Americans will do ANYTHING to avoid the metric system

[bdk1976]

The only metric that’s ever caught on in the US is the 9 mm


And just a reminder
There’s two kinds of countries
Those that use the metric system
And
Those that have put men on the moon

 

[jasonphelps]

American: Drink 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola, gain 1 pound
Canadian: Drink 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola, gain 1 pound
Britain: Drink 2 liter bottle of Coca Cola, gain 1/14 stone

 

[Y00PER]

What do they say in metric countries in place of "What kind of mileage you get with it?" Miles per gallon flows off the tongue a lot better than liters per one hundred kilometers.

Then of course there is temps. Fahrenheit makes more sense to me, since 0°F is a really cold day, and 100°F is a really hot day. In Celsius, 0° is a little chilly day, and 100° is you're dead.

 

[Mr. T]

When I was in the United Kingdom not so long ago I tried to buy a imperial tap and die set- they told me they don't have it on stock and needs to order it because they use the metric ones also since years.

You tried to buy an NPT tap and die set.

Metric pipe threads are actually imperial (BSPT or BSPP). And they use a Whitworth thread form (55 deg instead of 60).

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

For temperature, you just get use to it. Those just a couple of years younger than me are completely lost in Fahrenheit.

Miles per gallon, an imperial gallon BTW, was used long after the conversion. So it's taken longer to understand good and bad.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Yeah but with common core it will take you longer to come up with an answer than to try 4 different wrenches. [emoji23]

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I'm so glad I went through school before common core. I was exceptional at math then, now I think I'd be average at best.

 

[Roundhouse]

What do they say in metric countries in place of "What kind of mileage you get with it?" Miles per gallon flows off the tongue a lot better than liters per one hundred kilometers.

Then of course there is temps. Fahrenheit makes more sense to me, since 0°F is a really cold day, and 100°F is a really hot day. In Celsius, 0° is a little chilly day, and 100° is you're dead.

I think Fahrenheit set up the scale based on what temperature humans could tolerate and live in

Any climate that gets below 0 much or above 100 for long periods of time is not very habitable for humans

 

[Roundhouse]

I agree, although 10mm is making a bit of a comback

I’d be afraid they would all disappear like the 10mm sockets

 

[Roundhouse]

Is that why NASA started using the metric system before 1990 then?



https://www.space.com/3332-nasa-finally-metric.html

Did nasa use metric in 1969?

 

[Roundhouse]

What really ***** is working on late 80s early 90s cars that have both metric and sae bolts just randomly used here and there

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

There will be those that will look it up , but I seem to remember metric, ISO, didn't standardize until 1972. If my experience with cars and machinery is anything to go on, each country had their bolt pitches.

 

[Aaron_W]

If we have to adapt to the metric system to make things easier internationally, everyone should use English as the official language. No exceptions.

I'd gladly make that trade

English has been the official language of international flights since 1951, used by pilots and air traffic controllers.

In fact there is a very specific Aviation English used, which even native English speakers are tested. It uses specific words and phrases avoiding ones that can be easily misheard / interpreted.

Aviation English

It is a start, and aviation is mostly transitioned to metric operationally (never say never, I'm sure there is some very specific non-metric measurement still used for some obscure purpose) so a fair trade I say.

 

[Aaron_W]

There will be those that will look it up , but I seem to remember metric, ISO, didn't standardize until 1972. If my experience with cars and machinery is anything to go on, each country had their bolt pitches.

You still have DIN standards in Europe, JIS standards in Japan, ANSI in USA and ISO "International" (aka those who don't feel like creating their own home brew metric standard).

 

[Lassen Forge]

What do they say in metric countries in place of "What kind of mileage you get with it?" Miles per gallon flows off the tongue a lot better than liters per one hundred kilometers.

Then of course there is temps. Fahrenheit makes more sense to me, since 0°F is a really cold day, and 100°F is a really hot day. In Celsius, 0° is a little chilly day, and 100° is you're dead.

When it goes below 0°C, the rivers and lakes start to freeze, and hockey season is around the corner.

50°C is like hot hot hot... 122°F.

And body temperature isn't some obscure 98.6... it's 37. no "point" anything.

But I gotta agree... the whole l/100Km thing *****. I would have liked Km/l instead. (You got 1 liter in the tank, how many Km can you go?) Whoever reversed that should be shot.

 

[Wamsutta]

What I don't like is I can't buy any metric tools at the contractor supply; only SAE. It's the only place in town that stocks Wright tools.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Stupid rehashed arguments about the metric system are stupid. They taught us the metric system in elementary school 50 years ago, if you can't figure it out by now...

 

[bbbarracuda]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BarryWells View Post
How many meters tall is the statue of fake liberty ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbbarracuda View Post
Is the fake one, the one in Las Vegas?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tym View Post
How many freedums tall is that?
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...
...(of the metric system!) ”
The Statue of Liberty in New York is 1 freedom unit tall. The one in Las Vegas is .62 freedom units tall.

 

[jasonphelps]

What I don't like is I can't buy any metric tools at the contractor supply; only SAE. It's the only place in town that stocks Wright tools.

Amarillo Bolt has Wright metric

 

[ClappedOutBport]

Ugh I see so many retarded comments in threads like these. I use Metric a LOT, as I am a mechanical engineering student. I also use imperial a lot in school, the machine shop, and construction. And imperial is junk. It just is.

I did a thermodynamics problem some months ago, metric, took about 30 minutes with a little bit of online assistance. Not a bad problem really. The next problem was virtually identical, but in imperial units. That one took me a solid 2 hours. Thank you BTU, Rankine, and gas constants that must constantly be converted.

I just wish people would stop the arguments of imperial being more accurate. That just makes you sound dumb, as neither system has inherent accuracy or lack-thereof. Besides, the inch is defined off the meter anyway. If dividing by two is easier than dividing by 10, great. Grab your 27/64ths and letter U drills and go town.

 

[ClappedOutBport]

This is very true! The whole lumber measurement system is a huge mess. Very few things are 'true' measurements with lumber, except when you get into some of the man-made materials like MDF, where of course it is now true-size.

Canada is officially metric but just like Australia, we still get stuck with a mix of metric and SAE sizing depending on what the product is, mostly because the US is too stubborn to change and they control certain industries. And quite frankly, as much as I dislike the weird sizes of lumber, and measuring things in 16ths and 32nds, it would be quite a mess to overhaul the lumber system at this point.

Would you keep current lumber standard sizes the same, and convert to metric (a 2x4, which is actually 1.5x3.5, would be approx 3.8cm x 8.9cm true size), or would you make it a 4cm x 9cm and slightly change the standard size and call it a 4x9? But then what do you do when adding on to existing old-standard framing in a house?

I am just reserved to having to know both. It would be great to hit the reset button and start over with one clean system for everyone, but at this point I don't mind measuring and cutting my 2x4 to 360cm in length.

As if this isn't already a problem... Some old 2x is more like 1 5/8" thick. And plywood, which used to be dimensional, is now a 32nd under. Try to match a two layer floor with new wood? Nope, your a 32nd low. Some day you've just got to say F it and change over.

My problem is the lack of available hardware, fittings, supplies, materials and measuring tools available to us in metric.

I cannot purchase any common building materials, fasteners, or common machinery calibrated in metric.

We have a massive industrial legacy that would take decades to switch, and would cost billions of dollars, and even then would still be here in some ways.

I'll happily switch to metric when I can buy everything I need for a project in metric. From my steel sheet, to my fasteners to my welding wire to my hand tools.

Ever try to machine parts in metric when all your tools, equipment, and entire shop is set up to do a different type of measuring? Huge pain in the ***. You have to convert everything. Every. Single. Thing. Sheet metal is sold in gauge thickness, pipe in IPS and bar stock is all in inch.

This is the problem. I think of all the 9" shafts Adam Booth and others make for large industry. Retooling those industries for metric would be inconceivably expensive and wasteful. I get it. But new industrial construction should do it's darnedest to be metric.

 

[rainer124]

Mr T,

if Massey Ferguson used NPT threads on their tractors, then I tried to buy a NPT tap and die set
But I know they didn't.

 

[Tonyuk]

Did nasa use metric in 1969?

Possibly,

However the Russians certainly did in 1961

 

[mcbane]

I wish the US had actually gone metric like I was told would happen back in 2nd grade.

If you are a civil engineer or contractor you no doubt have seen errors related to decimal feet (the units of land survey equipment and survey records) and ft and inches called out in drawings. Frequently a page of contract drawings will call out elevations in decimal ft while showing horizontal dimensions in ft, inches and fractions of inches. So people on the site might have both types of tape measures on hand. Next thing you know something that should have been installed at 5.3 ft got installed as 5 ft 3 inches.


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[American Locomotive]

My problem is the lack of available hardware, fittings, supplies, materials and measuring tools available to us in metric.

I cannot purchase any common building materials, fasteners, or common machinery calibrated in metric.

You can buy most of that in metric, pretty easily too. My little podunk hardware store has a MASSIVE metric fastener collection. Metric supplies, fittings, etc.. are readily available from most industrial suppliers. The only one I've actually had a hard time finding is metric sheet stock.

Ever try to machine parts in metric when all your tools, equipment, and entire shop is set up to do a different type of measuring? Huge pain in the ***. You have to convert everything. Every. Single. Thing. Sheet metal is sold in gauge thickness, pipe in IPS and bar stock is all in inch.

You're doing it the wrong way. You convert the drawing's dimensions to inch, and then you're good. You can then measure and machine everything with your existing tools without having to convert again.

Yeah, gotta love 1.27cm pipe.

Neither is easier if you're familiar with them. It would be a lot harder in many fields where historically, they've used freedom units.

Nothing wrong with 12.7mm pipe and hose. It's pretty common actually for European companies to mark their 1/2" products with that measurement. But you'd just switch over to standard metric sizing eventually anyways. 12mm,10mm, etc...

In medicine the English Birmingham Wire Gauge is still used to measure needles and catheters because is is easier to use a sizing system of 00000 - 36 rather than a bunch of seemingly random metric measurements from 12.7mm to 0.1mm.

Much easier to say give me an 20 gauge IV than a 0.9081mm IV.

The BWG isn't inch standard, nor does it follow any mathematical construct. It's completely arbitrary based on drawing operations for steel wire. Eventually the gauges were defined by numbers for standardization purposes, but they're just as arbitrary in inches as they are in metric. You could easily define a system rooted in metric numbers, and then label it something like size "A, B, C, D" or whatever to easily remember.

 

[HenryAZ]

Yeah but with common core it will take you longer to come up with an answer than to try 4 different wrenches.

The very reason I consider myself fortunate to have been educated in the 1950s-1960s. I was taught math and arithmetic the right way. I have seen common core problems posted on other forums, and all I can say is, why complicate it so much?

 

[kythri]

Provide a legitimate incentive to convert to metric, otherwise, shut up.

 

[tym]

I just wish people would stop the arguments of imperial being more accurate. That just makes you sound dumb, as neither system has inherent accuracy or lack-thereof. Besides, the inch is defined off the meter anyway. If dividing by two is easier than dividing by 10, great. Grab your 27/64ths and letter U drills and go town.

Agree 100%--but then I'm a former engineering student myself.

 

[CJM8515]

The very reason I consider myself fortunate to have been educated in the 1950s-1960s. I was taught math and arithmetic the right way. I have seen common core problems posted on other forums, and all I can say is, why complicate it so much?

Im not sure what idiot thought up that stuff but its like doing every *** backwards..the answer is sooo easy to get if you do it normally but 10x harder to get their way

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I wish the US had actually gone metric like I was told would happen back in 2nd grade.

If you are a civil engineer or contractor you no doubt have seen errors related to decimal feet (the units of land survey equipment and survey records) and ft and inches called out in drawings. Frequently a page of contract drawings will call out elevations in decimal ft while showing horizontal dimensions in ft, inches and fractions of inches. So people on the site might have both types of tape measures on hand. Next thing you know something that should have been installed at 5.3 ft got installed as 5 ft 3 inches.


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You explain that pure silliness much better than I did.

Since we work in both imperial and metric, it's easier to work in the measurement system the machine was designed in. Engineers tend to work in round numbers, so a bolt spacing of say 70mm is much easier to step off then 2.756" .

 

[smschriefer]

Provide a legitimate incentive to convert to metric, otherwise, shut up.

There are 7.2 BILLION potential consumers outside of the US versus our 327 MILLION domestic customer base. While our antiquated units of measurement don't prevent people from buying our products, it does lessen the demand. So... increased sales and possibly more jobs?

 

[kythri]

There are 7.2 BILLION potential consumers outside of the US versus our 327 MILLION domestic customer base. While our antiquated units of measurement don't prevent people from buying our products, it does lessen the demand. So... increased sales and possibly more jobs?

And what products would those be?

 

[mikehaugen]

Provide a legitimate incentive to convert to metric, otherwise, shut up.

If you don't like the discussion, move on. I don't really know what makes you feel that you are the one who can decide what is a worthwhile discussion.

I believe the incentive has been hashed over quite a few times... we are stuck with multiple measuring systems because the rest of the world has mostly gone to metric. If all countries kept to themselves it wouldn't be an issue, but the fact is scientists and engineers from all over the world collaborate on projects, items are imported/exported... either we change, the rest if the world changes... or we have to deal with multiple measuring systems which at times can be a pia.

I'm pretty sure we're not going to convince the rest of the world, so that only leaves 2 other options. People are stating their opinions about what they feel is best. What's the big deal with that?

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[kythri]

It was a general comment to everyone that whinges about how horrible it is to have to remember those oh-so-difficult fractions because they can't solve a math equation that doesn't require counting on their fingers and toes.

It wasn't specifically directed to anyone here.

The whinging about the US not converting to metric is dumb. The US has converted where it needs to. If there was a good reason (i.e. an incentive) for the rest of the stuff to be converted, we would, but there isn't.

We've abandoned certain units of measurement (rods, chains, furlongs). Over time, we'll abandon more, and eventually, we'll undoubtedly be converted over.

Honestly, the biggest proponents of some sort of "forced" conversion seems to be mental midgets who can't do binary arithmetic.

Forgive me if I shudder at the thought of those individuals dictating policy.

 

[smschriefer]

And what products would those be?

Are you obtuse on purpose? Everything. Have you noticed how even American designed cars use mainly metric fasteners and engines are measured in liters? Aircraft are designed in metric units, etc. Those industries are prime examples of adapting to a global market place.

 

[American Locomotive]

I measure a piece of metal at 152 and 41/64" and I want the piece to measure 112 and 11/16", it's not even remotely obviously or quick to figure out how much I need to cut off.

3862.4 mm - 2862.3 mm on the other hand is a far more immediately obvious calculation.

Calling someone who doesn't work with fractions every second of their life a "mental midget" is ridiculous. Someone shouldn't have to remember every combination of fraction to do quick math. The beauty of base 10 metric units is that the math is inherently easy to do. You don't have to rely on tricks and memorization.

 

[kythri]

Calling someone who doesn't work with fractions every second of their life a "mental midget" is ridiculous. Someone shouldn't have to remember every combination of fraction to do quick math. The beauty of base 10 metric units is that the math is inherently easy to do. You don't have to rely on tricks and memorization.

If you can base 10, you can binary.

1 2 4 8 16 occasionally 32, rarely 64. You're not going to see too many /128 or greater measurements.

It is equally inherently easy. You don't have to "work with fractions every second of your life" to grasp elementary school arithmetic. So, yeah, mental midget still applies.

 

[kythri]

There are 7.2 BILLION potential consumers outside of the US versus our 327 MILLION domestic customer base. While our antiquated units of measurement don't prevent people from buying our products, it does lessen the demand. So... increased sales and possibly more jobs?

Are you obtuse on purpose? Everything. Have you noticed how even American designed cars use mainly metric fasteners and engines are measured in liters? Aircraft are designed in metric units, etc. Those industries are prime examples of adapting to a global market place.

Are you? You made the insinuation that, our "antiquated units of measurement" "lessen the demand" for products. I asked you to provide an example, and you provide an example that, in your own words, has already adapted? Seriously, and you're asking if I'm the obtuse one?

Unfortunately, I can't speak monosyllabically enough for you, but I can speak in plain English:

Provide an example of a product that supports your supposition that, as it currently utilizes Imperial measurements, would see an increased demand were it to convert to Metric measurements.

 

[Toothaker]

Are you obtuse on purpose? Everything. Have you noticed how even American designed cars use mainly metric fasteners and engines are measured in liters? Aircraft are designed in metric units, etc. Those industries are prime examples of adapting to a global market place.

Boeing, Textron (Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft), Bombardier (Lear) and all the other North American aviation manufacturers use SAE measurements designing and building their aircraft.

 

[kythri]

Oh, snap. I guess they didn't adapt after all?

 

[smschriefer]

Are you? You made the insinuation that, our "antiquated units of measurement" "lessen the demand" for products. I asked you to provide an example, and you provide an example that, in your own words, has already adapted? Seriously, and you're asking if I'm the obtuse one?

Unfortunately, I can't speak monosyllabically enough for you, but I can speak in plain English:

Provide an example of a product that supports your supposition that, as it currently utilizes Imperial measurements, would see an increased demand were it to convert to Metric measurements.

You are being quite obtuse. I pointed to specific industries that HAVE adapted to remain competitive to show to you why it IS important to use metric measurements.

I would ask you to name one industry that works globally that does not operate in metric. Try to have something you want produced to work in Europe to NOT have metric and see how far you go. Ask a factory in Asia to buy all SAE tools because you don't want metric fasteners. See how far that flies.

Sure, one could argue that a home built in the US doesn't need metric. However, it would still benefit as fractional divisions do cause numerous errors on jobsites every day of the year and you know it to be true. Think of the savings of manpower and materials to not redo work as a result of erroneous readings in our "standard" form of measurement.