288 metres.

 

[Baldhead]

I'm a child of the 60's (just, born February 1960) so I can remember 'old money' as they say, TBH I have only just come to grips with metric measurements, I always thought in feet and inches, sometimes I revert back to inches, infact I have just bought a set of router bushes in imperial sizes, they are to use with a jig I will make from a fellow woodworker in the States.
FWIW I still refer to sheets of ply as 8x4, has a better ring to it than 2400x1200!!!

Baldhead

 

[wellywood]

I was at Tech when they changed to the SI (metric) system. Then I started to work in the oil/gas pipeline industry where pipe sizes were and generally still are given in inches. I don't have any problem with either system.

 

[Jonzjob]

How many cm in 1 cicero? The answer is 0.451166667373.

So that would make it about 5 centimentals long, or wide if you look at it another way?

I tend to work in metriperial. It don't arf confuse the Fench :mrgreen: A good example of that is yer car tyre, which could be 16 inch diameter by 215 centithingies wide.

A mate of mine went into a wood yard some years back and asked for some 10 foot planking. He was told that he would have to have metrique sizes. No problem said he, how much is it? The reply was 20 pence a foot. The truth..

 

[Vic Perrin]

How many cm in 1 cicero? The answer is 0.451166667373.

So that would make it about 5 centimentals long, or wide if you look at it another way?

I tend to work in metriperial. It don't arf confuse the Fench :mrgreen: A good example of that is yer car tyre, which could be 16 inch diameter by 215 centithingies wide.

A mate of mine went into a wood yard some years back and asked for some 10 foot planking. He was told that he would have to have metrique sizes. No problem said he, how much is it? The reply was 20 pence a foot. The truth..

I work pretty much the same as jonzjob in Metriperial and end up with measurements like 8"2 mm

 

[bugbear]

I estimate in imperial, and measure and calculate in metric.

BugBear

 

[mseries]

No, I have no real experience of Pounds, Shillings and Pence. I remember when decimalisation came into force but I was so young I had no need for money.

I have no issue with metric and imperial measurements. Weights, volumes and to some degree temperature though are a different story, due to me not having as much experience with them,

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I'm definitely of the metric era - I can just remember my mum and grandma moaning about decimalisation of money - but feel happy with either. Like wellywood, I think it is best to go with what is natural - when making a door, the size needed actually is 80x32x1 3/4". Ok you could convert it to approximately 2032x813x45 - but it is easiest (and exact) to stick with the imperial.

The other weekend I was surprised when I asked a friend, who has quite a few years on me, if he had a 3/8" drill to hand. I had to convert to metric for him ! See what a career in science can do to you.

 

[MMUK]

I invariably work in cicéros.

BugBear

You can't do that!

Oh Nay! Nay! And thrice Nay! :mrgreen:

 

[PhillyDee]

Being a child of the 80's I was only taught metric. However, I also work in metriperial as above, picking the closest or most accurate part of the tape measure depending what it says.

My real job is working in manufacturing on CNC lathes/mills/borers etc. My current job - Working a large multi axis machine that both turns and mills for the oil and gas industry manufacturing valves and components for. My machine is 100% metric, but all the drawings are in imperial (Oil and gas is always imperial for most sizes, though threads are a mix of both UNC and M) so convert one to the other daily.

 

[DTR]

I was brought up well into the metric era, but although I can happily use either system I tend to use imperial. It depends on the context; my Myford lathe is calibrated in thous so I generally use imperial for metalworking. In woodworking I shy away from numbers altogether and use direct measurements using gauges, dividers etc

 

[Sawyer]

I invariably work in cicéros.

BugBear

Ironically however Marcus Tullius, the great man himself, would have been a feet & inches man; unciae, pedes, milia pasuum, &c.

Metric has its uses - quite handy for communicating with the locals, but I remain few steps ahead of the Thought Police. 8)

 

[Ian down london way]

I have a good full set of imperial bits, mostly used on building stuff to plans bought form America. But its handy having metric ones too, so one can make holes just a smidge larger, by jumping between the two.

For temperature, I'm really twisted - hot days are 80 deg F, and cold days are -1 def C.

 

[RogerS]

Although I work in metric, I find it hard to visualise the rough size if someone said to me 'it needs to be 34 cm'. But if they said 'it needs to be just over 13"' then I can picture it easily.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes. I can't visualise 1 metre 75 either. How tall is that? Centimetres are the work of the devil, and all users should be shot at dawn.

 

[Sawyer]

I blame that Bonaparte, Phil!
Despite having to talk metric frequently, I still need a tape measure to look at before I can visualise.
No such problem when talking imperial. Somehow it's just more 'organic' and easier to relate to.