Simple measuring trick

[madjack]

JG...isn't 1/16, .062 of an inch???..........................

[mikeschn]

.0625 to be exact. Years ago I had to memorize all those numbers... I don't remember them all, just the main ones... Now a days everything is designed in metric. Metric means nothing to me. I still design in SAE, and then convert that number into metric, and round to the nearest 2MM where applicable.

But here's a chart with both
http://mdmetric.com/tech/cvtchtfdm.htm

Mike...

[Hamcan]

MJ
With apologies to Tony for highjacking his thread.
As Mike has confirmed .0625 is 1/16" translated to 1000's. Seems funny to me that it is so easy for all of us to think in decimals as long as it is still SAE but as soon as it becomes SI then it somehow becomes incomprehensible. I had the advantage of being forced thru my job to make the switch.
Mike I think designing in one and switching that to the other makes it much more difficult in the long run for you to become comfortable in SI and if you consult your chart you will see a 3/32" built in error. OK for wood work but your fuel injectors may be a little tight or sloppy.

JG

[tonyj]

No apology needed--hijack away. I realized this morning that the original post was just a comment on how to simply transfer a measurement from a curved surface to a flat surface. How we love to go off on tangents, myself included. That's what I love about this forum. You don't always get the info you asked for, but you always, always get info you need!

[angib]

My experience is that I grew up in inches/pounds/degF, but then went to school in cm/gram/degC, except for woodwork in inches, and then went to work in mm/kg/degC.

I've always fought against sliding down the slippery slope back to inches but decided to give in gracefully when doing teardrop plans for Merkans. I had thought I would enjoy it, but my, oh my, aren't fractions of an inch a ghastly, painful, crappy thing to work with?

Being used to something does not make it good, it just means you don't realise what a disadvantage it is - I learnt that after we gave up using 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.

Now if we could just metricate the English language so it worked better, we'd be laughing.

Andrew

[asianflava]

Being used to something does not make it good, it just means you don't realise what a disadvantage it is - I learnt that after we gave up using 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.

When are you gonna convert to Euros? That would be another can of worms.

[Classic Finn]

Being used to something does not make it good, it just means you don't realise what a disadvantage it is - I learnt that after we gave up using 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.

When are you gonna convert to Euros? That would be another can of worms.

The Euro is no different than the USD in reality. The only thing different is the word... Euros and Cents - Dollars and Cents...


Classic Finn

[Cutterpup]

Ah! The metric/english debate. Its going to happen and we will all start using it. Converting from engilsh to metric or metric to english can introduce errors just ask NASA about a certin launch that blew up because of a math error.

However my son told me of a story that when he was working on a church in Dominican Republic with a carpenter from Norway. Quote the door opening is 2 meter 3 inches. Yes the carpenter mixed both scales on one length. BTW the church doors and the rest of it came out fine.

Dan

[mikeschn]

I think you should make your teardrop door 711.2 mm.



How many of you here can instantly, without the aid of a calculator, visualize how big 712mm is, and if we are talking height or width?

Mike...

P.S. How big is a 1200x1500 piece of wood?

P.P.S. I guess I was raised in inches!

[PaulC]

I think you should make your teardrop door 711.2 mm.



How many of you here can instantly, without the aid of a calculator, visualize how big 712mm is, and if we are talking height or width?

Mike...

P.S. How big is a 1200x1500 piece of wood?

P.P.S. I guess I was raised in inches!

1200x1500 is what we used to call 4'x5'. 71.2cm or 712mm or .712of a metre is about 28".
Now let's talk about a Country that runs a metric financial system and an Imperial measuring system
By the way, How many of you Merkans have a 2.0l, 2.3l etc engine in their vehicle.

Cheers from the cranky Aussie
Paul

[madjack]

I think you should make your teardrop door 711.2 mm.



How many of you here can instantly, without the aid of a calculator, visualize how big 712mm is, and if we are talking height or width?

Mike...

P.S. How big is a 1200x1500 piece of wood?

P.P.S. I guess I was raised in inches!

1200x1500 is what we used to call 4'x5'. 71.2cm or 712mm or .712of a metre is about 28".
Now let's talk about a Country that runs a metric financial system and an Imperial measuring system
By the way, How many of you Merkans have a 2.0l, 2.3l etc engine in their vehicle.

Cheers from the cranky Aussie
Paul

...just becuse I have had to I know the are about 2.5 cm to the inch and about 60 ci to a cl...a kilo is about 2.2 pounds and a kilometer in about 60% of a mile...that is the some total of my metric knowledge
madjack

[tonyj]

We could also confuse the system by using the Whitworth standard for our bolts.

For me, I'm gonna start telling people my trailer is 6.67 cubits long.

[Hamcan]

Tonyj, I don't think a combination of Whitworth and cubits would be any more confusing than the U.S. made truck I drive. It has a 3l engine rated in HP! Not to mention a fine assortment of SAE and SI scattered thru out the rest of it.

BTW I was told by my sunday school teacher way back when that a cubit was approx. 20" . That would make your Tear about 11' long or 3.35 m
How do you choose to tell us the width?

[Larwyn]

It dawned on me years ago, that when it comes to construction, precise measurement is only important when trying to duplicate something or follow plans. Otherwise it would matter little if your tape was a few centimeters or fractions of an inch off, just so you make your parts to fit. Very precise work can be done that would not conform precisely with sae, metric, or whatever other obsucre measurement system you try to use. That's what "story sticks" were all about in the begining.

Just build it, enjoy it, and if somebody comes along with a caliper or micrometer, just laugh like hell............

[tonyj]

BTW I was told by my sunday school teacher way back when that a cubit was approx. 20" . That would make your Tear about 11' long or 3.35 m
How do you choose to tell us the width?

My trailer is about "yay" wide.

I didn't know until I Googled it, but Google pegs the cubit at 18 inches, so my trailer is 10 feet long, 2.67 cubits wide, and is 1 meter 8.6299213 inches high, plus wheel height.