Folks Hate The Metric System

[Jesse Cloud]

i do find it frustrating that the metric system being a 10 base system has issues when measuring geometry where ratios are so easy and i can decide when and how much rounding error i am will do deal with. for example if i have an object that happens to be 1 meter and i simply want to turn into three pieces i am screwed simply because of the ten base system .or opposite, i want to make 3 units that add up to one meter. i am glad the Greeks did not have it ...i wonder what their beautiful ratios would look like if it all had to be units of ten limited to what they could resolve?i can not imagine how hard it was before the digital age.

If you divide 1 meter, you'll get 333.33 mm. Why should you divide one meter only?  999 mm is better number for dividing by 3 or 1200mm or 1500mm or 300mm.

Here is sample how to measure everything in anything.

Great Video VictorL!!
From now on, all my projects will be in parrots.  Wonder if Lee Valley has a parrot ruler?

 

[adubeau]

I don't like metric measurements but since buying the Domino I am slowly learnig to adapt....  I find wasier to visualize 1/2 inch than 12.5 mm...

 

[pugilato]

I know and understand the metric system, but I have no feel for it... I'm sure that I wil get it in due time, but for practical reasons (I know and understand it) I prefer inches and feet.  I can visualize them.  I can visualize metric only after making a mental calculation.

 

[semenza]

I know and understand the metric system, but I have no feel for it... I'm sure that I wil get it in due time, but for practical reasons (I know and understand it) I prefer inches and feet.  I can visualize them.  I can visualize metric only after making a mental calculation.

Ditto

Seth

 

[Tinker]

When I was a mason and using all sorts of materials, I used a 100 foot tape for laying out wall lengths.
For coursing of blockwork, I used a stick with a mark every 8"s for the coursing.
With stone work, I used my eye to measure each stone.  you would be surprised how accurate you could become.
For brick coursing, i had a folding rule with markings of 1,2,3,4,5,6, etc up to 12.  I have no idea what the height of each marking meant.  I just layed out so the courses of brick worked out to be even within the height of wall I had to work with.
now i am working with wood, I have rules and tapes the show both metric and imperial.  When i get plans that call for imperial, i can visulize.  If plans call for metric, my vision gets all clouded up.  I measure the space in imperial and then take a metric tape to get an idea of what it looks like in metric.  and then, i get all screwed up mentally and can no longer picture anything.  [huh]

time to go get a cold one. [wink]
Tinker

 

[tallgrass]

The twelve unit foot came from the utility a twelve unit rope. with it you can draw arcs and right angles and triangles.  the size of the unit did not matter..you simply made the unit fit the scale of the work. This is how the cathedrals of Europe were made. with rope and calipers, very impressive.