metric v. inches

[HowardH]

Man, I'm sorry I asked...    

 

[Gary K]

I'll stick to Imperial   I always convert fractions to decimal automatically because of my machine shop experience. (3/16=.1875, 1/4 = .250 etc.) All these years I don't need a chart except for metric which I have a few stratigically located.

    Gary K.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Bill,

     If I make something from a plan from a magazine...it is in Imperial. If I send away for a plan...it is Imperial. If I make my own plan from sketchup or just drawing a plan myself on paper...it is Imperial. I'm not trying to be rude but what is my advantage, again, in going metric?

      Gary K.

Gary,

I struggle a bit with the metric/Imperial issue myself as well.  I learned a lot and became convinced that I should begin using metric after reading some of the Festool user manuals written by Jerry Work (especially regarding use of the MFT and MFS).  As he teaches and discusses other topics, he descibes making a cabinet of hardwoods assembled with sliding dovetail joints, which obviously require precision in layout and machining.  In doing so, he demonstrates the simplicity and ease of precise measurement and setup that comes with use of the metric system.  Likewise for use of the Domino as pointed out in Bill Esposito's excellent evaluation of that tool.  My expectation is that I will use metric for some of the free-standing projects (furniture) that I design myself, and may use it for parts or all components when I modify a puchased set of design drawings.  I rarely find that an item designed by someone else perfectly fits what I want or need.  I first got into designing and making furniture because the house I used to live in was so small that many standard furniture items were simply too big.  Custom design was the answer, and modifying drawings prepared by others is not that hard or time consuming, even when done entirely by hand.  Among the tools that recently joined my collection is a FastCap brand steel tape measure that is imprinted with both metric and Imperial units on the same upside face of the tape, along its opposite edges.  Another is a FastCap tape that is intended to be marked with a pencil and used like a story stick.  Those tapes help a bunch in avoiding mistakes in any conversion and in gaining an ability to visualize how long is a piece of wood that is 610 mm long (2 ft).

Dave R.

 

[VictorL]

Festool produces 5m (approx 16’) tape measure. For my brief estimate it would cost here around $10. It doesn’t need long UL approval or other special approvals. I’m just wondering if FestoolUSA begin to sell it here how many people will buy it?  ???

 

[mathteacher76]

Festool does sell a tape measure --  490834, but it is on back-order.

 

[semenza]

HI,

          DonT wrote -  "Why would you want to convert to metric when all our wood is in english.  I think that would create errors."

    One problem is that not all of our (US) wood is in imperial anymore. Much of the plywood is in metric thickness.  If you are planning your own stock then that too can be metric.  There are lots of reasons both ways on this. And ultimately each person will have to sort out the merits for themself. I too am thinking about converting, but can not quite get used to visualising that way. And I do a good part of my designing in my head. 

Seth

 

[Gene Howerton]

I am an engineer and have used the metric system for years, for me it is just easier to use and with the Festools being metric it just made it easier.  I just have a home shop for fun so for me it is not a big deal, its going to be different for each person.  As mentioned you can plane all your boards to the same thickness so it really doesn't matter.

since I started down this Festool path, I have been reading everything that Jerry Work has put out in his guides.  It has influenced my buying decisions and how I work in the shop.  I like his idea of using 20mm and 10mm thickness board, plus it works great with Festool and I have since just converted to a all Festool Shop,  the joys of dustless workworking.

 

[johne]

??? Now you guys have done it.  Inquiring minds want to know.  Is there such a thing as a board-meter instead of a board foot?  If so, what are the dimensions?

The price of wood overhere is calculated in cubic meters. 1 cubic meter is a bloc of 100x100x100 centimeter. (3.28 x 3.28 x 3.28 feet or 39.37 x 39.37 x 39.37 inches)

So if i buy one board that is 4 cm thick by 15cm wide by 150cm long, that is 0.04 x 0.15 x 1.5= 0.009 cubic meters

If this wood costs 1300 Euro's per cubic meter, then my board will cost 1300 x 0.009 = 11.70 Euro's

 

[tallgrass]

it is all standard.......way back when there was no exact conversion between the two it was impossible......then they redefined the the metric system so that that there would be exactly 25.4mm to the inch not 25.39blablabla......in me engineering work we use both.....if one makes you feel special or superior then you are getting more out of you measuring system than i am. though it is a pain using the metric system when you wan to cut something into three or a third or a sixth but that is just me. that is just my to standard cents.  ;D

 

[Eli]

The really ironic thing is that I switched immediately to metric on moving to Australia, figuring that it would not only be easier to use Festools (it was, and took about two weeks), but when I re-entered the film business here I'd be all set with measuring things.

The film business here uses imperial measurements because they have to match equipment specs to US products often!  ???

Good thing I didn't trash all my tape measures.  8)

 

[Grinding One]

Heres the scoop,its all about the money....Have you been shopping lately?? The bags of chips are still as big as they used to be but they are not as full as they used to be.Same with wood,my first house I owned was built in 1873,it had 2x4`s in it all through the house it had 1x6`s on the roof ...these I measured and they were true to the inch...along comes the new sawyer`s who want to make more money on the same tree,cut a half inch off here,put it on the next board and you make more money....Its all about the money.I say lets get the government involved in false addvertisement...make them either say what their really making or call it what it really is.Why continue paying for a 2x4 when thats not what it really is.
  Again its all about the money!!

 

[tallgrass]

yea i can not stand the mealy mouth answers i get when i jokingly bring up the non two by four  two by four at my local lumber yard, something about it started as a two by four but  something happens that makes it smaller but i have to pay for what i do not get. now understand this.....i have seen the mythical real two by four. so i know that at sometime in our storied past some got what they paid for......i have stop thinking bout it now or i will go crazy ;D

 

[Dave Ronyak]

And if you buy redwood lumber, you're likely to find that the sawyer cheated even more than with common SPF construction grade lumber.  The 1x (4/4) stock I have bought is about 5/8" thick instead of the nominal 3/4".

Dave R.

 

[dltflt]

I grew up in a house that was log construction for the walls, floor joist, and roof beams.  We had added onto the house and that part of the creeked when the wind blew.  The part which was built in late 1700's was quit and solid.  The garage actually was made of true 2 x 4 lumber.

 

[Eli]

You haven't really been annoyed until you had to keep remembering to call it a "Four be two", as well as have it not be the right dimensions 

An Australian will shake his head and think your mom dresses you funny if you call it a 2x4.  :-\

Don't get me started on bumping into people on the sidewalk because they all walk on the left ;D

 

[Grinding One]

Hey Eli,your picture reminds me of something I used to do.....?? If everybody walks on the left more women will get run over.
Now back to the topic....I found that with true 2x4`s you can get more insulation in the walls.But ever since plywood came into the scene the 2x4`s have gotten smaller in length as well (construction 2x4`s) I guess we have some people who don`t have saws yet,or the 4x8 inch plywood isn`t the right size as well??
  Its all about the money.

 

[Peterm]

Fun thread. Speaking as someone who was forced into metrication in 1972 at the age of 12, courtesy of our government's obsession with 'the common market' and all things European, I and most people I know have ended up being pretty much bilingual in measurements, and usually speak a kind of Esperanto down at the timber-yard - e.g. '22 metres of 3x1 planed, two 8x4s of 18mm MDF and half a kilo of inch and a half oval nails...' We seem to get by

FWIW, here in England timber sizes are always given as sawn (sometimes regularised) sizes, so a 4x2 sawn timber is 4x2, but 4x2 PAR (planed all round) ends up being about 95 x 45mm. And an '8x4' here is actually 2440 x 1220mm - sizes are always in metres or mm; ask for something in cm, and they'll look at you like you're from Mars.

Personally, I tend to use whatever's best for the given job - if the centre of a chinmey-breast is 32 1/4", that's what I'll use, but if it's 821mm, then that's it. I have trouble visualising fractional measurements in imperial - 1/16th, 1/8th of an inch - but couldn't go back to imperial screw sizes; drill a 3mm pilot hole for a 5mm screw and you know it's going to be a nice tight fit.

Oh, and as for '2x4' - sorry, that's just plain wrong

Cheers, Pete.

 

[Grinding One]

Well here in my area the wood dealers have found that if you sell hard to get wood in mm you get more money...

Its all about the money.  Think about it you sell tools to work with,its made to suit one or the other country but not both.Hence you need more tools to correct the errors the first time around,more money...Its all about making more money.Which by now is making more and more people mad....Like why can`t you do it right the first time.
Because its about making more money.

 

[petiegolfer]

mm are definately the way to go! All kitchen cabnets are measured in mm here in the UK....300's 400's 500's etc

300mm is just about 12inchs.

As has kind of been stated both are just scales...once you get your head around how big mm cm m look dividing by 10 etc is a lot easier.

Question: Why is coke sold in kilo's and canabis in onces? ???

Piers

 

[dirtydeeds]

a minor problem with metric is the way it is used / interperated

johne's post shows the continental's general preference for building drawings to be marked in centimetres (10mm graduations)

in england building drawings are marked in millimetres (and metres).  centimetres are not used

this was done in around 1968 when the building industry went metric with the specific intention of standardising measurements throughout the industry and avoiding errors , from engineers and architects through to us lot erecting the structures

since then cad drawing packages have helped to reinforce millimetres as the standard unit of metric measurement 

in england when they started teaching metric in schools (about 45 years ago) it was truly appalling. we were told of millimetres, centimetres, decimetres, metres and kilometres

it was utterly crazy, because it confused everybody