Metric or imperial - tempted to go retro

[glynster]

I'm new to woodwork and so I'm in the process of buying gear and getting set up. Seems that a great many of the jigs and more clever gizmos out there are coming from the USA (and 12" dovetail jigs, 1/4" & 1/2" router bits all appearing standards) and of course the vast majority of instructional videos on youtube are from the USA and so the instructions too are imperial. Being born in 1971 (ironically the year of decimalisation) I was schooled equally in imperial and metric as was the practice (at least at my school) during the Seventies. So I can go either way and can roughly mentally calculate and think in both using a rough mental rule that 2.5cm is an inch, 30cm a foot and 40 inches a metre - all approx but for quick mental reckoners it does me well). However, it seems to me that that is just leaving another margin for error in measuring that I could do without - confusing scales can cause havoc and converting sixteenths to mm and vice versa gets messy. I'd like to just stay 100% pure metric but for the reasons I just mentioned that would seem to involve a constant "struggle" against many tools and tutorials out there. Since I get to measure and cut my own timber, set my own router and table saw etc it strikes me I could easily decide right now before embarking on any major projects to work in imperial only. Of course, angles have never been made metric so can anybody with more experience than me (that is all of you probably) forsee any pitfalls or problems that will still force me to work in both metric and imperial? In other words, are there any day to day tools or accessories that now only work in metric that I am likely to rub up against? Be good to hear from others who have settled on one or the other or embraced working on both - on the same project or even the same workpiece.

Cheers

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

your view of scales is distorted by watching too much US based youtube. Stay with metric since all available tooling available here in the UK is calibrated in primarily metric or both. Also the granularity of metric is easier to use when dealing with smaller stock sizes. Metric is easier to use for mental maths since its based on ten whereas messing about with 16th's and 32nd's is a massive pain in the ass.

Where imperial is handy is in thinking of larger sizes, inches, feet etc and notional wood dimensions, 4x2 being the classic. But on a day to day basis in a workshop, building furniture, metric is far more appropriate and useful.

 

[GLFaria]

I think sooner or later the US will go metric...
I have been raised in metric, of course, but had many rubs with imperial in the time (long ago...) when I worked at a gun-production factory and - believe it or not, we all had pocket calculators, even 35 years ago... The most difficult conversion for me to remember? Converting from PSI to Kg/cm2 (it's about .007, but there are some centesimals more, and we were in the game of the tousands of PSI, so those centesimals could make a bit of a difference ...)
It would say, keep it metric. Just my opinion, of course.

Edit: Just checked, oops! it's actually .07, not .007; see my problem with this conversion? there is always a zero too much (too many James Bond films?)

 

[Mr_P]

Mid 1970's here and metric at school for me, thankfully.

Never had much to do with inches until I started woodwork and my almost middle aged eyes detest fractions of inches with a passion. mm please but pass me my favourite 1/4" chisel.

http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/?p=1250

 

[MickCheese]

I went to school in the 60s and early 70s so I suppose I was on the threshold of metric. I now use mainly metric but can easily convert metric to imperial in my head for the normal measurements like one inch, four inches a foot and so on.

Stick to metric and millimetres it's just easier.

Mick

 

[JimB]

I was brought up with imperial and find it difficult to go metric in certain things especially the wanted posters. Height and weight stay imperial. Otherwise they co-exist quite comfortably.
What drives me up the wall are the plans that are obviously exact conversions from imperial without any thought for the woodworker who has to follow them.
My three foot rule still has a regular workout.

 

[Mike.S]

Stay metric. Until recently, I think it was just USA, Burma and Liberia that retained the Imperial system but both Burma and Liberia have moved to Metric. A few of the US woodworkers I view on Youtube etc flit between the two.

Then, if we can all just agree on a common: plug, electricity supply, side of the road to drive on, language........(I was going to add sharpening method but thought that unlikely ).

 

[RogerP]

I was brought up in the imperial age but don't find metric a problem and quite happily use both - sometimes in the same project - but more usually just cut stuff so it fits. 8)

 

[JimB]

- but more usually just cut stuff so it fits. 8)

Lucky you.

 

[Silas Gull]

In wood-work, most projects begin one, perhaps two baseline measurements. The rest end up being relative and repeated dimensions; in short, it hardly matters whether one uses met or imp, since the size of a particular component is usually referenced from the original.

 

[RogerP]

- but more usually just cut stuff so it fits. 8)

Lucky you.

As Silas Gull just said ...

in short, it hardly matters whether one uses met or imp, since the size of a particular component is usually referenced from the original.

i.e. - so it fits

A "story stick or rod" was another common method ...

 

[JimB]

As you and Silas say Roger, units of measurement are only part of the story.

 

[AndyT]

In making stuff, as said, actual sizes on a rod, drawing or piece are what matters, so I avoid converting sizes to any sort of numbers as far as possible.

But in buying materials you can't avoid the fact that they are sized in a mix of metric and imperial, for a variety of historical reasons, so you need to juggle both.

Also worth thinking about: if you give up on inches you cut yourself off from centuries of good useful books and magazines.

 

[bugbear]

In making stuff, as said, actual sizes on a rod, drawing or piece are what matters, so I avoid converting sizes to any sort of numbers as far as possible.

But in buying materials you can't avoid the fact that they are sized in a mix of metric and imperial, for a variety of historical reasons, so you need to juggle both.

Also worth thinking about: if you give up on inches you cut yourself off from centuries of good useful books and magazines.

I visualise in feet and inches ("I want a 6 foot table"), except for thin stock, which I think of in mm ("this box should be made of 5mm stock")

But I calculate in metric.

BugBear

 

[Farmer Giles]

I'm a child of the 60's so use both imperial and metric, but buy imperial when I have to, I have old machinery so buy imperial spanners but if I buy new stuff only get metric.

Just off to the sweet shop to buy 100 grammes of Mint Metrics.....

 

[Phil Pascoe]

In making stuff, as said, actual sizes on a rod, drawing or piece are what matters, so I avoid converting sizes to any sort of numbers as far as possible.

But in buying materials you can't avoid the fact that they are sized in a mix of metric and imperial, for a variety of historical reasons, so you need to juggle both.

Also worth thinking about: if you give up on inches you cut yourself off from centuries of good useful books and magazines.

I visualise in feet and inches ("I want a 6 foot table"), except for thin stock, which I think of in mm ("this box should be made of 5mm stock")

But I calculate in metric.

BugBear

Totally. "That blokes about one metre eighty"?...no. "That piece of wood must weigh thirty eight kilos"?...no. "There's about one thousand three hundred millilitres left in that container"?...no.

 

[GLFaria]

In making stuff, as said, actual sizes on a rod, drawing or piece are what matters, so I avoid converting sizes to any sort of numbers as far as possible.

But in buying materials you can't avoid the fact that they are sized in a mix of metric and imperial, for a variety of historical reasons, so you need to juggle both.

Also worth thinking about: if you give up on inches you cut yourself off from centuries of good useful books and magazines.

Allow me not to agree. I was born and taught in metrics over 60 years ago. As a teenager I became interested in firearms. Most, if not all, books and magazines then easily available here in bookstores or by mail-order were american, so I had to become acquainted with imperial. Some easy conversions I memorized, for the others I still must use a conversion table and a calculator (but then, I can't even start to remember all the units of the metric system, they have developed and changed nemes along the years...).

One does not need to "cut himself off...", just learn to live with both - giving a priority to the most useful one, of course

 

[AndyT]

In making stuff, as said, actual sizes on a rod, drawing or piece are what matters, so I avoid converting sizes to any sort of numbers as far as possible.

But in buying materials you can't avoid the fact that they are sized in a mix of metric and imperial, for a variety of historical reasons, so you need to juggle both.

Also worth thinking about: if you give up on inches you cut yourself off from centuries of good useful books and magazines.

Allow me not to agree. I was born and taught in metrics over 60 years ago. As a teenager I became interested in firearms. Most, if not all, books and magazines then easily available here in bookstores or by mail-order were american, so I had to become acquainted with imperial. Some easy conversions I memorized, for the others I still must use a conversion table and a calculator (but then, I can't even start to remember all the units of the metric system, they have developed and changed nemes along the years...).

One does not need to "cut himself off...", just learn to live with both - giving a priority to the most useful one, of course

I can't see any disagreement - we have both said that it is better to understand both systems.

 

[AndyNC]

Hi,

My thoughts:

I'm 58 and have used both English and metric.
I have no problems with either although I do use metric more these days because most items sold are metric. eg I can go to screwfix and by metric fastners over the counter, mind you I just did a quick check and one item was described as 3/8"x200mm umm!

The tape measure shown in the link is a problem. Because it is dual it's a problem squeezing the metric in because of the long numbers. A single scale tape measure could be much clearer.

Also cm are not an SI unit if I recall correctly and certainly cause me more confusion than anything else.


Andy

 

[GLFaria]

In making stuff, as said, actual sizes on a rod, drawing or piece are what matters, so I avoid converting sizes to any sort of numbers as far as possible.

But in buying materials you can't avoid the fact that they are sized in a mix of metric and imperial, for a variety of historical reasons, so you need to juggle both.

Also worth thinking about: if you give up on inches you cut yourself off from centuries of good useful books and magazines.

Allow me not to agree. I was born and taught in metrics over 60 years ago. As a teenager I became interested in firearms. Most, if not all, books and magazines then easily available here in bookstores or by mail-order were american, so I had to become acquainted with imperial. Some easy conversions I memorized, for the others I still must use a conversion table and a calculator (but then, I can't even start to remember all the units of the metric system, they have developed and changed nemes along the years...).

One does not need to "cut himself off...", just learn to live with both - giving a priority to the most useful one, of course

I can't see any disagreement - we have both said that it is better to understand both systems.

I took the wording of your last sentence in the previous post as suggesting an either/or choice. Obviously wrong...