"Metric" countries question

[MagnumForce]

Let's get things straight. The measurements in the UK are more messed up than in the US. Miles, Stone, Kilograms, Imperial Gallons, Celsius. Just what system do you use?

 

[dnschmidt]

I agree with ctb indirectly. TOPTUL has extensive 1/4" and 1/2" drive selection and their 3/8" drive sets more or less ****. The reason for this is that Europe is their primary market and that's apparently what Europe wants. Drives me nuts as a person importing their tools since in the USA 3/8" drive is where it's at. None of this makes any sense to me since their cars are smaller than ours. What the hell do you use 1/2" drive for in England when your cars are the size of the Mini? We drive Ford F350's and we use 3/8" drive. I remember in the old days (say 1960's and 1970's) back when I was young and American cars were huge 1/2" drive was more popular in America back then because the bolts were bigger. Seems nuts to me that Europe is all 1/4" and 1/2" but judging by TOPTUL's catalog this apparently is a fact.

 

[Hogtown]

I personally prefer metric, but I can live with either SAE or metric. I do wish we would pick one and go with it. I'm 58 years old and America has been in the process of converting to metric my whole dang life. I will probably die of old age well before the USA can manage the switch to metric. It's high time to either fish or cut bait.

 

[Harrison2]

growing up in the UK and moving to the US, the whole gallons to litres and quarts is taking some getting used to, ft lbs instead of NM.

im gunna find and print some conversion tables for my toolbox

 

[Lx460]

It's all good except for when you're reading an online profile of a girl. 115 sounds great until you find out its in kilos...

 

[robalmal]

We switched to metric here in Australia when I was in highschool, so I have a pretty good grasp of both systems. I do find it easier to judge a persons height in feet and inches however.
On the news , the cops might be looking for a suspect who is 185 cms. and it takes me time to calculate mentally, that he is 6 ft.
I reckon they would catch more criminals if they described the height in both systems.

 

[rednotch]

drives are imperial, commonly 3/8 and 1/2. Bits are metric, eg 8-32 mm.
although im in a 'metric country' New Zealand - there is still a mix. height of a person is typically feet, but weight is kg. Everything in aviation everywhere is imperial, roading and cars are exclusively metric bar rim sizes. most cars are Japanese/Korean, with a bit form Australia and Europe so all fastners etc are metric.

Same as Australia.

your car rims are metric in height or width or both?

finding tires in metric height in the us is a pita and there like double the cost. Very few cars used them in the late 70's early 80's

So many industries would be worthless if everyone switched to a single system lol.

 

[dutchgray]

None of this makes any sense to me since their cars are smaller than ours. What the hell do you use 1/2" drive for in England when your cars are the size of the Mini?

We have a lot of rust to deal with, our cars are smaller than yours but its because they need to be, the few American cars and trucks that are here always look stupidly big next to our stuff. I have 3/8" drive stuff but need 1/2" for the bigger stuff on my land rover and the machinery at work.

 

[Hogtown]

We have a lot of rust to deal with, our cars are smaller than yours but its because they need to be

Truer words were never spoken.....I would sure hate to drive my Ford F250 in say, Rome. If I lived in Europe, I'd have a smaller vehicle and be happy that I wasn't forced to navigate an American car through the narrow lanes of nearly any downtown.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

I once went to buy some three quarter inch plywood. "We've only got metric sizes" I was told, "So it'll have to be 19mm"! "Fine" I said, "What size sheets do you have?" "8 foot by four of course" was the reply!

That was a good chuckle to wake up to.

im gunna find and print some conversion tables for my toolbox

Starrett offers a pack of freebies that include some nice conversion cards (fraction, decimal & Metric), and poster for free. Keep mine in my drawer with my taps and drill bits.
http://www.starrett.com/catalogs

 

[dnschmidt]

Rust???. I live in Phoenix, AZ. What's rust?

 

[EricS]

It's all good except for when you're reading an online profile of a girl. 115 sounds great until you find out its in kilos...

On the other hand 15cm sounds better than 6 inches.

A nice thing about metric vs imperial taps is to calculate a metric tap drill simply subtract pitch from nominal diameter.A 6mm with a 1mm pitch takes a 5mm drill.
With imperial taps one has to choose from fractional,letter and number drills.A 1/4-20 requires a #7 drill

 

[MagnumForce]

1/4 - 20 requires a 7/32 drill bit if you don't have numbered. Like anything, you do it enough it becomes old hat.

 

[rice rocket]

When you need to add/subtract/multiply or convert, doing it in the metric system is much easier.

Who cares about 1/4, 3/8, 1/2" drives, they are what they are. You don't add a 1/4" to a 3/8" to make a 5/8" drive.

 

[MagnumForce]

I have heard scuttlebutt of a 5/8 inch drive in the works

 

[Outlander]

I just baked banana bread - all in imperial measures.

 

[theoldwizard1]

We really need to get onboard with this metric thing...
Was at work work the other day and 4 mechanics couldnt covert 215 MM to a fraction, just stood around with our eyes crossed and our thumbs up our asses until break time.

To convert mm to 1/16th of an inch

1. divide by 25.4 (8.465)
2. divide by 0.0625 (1/16) and drop the decimals (135)
3. divide by 16 and drop the decimals (8) THIS IS THE NUMBER OF INCHES
4. multiply by 16 (128)
5. subtract that number from what you had in step 2 (7) THIS IS THE NUMBER OF 16th

The answer is 8 -7/16th


If you can't deal with this, buy a digital caliper. Even the cheap ones will convert mm, to decimal inches or inches and fractions !