Converting to Metric - Personal experiences only, Please

[seandoh]

The last thing I want to start here is another arguement for the US converting to the metric system.  That is definetly not my intent with this question.
Upfront, I will say that I have no idea why this conversion has not yet happened and can only speculate that good ol' 'Merican stubborness and rightousness has impeded the progession - the switch makes too much sense to me and would be so much easier than continuing to teach our future generations odd ball scales, constant use of fractions and having to convert EVERYTHING to work in an ever shrinking global community.  The internet has made our planet a whole lot smaller in just a few years.
I am very new to woodworking and as such I am starting to build up my array of tools and skills.  My next big purchase on the horizon is a table saw.  Along with the saw, I am looking at the Incra LS fence and possibly Wonder Fence for a joint table saw/router table setup.  Wondering if I buy it scaled for metric or imperial.

Regardless of that exact set up, my question is this--
Have you, personally, switched over from all imperial to all metric in your workings, and if so, how difficult/easy was it for you?  I have read many threads in where people use a hybrid system, picking different scales for different units and I can see merits in that.  But I really want to know the difficulties that making the jump entails.
Also, because I am new and primarily working off other people's plans (websites, magazines...) how do you handle converting existing specs from imperial to metric.  I am thinking about redrawing all projects I want to build in SketchUp and doing the math there.  This would also give me plenty of time in that program becoming more efficient there as well.
Thanks,
Sean

 

[bkharman]

The last thing I want to start here is another arguement for the US converting to the metric system.  That is definetly not my intent with this question.
Upfront, I will say that I have no idea why this conversion has not yet happened and can only speculate that good ol' 'Merican stubborness and rightousness has impeded the progession - the switch makes too much sense to me and would be so much easier than continuing to teach our future generations odd ball scales, constant use of fractions and having to convert EVERYTHING to work in an ever shrinking global community.  The internet has made our planet a whole lot smaller in just a few years.
I am very new to woodworking and as such I am starting to build up my array of tools and skills.  My next big purchase on the horizon is a table saw.  Along with the saw, I am looking at the Incra LS fence and possibly Wonder Fence for a joint table saw/router table setup.  Wondering if I buy it scaled for metric or imperial.

Regardless of that exact set up, my question is this--
Have you, personally, switched over from all imperial to all metric in your workings, and if so, how difficult/easy was it for you?  I have read many threads in where people use a hybrid system, picking different scales for different units and I can see merits in that.  But I really want to know the difficulties that making the jump entails.
Also, because I am new and primarily working off other people's plans (websites, magazines...) how do you handle converting existing specs from imperial to metric.  I am thinking about redrawing all projects I want to build in SketchUp and doing the math there.  This would also give me plenty of time in that program becoming more efficient there as well.
Thanks,
Sean

Hey Sean,

Welcome to the wonderful world of metric. I started the conversion about 2 years ago and really enjoy not making as many measuring/transfer/cut/install mistakes as I used to. Far easier to remember 452.5mm versus 1' 5 13/16". I only have a few imperial measuring tools and converted my Incra LS lead screw to metric early on.

I won't say I completely think in metric but I am getting closer. I still measure long distances in miles but most things based on the meter and lower, I stick with mm on all of it. So much easier for me personally.

On a side note... My son's second grade class is teaching measurements in cm as well as in+ft. Very happy to hear it!good luck!

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[grbmds]

No, I didn't convert to metric even though I currently own a Domino 500, an OF1400, and a TS55 (along with a couple of sanders and a CT). I have found that I have gotten to know the imperial conversions of some of the repetitive depths and measurements and, over time, just haven't felt the need to really convert my woodworking to metric. I own other tools that aren't metric which I use regularly also and it was just not really necessary for me. I did originally make a brief attempt but, again, didn't feel it was necessary. With the TS 55, for example, I have not done plunge cuts which don't go completely through the wood, so I just get close to the right depth on the saw and mostly use it on the MFT. With the OF1400 I used a conversion table to make the first depth adjustments and then snuck up on the final (which I would do anyway). In a sense, I suppose you could say I did at least a partial conversion as I do need to convert the numbers from the TS55, OF1400, and Domino to imperial. I never installed the included imperial scale on the TS55 or bought the Seneca imperial depth scale though. I've been using the imperial scale too long not to think that way.

 

[Gwerner]

I started my conversion to metric a couple months ago when I built my sysports. It really did make the process easier and I finished the project without a single measuring error. I'm still not fully onboard with metric in my daily thinking, but for any projects I'm building, I'm using metric.

 

[rst]

I use both depending on circumstance, they best tool I have is a conversion app on my cell.  I bought all my Woodpeckers rules and squares metric and use a digital calipers that will show metric or imperial.  It is definetely easier to do layouts on my milling machine in metric.

 

[jacko9]

I didn't convert but, I am proficient in both since we attempted to do a metric conversion for a project while I was working.  It was a very large project with a lot of facilities doing various parts of the work.  I can say that the accumulation of translation mistakes doomed the conversion as well as the expense of changing the installed machine and computational base of tooling.  I have no problems using both in my daily projects but with 50 years of purchasing Imperial tooling and measuring devices, I'm not about to spend money replacing good tooling just to change the system.

Jack

 

[Kev]

It's almost a shame that the good old inch in probably more a victim of its size rather than its unit framework.

A millimetre is small enough to probably be your level of accuracy for woodworking and when using a metric scale calibrated in mm, you can judge half a millimetre (0.5mm) quite easily. With inches ... a tenth of an inch is "huge" and you can very easily judge a twentieth of an inch (half a tenth or 0.05") but potential error is probaly too large. Another issue is the unpopularity of the tenth scale in the imperial system.

Although Australia is offically metric, there's still the odd need to use imperial measurements. My thinking is the best time for someone to convert to metric is when the environment makes is easy. The math is certainly simpler!

 

[coug]

It is funny, I use metric all day for my day job in the sciences, but have to think about it when woodworking.  But I am making the change since jumping on the festool bandwagon.  Almost all measuring tools bought in the past two years have been metric. 

 

[jacko9]

Kev, a millimeter is good enough "what kind of woodworking are you doing"?  Yes for building fences perhaps but, If I used that scale on my furniture - It wouldn't look at good a Walmart furniture [wink]

Jack

 

[Birdhunter]

Just a different aspect. I don't measure all that much anymore. I use story sticks or some form of "go bys" as much as possible. When I am forced to measure, I think in English metrics, but can convert to metric as required.

I tend to buy rulers and tools in metric since I believe that's the future.

 

[Kev]

Kev, a millimeter is good enough "what kind of woodworking are you doing"?  Yes for building fences perhaps but, If I used that scale on my furniture - It wouldn't look at good a Walmart furniture [wink]

Jack

No, not really - my point was to half a millimetre and that's closer to 1/50" ... assuming most aspire to an accuracy of 1/32" when measuring with 1/16" increments!

Me? If I have a gap smaller than my finger I'm happy [wink]

 

[seandoh]

Thanks for the replies and support! 
This all started when I bought my TS 55 - it was my first tool ever with a metric scale (shortly followed by the OF 1010) - and it made me see the inherent advantages of going metric.  I always knew the base ten system was far simpler, I just hadn't really been exposed to it, if that makes sense?!? 
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was fortunate enough to attend a Festool Demo Day where the instructor built a cabinet entirely in metric math, talk about an "aha moment"! 
Since then I have pretty much convinced myself that converting is the way to go.  Aside from the initial transition, I see too many advantages to not make the effort.  As an example - I do not like using a tape with a 1/32 scale, it is too busy for me and a 1/16 scale has too big a gap at times.  Let me clarify that, MY work never requires more than 1/16th accuracy (not yet anyway) but, when measuring objects sometimes 1/16th isn't fine enough. Yet, when I use the mm scale it seems to fit my eye and work better.
Birdhunter and rst, I too am of the mind that if I fully commit and start out with all metric tools and measuring devices now, I will not have the crutch a dual scale tape measure would provide.  I am now relieved I waited to make my Woodpecker purchases, those will now be metric based.
I am happy to hear that many have made the jump and not looked back.  For those that have, if you work off other's plans how and where do you make the conversions? 
Again, thanks for the help, guys....sean

 

[bigarm]

Since buying my first Festool's I am trying to convert.  I bought a metric/imperial tape measure and a small incra t rule in metric.  As time goes on I will buying my measurement tools in metric.  However, I will say that at 62 years old I am finding it "work" to convert.

 

[HowardH]

I am building more and more of my projects in metric.  My problem is it's like trying to learn a foreign language.  I'm not "thinking" in metric yet.  I have to mentally convert my metric measurements in my head over to imperial for scale purposes.  It's so much easier to figure out, though.  No adding up different fractions.  I know that 25 mm is roughly an inch so 12 is a half inch and so forth.  I like it and will continue to work at it.  I even find myself talking to others in "metric" and not imperial!

 

[Gjarman12]

I find myself using imperial when I'm doing renovation type work, especially with friends or people older than me (30+). It's usually some good banter when someone messes up a measurement or mental arithmetic in either system. I have sold some friends on metric, but so many materials are sold in imperial units that it necessary to have a good understanding of it, which you likely will. When I'm working on my own, I use metric only, and am ashamed to say when my four year helps, I bought a blind man measuring tape for him because it had larger (and less) numbers, but in inches. My 11 year old uses metric and it's way easier for her to do that math than the fractions.

 

[GhostFist]

16th scale is pretty natural once you look at it and it was certainly good enough to build just about everything up until countries started converting to metric.  Nothing is more accurate than a story stick.

 

[seandoh]

Thank you all for not turning this into another US against the world thread! 
I was totally content in my imperial world before all this, but I always held the stance that a national conversion to metric would be a welcome challenge.  I have never heard a solid arguement for staying imperial.
Like many of you I am finding myself still thinking in imperial and measuring in metric.  Time and consistency should slowly change that. But, as of right now, the only easy swap is the meter.  Maybe after a few cabinet builds or items of that size I will begin to think metric first.
Ghostfist, you make a great point about the storystick and measuring items to the fit rather than the specs.  That is yet another part of the craft that I am picking up, I am finding out that consistency is as critical as accuracy.
So much to learn! 

 

[Owego]

I use either system (sometimes both), depending on what components I'm using.  Currently doing window casings, took all the window jamb measurements in imperial (only 2, height & width), converted to metric and did (doing) the layout and execution in metric.  Metric's much easier to do the math.  I've got a instant imperial to metric  converter I always carry on me- a FastCap metric/imperial tape, sometimes when I get bollixed up I just pull the tape out to whatever the distance I need to convert.  I also have both scales on my table and miter saws which makes things easier.  I'm not say'n I never make mistakes but I'm getting better with practice. 

On a side note, I met an Australian a few years ago, WWII vet, and wood worker, he said he'd never made the conversion to metric.

 

[WastedP]

I live in a split world, since most of the cabinet hardware manufacturers and small shops use metric sizing, but all of the builders and large cabinet companies I work with use imperial.  My tape and square that I use all the time have both scales and are invaluable.  I have drawn stuff in both units, depending on who I'm sending it to.  If I'm building it, I will confess to using either system, just never both at the same time.  I almost always take site measurements in imperial, but if I am building a free-standing piece of furniture, I prefer the benefits of metric.

I guess that makes me kind of agnostic or ambidextrous about it, whatever you want to call it, but not a full-on convert or evangelist.

 

[jacko9]

16th scale is pretty natural once you look at it and it was certainly good enough to build just about everything up until countries started converting to metric.  Nothing is more accurate than a story stick.

I totally agree with the use of story sticks.  I normally save all thin long strips of Honduras mahogany for this use since it's so stable.

Jack