/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.194131]

do you think that imperial tools will ever be phased out?

does anyone out there actually like the imperial system over metric?
and why?

[Anonymous No.194133]

Eventually they will stop making products that use Imperial fasteners. Maybe America will even go Metric.

But we will always need Imperial tools because of all the shit thats full of Imperial fasteners.


I like dividing things by three.

[Anonymous No.194134]

the day that the world goes metric will be a glorious one.

i remember my high school's auto shop needed 2 sets of every tool. i wonder how many thousands of dollars would have been saved if the world was just metric.

[Anonymous No.194144]

>>194134
Imagine how much it would cost American automakers to switch to metric.

never gonna happen.

[Anonymous No.194147]

sadly, the US continues to cling to that outdated measurement system, along with those well-know bastions of advancement, Burma and Liberia.

even North Korea and Pakistan have moved onto metric... like the rest of the planet.

so, sadly, with america's inability to actually accept that evil yoorupeen measurement system. I expect imperial will be around for a long time to come.

[Anonymous No.194149]

>>194144
They already are.

[Anonymous No.194151]

>>194149
source?

[Anonymous No.194158]

I don't mind the imperial system, really. For fasteners, the fractional system reduces the necessary number of sizes; instead of having a size for every millimeter, you've got 1/2", 3/8", and 1/4", and rarely something weird (like 5/16") or large (like 3/4"). This reduces the number of parts you need to keep on hand, and also has the side benefit of making the sizes easy to recognize by sight.

But really though, our brains are built on association, not math, so whichever system we use will feel natural after awhile.

[Anonymous No.194159]

The only good metric measurement is the millimeter. Ok, the meter isn't all that bad either.

But metric system has no good foot sized measurement. You go from centimeter straight to meters. You don't even try to use decimeters.

Also 12 is a better number to divide something by. That way you have 1/2 and 1/3 in whole units.

[Anonymous No.194161]

>>194159
Like I said, I like being able to easily divide by 3

[Anonymous No.194163]

>>194144

There's a big world outside the USA and the auto makers want to sell their shit to the other countries, too.
Interestingly, the American semiconductor manufacturers are also slowly switching to metric, even though imperial stuff would be (mostly) fine.

>>194159

Ok, 12 inches in one foot. Anything else which is divisible by 12?

[Anonymous No.194168]

>>194163
>Ok, 12 inches in one foot. Anything else which is divisible by 12?

I think he means that if he wants 1/3 of a foot, or 1/6 of a foot, or 1/2 of a foot, or 1/4 of a foot, all of those are whole numbers of inches. 12 has a lot of factors for being such a small number.

[Anonymous No.194169]

>>194147
Also Americans are stupid because they only know one language and are allowed to own guns and hate paying taxes.

Americans are so dumb.

[Radiofag No.194170]

>>194169
I know, it's so stupid of us to love checks & balances, liberty, and spending our own money on what we please.

[Anonymous No.194177]

>>194169

Last I checked "America" was about 34 different countries. The United States is one of those countries. That said, we don't have one language either. Whats the official language of the USA? None. Shitons of people here are bilingual also. Trilingual even. As for the gun thing, many places allow you do own guns, they just don't make as big of a stink about it as we do. You know, the whole America, Fuck Yeah thing, which I'm not a fan of.

[Anonymous No.194178]

the tools will never be obsolete or at least it will take hundreds of years. There will still need to be repairs made on old stuff or retrofits made to old things that will use stupid imperial measure. Over the last 2 decades the HVAC industrial sectors have made large pushes to metric so that is good and cars have been that way for years.Someday everything brand new will be metric and hopefully they just change all the roadsigns over along with gaspumps,scales,maps,and well fudge everything. They did that half ass slow type changeover in the 70's and it failed due to people resisting. If it all gets changed over in a couple weeks time everyone will be used to it.

[Anonymous No.194182]

>>194178

Well, until something better than metric comes around. Seriously, 21 different measurements of length? Why do we need that many? I know, its all about things being ten and nice round numbers but seriously? Twenty One? When have you ever even used a exameter? My spell check doesn't even know that word. Zeptometre? Same deal. 21 units and we use 4 of them in every day life. While its more reasonable than the old Imperial system it is by no means perfect.

[Anonymous No.194294]

Irishfag here, metric and loving it.

Once vehicles from before the noughties are off the road, we'll finally be able to dump our imperial tools. But other than that, we never have to use 2 systems.

...unless we're dealing with America.

[Anonymous No.194317]

>>194144
>American auto industry

Here in the UK we dont have imperial measurements on our cars..... because we dont have a car industry any more.

Out of principle I might recode my cars ECU to display L/100Km rather than MPG

[Anonymous No.194325]

>>194131
As an american carpenter I can't even imagine how metric woodworkers do it. The imperial system was developed over countless centuries and there is a reason it works so well. I don't care how much time a 10 based system saves for you calculator shitbags, out in the real world it makes no sense.

[Anonymous No.194329]

>>194325
WOW that is funny. I actually convert stuff over to metric when woodworking. It is easier to do the math in my head without ever screwing up a fraction. Fuck fractions. Even when using imperial I switch it up to .0000 for measurements. I hate having to multiply by 12 when a nice 10, everything is a 10 or a 1 or a 1000. I need to make 10 pieces? easy, add in for kerf and cut cut cut. Its all about what you are used to and if imperial was the second thing you came across after using metric you would be all like "wtf how u do this fraction of footies and shit"

[Anonymous No.194330]

>>194325
To be fair, for scientific purposes metric is a godsend. It's infinitely more useful for anything that scales and isn't a size one would work with using their hands.

For anything related to handiwork, Imperial is more sensible. I don't see why the two can't coexist since they have very different uses.

[Anonymous No.194332]

>>194329
>Its all about what you are used to and if imperial was the second thing you came across after using metric you would be all like "wtf how u do this fraction of footies and shit"
I understand this, but I just can't see how you would eyeball something in mm. They're so small. And now I gotta ask, how many mm is a standard kerf blade? 1/8" over here.

[Anonymous No.194333]

>>194329
As someone who grew up with metric, fractions and the number 12 are piss-easy. Measure twice, cut once. It's no different with metric.

[Anonymous No.194334]

>>194329
ugh so you're one of those asshole who can't say 5/16" or whatever and have to put everything as .0000 something of an inch.

[Anonymous No.194335]

>>194330
>>194325
>For anything related to handiwork, Imperial is more sensible.
How? Why?

When I was in elementary school, we got a finnish-american teacher who tried to make us use imperial in everything. As our group of ten-year-old kids got behind more and more when we just couldn't make heads or tails of it, he got assigned another group(and later laid off when he tried the same on them). He kept on saying how imperial is superior, but never explained why he thought so.

[Anonymous No.194340]

Anyone know where I can get a metric adjustable wrench? Just can't seem to find one anywhere.

[Anonymous No.194342]

>>194340
6/10
I know you'll get some idiot here.

[Anonymous No.194348]

>>194335
It's much easier to eyeball and it was designed primarily for sizes encountered when making things with your hands. Like I said, it has no place where extreme accuracy is necessary, or where you're dealing with absurdly large numbers.

[Anonymous No.194351]

>>194348
He said that too, and it didn't make sense that time either. I always measure the parts even when I'm certain of the measurements.

[Anonymous No.194354]

>>194351
IDK im pretty good eyeballing with Imperial, but if I'd grown up with Metric, I might be good eyeballing that too.

[Anonymous No.194362]

>>194354
does eyeballing have any place in a discussion about units of measure?

[Anonymous No.194363]

>>194362
It does when one is discussing the practical uses of that unit of measure.

[Anonymous No.194365]

>>194362
Does that cock have any place in your mouth?

[Anonymous No.194366]

>>194363

It sounds more like a familiarity thing than anything else.

[Anonymous No.194367]

hack tip: most metric tools fit imperial hardware, and vice versa

[Anonymous No.194371]

>>194354
I guess it's a matter of the scale and detail you're working on/used to. I've not only worked on furniture, but also on miniatures and micrometer-accurate wind-turbine gear shafts.

Vid kinda related on that point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=74D9HCYi_gc#t=66s

While the human eye is a very good tool, I learned early on to measure, measure and measure again. At every step.

[Anonymous No.194374]

I like the imperial system, because im American

[Anonymous No.194376]

I just had a minor freak out when I considered how all my drill bits would become obsolete if we went metric. And I have a lot of drill bits, various styles, quality made.

[Anonymous No.194381]

>>194376

And the government will come to your home and take them if you relect Obama and his Liberal socialist cronies!

God bless America!

[Sage No.194383]

>>194374
I laughed, thanks for the excellent post

[Anonymous No.194388]

>>194381
gb2

>>>/k/

[Anonymous No.194399]

i love the imperial system. and then, our great nation of briftfaggotland decided to abandon it in favour of the metric system.

i love the way that you normally get timber in cubic feet though, fuck all tha' haterz

[Anonymous No.194400]

>>194144
probably a small fraction of the budget. They wouldn't need to buy new tools, just relabel the older ones and add a few new ones.

[None !!BUFjitBt2Cd No.194404]

I doubt it will ever be phased out, because cheap plentiful computing power has made unit conversion trivial for every measurement system. In a world where pocket calculators were $100 and computers cost more than most cars, though, I can see why people would have wanted to consolidate.

I have no idea what the difference is between the true British Imperial units and the Americanized SAE version, but I know there is one. When I was a young boy, my father showed me an old Imperial wrench set he found while cleaning house, an artifact from a year he spent drifting around Europe in the early '70s. He told me they were useless now, except for working on very old British cars (something he also warned me very strongly against doing), and threw them in the scrap metal bin.

I personally prefer SAE tool sizing because I prefer fractional measurements to decimal ones. It is much easier for me to juggle 16ths in my head than 10ths or 100ths.
Also certain unit conversions are more likely to resolve into clean numbers. For example, a third of a foot can be reduced to a nice, clean 4 inches. A third of a meter cannot be cleanly simplified without the use of infinitely repeating decimals.

[None !!BUFjitBt2Cd No.194405]

>>194144
What the fuck are you talking about?

American automakers switched over back in the 70's

[Anonymous No.194406]

>>194340
I have a 200mm adjustable wrench.

[Anonymous No.194420]

One of America's shittiest automakers, Ford, has been using both Metric & Imperial fasteners on their vehicles for the last 20 years.

I helped my friend do a brake job on his car, and I was shocked to find out how many different components are made elsewhere with varying grades of quality. Japan, China, Mexico, etc. Two of the four brake calipers had mismatch bolts, and of course no anti-sieze or grease... but I digress.

Some bright folks at NASA learned the hard way that Mix n Match measurement systems equal fail. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

[Anonymous No.194439]

>>194404
i actually just like being able to say "inch 'n' three eights" etc. and the measurements are a lot easier to translate to the thickos of the world.

i think, when they're used in their proper forms, metric and imperial are both amazing tools. however, similar to many tools, people think they can be used for multiple purposes.

for example:
CNC milling, precise design: Metric. gotta be done.
anything by hand: imperial. makes more sense

>someone who converted from metric to imperial and has no problem with either

[Anonymous No.194442]

Seriously America....defending the imperial system.

2012 ISHYGDDTS!!!!

How could something be more simple than whole numbers in numerical order.

[Anonymous No.194444]

I don't understand how imperial is better for working with ones' hands... I've worked construction and framed houses, dug foundations, laid block, built furniture, and done roofing all using the imperial system, but I don't think it would have been more difficult to measure x.xx Meters instead of 8' 6 3/4" or the like. In fact, with all the marks on a metric tape being base 10, instead of 16ths, I think it would be quicker.

I use both systems because my construction work funded a science degree, and I find myself preferring metric now. It'd be a real pain in the ass to build a metric house though, with the industry standard 4x8' sheets.

[Anonymous No.194457]

>>194406
That's not the point.

Most 8" wrenches say 8" on one side and 200mm on the other. That refers to length. The joke is about opening size. The joke is funny because an adjustable wrench can fit either an Imperial or Metric bolt.

[Anonymous No.194469]

>>194457
I think you're dense.

[Anonymous No.194497]

>>194444

Ah, I guess no one ever enlightened you. I thought the same thing until an old carpenter and furniture builder clued me in. He didn't use plans, everything was done by eye or with a marking gauge. That man could knock out a dovetail joint in just a few minutes with nothing but a saw and a pencil. Anyway, almost all the units of length or fractions there of come from the human body.
An inch? the length of your thumb from the last joint to the end of the nail.
4 inches? Width of the hand (ahand is also an old imperial measurement)
6 inches? Base of your palm to the end of a finger (for him it was his index, mine to to the pinky)
8 inches? One cock.
18 inches? Elbow to tip of a finger (fun fact, also called a cubit, an old Egyptian measurement... who's hieroglyph is a bent arm)
30 inches, 2.5 feet? One step of your feet.
36 inches? Distance from an outstretched arm to your sternum.
50 inches, 5 feet? One pace, 2 steps.

So, back when a good measuring stick was something fancy pants learned fuckers had all the poor folk used what they had at hand... which was mostly their hand. Still works too, just make sure you fit the standard sizes. Oh, and don't be working at NASA doing this. Someone did that a few years back and forget to take into account the smaller size of the imperial cock compared to the metric cock and ended up fucking the surface of mars with their satellite.

[Anonymous No.194501]

>>194497

and I forgot the pic. How this isn;t to racy for you punks bitching about boards being work safe.

reCaptcha: ofpous PRIVATE

[Anonymous No.194506]

Can an Amerifat please explain this argument to me

"You cant accurately guess a measurement in MM"

What the fuck are you talking about, just because there is a larger distance between inch 7 and inch 8 doesnt mean you are anymore wrong when you say its 7 inches when its 7 and 5/8.

Also my dear Amerifats, stop using

"America is a continent not a country"

Its internationaly understood that when someone says America, they are talking about USA, you are just being pedantic to one up and you look petty as hell.

[Anonymous No.194514]

All standard through-hole electronic components (e.g. '80s-era microchips) historically use pins spaced 0.1 inches apart, or a multiple thereof.

The easy solution for be to use decimal divisions of inches, like the electronics industry has been doing for 40 years!

[Anonymous No.195333]

quit your bitching op, you might as well be asking if oil will ever be phased out.

[Anonymous No.195347]

>>194497
Standardization was and is the point of the metric system.

The values of inches, feet, yards, miles and whatnot have varied and still vary from time to time and place to place.

[Anonymous No.195370]

Sure, you can get used to either system, but the metric system is superior to the imperial system because of the simple fact that it's a decimal system.
That said, tools are the least of my concerns regarding the imperial system.

In my opinion they should've made time a decimal system as well.
I'm not a huge fan of the French, but in terms of standardization they are frickin awesome.

French Revolutionary Time FTW.

[Anonymous No.195384]

>>194317
>uk fag

I for one can't even have a conversation with anyone in the uk about metric/imperial systems.

I mean people here still use stone as a popular way to measure weight.

People still say mpg, when we sell petrol by the L.

People still talk about ounces/pounds when we sell items by the gram.

Fucking hate this place, can't wait to move.

[Anonymous No.195393]

It is times like these when I wonder how stupid and retarded americans really are.. It is like they are an unevolved species that cannot argue a logical point.

[Anonymous No.195394]

>arguing over measurement systems

why do you guys hate freedom?

why is it that your shit opinions should affect my ability to use whatever system I want?

>that feel when using both systems for different situations

>that feel when deciding to run 2 miles
>that feel when rowing 5k
>that feel when shooting 300m targets
>that feel when building in imperial
>that feel when sciencing in metric
>those feels
>they feel so good

[Anonymous No.195396]

also what is wrong with you that you can't learn both, like in god-tier USA?

[Anonymous No.195407]

>>195394
It's not freedom.
It's a waste of time and energy to maintain two systems for the same purpose.
Opt for the better one.
I could ask you if you hated compatibility.
The imperial system is sufficient for most tasks but just isn't as capable as the metric system.

[Anonymous No.195408]

>>195396
cant divide

[Anonymous No.195409]

>>195396
Same goes for you.
Because it's a waste of time and energy!

[Anonymous No.195411]

>>195409
>i dont like it so it should be taken away from everybody

poor rural eurofriends who have a use for a firearm
they have to jump through crazy hoops to get one because of this type of logic

[Anonymous No.195415]

>>195411
So I guess the government having to waste literally hundreds of millions of dollars every year on this (this is a fact, look it up) doesn't matter? The martian probe that was lost isn't even the tip of the iceberg, it's just the most quoted example.

But hey, it's not my money. I'm just pointing out that you are the one pissing on your own shoes.

[Anonymous No.195419]

I am so sick of these liberal fags trying to push the metric system, this is america, we use the imperial system, the greatest cars on the earth where built with the imperial system.

if you don't like it leave!

[Anonymous No.195420]

>>195411
You do realize that you complicate things for everyone by sticking to an archaic system. I wouldn't mind the imperial system if it didn't affect me.

[Anonymous No.195426]

>>195419
> I like american cars hurr durr.

What the hell kinda argument is that?

[Anonymous No.195490]

Wow, I hate how stupid my fellow Americans make us look sometimes. All Americans will convert to metric as it progresses through our country. More and more merchandise is being made with metric fasteners. Eventually the imperial system will be weeded out, but until then, we will continue to use what we were raised using. We are taught as Americans to be proud of and to fight for what we believe in no matter what anyone else says or does. So, we are all going to defend our way of doing things, just some of us will try even though they have nothing to contribute to the argument.

OP, congrats on your successful troll. You got Europeans to attack Americans and generalize all of us as stupid and arrogant. This isn't hard to do, I don't see how you're entertained.

[Anonymous No.195518]

The real horror of switching over, for me at least, is all those places where the intermingling of hardware would cause endless headaches.

I bolt truss together all the time with 15/16 bolts and hardware. If those suddenly became unavailable, I would have to ditch all my current inventory and buy all new Grade 8 bolts in metric sizes. Not cheap. I should stockpile those now for a hasty profit later.

It would be decades at least before johnny homeowner gave up the Imperial system.

It would be like the FCC redividing the wireless bands all over again, except on a much larger scale.

[Anonymous No.195546]

>>195518
>It would be decades at least before johnny homeowner gave up the Imperial system.
That's the problem. For everyday use the imperial system is more than sufficient.

>>195490
It's like these stupid religion vs atheism threads. People are very emotional about their point of view.
I'm a pragmatic, so I would love to use French Revolutionary Time. As said before the French are awesome regarding standardization.

[Anonymous No.195885]

More important question, why are people still using Philips heads when Robertson is far superior?

[Anonymous No.195890]

well once they make a tool to work with a particular part it'll never be totally phased out. It's vary frustrating but it's rare for all manufactures be on the same page about having a universal design.

[Anonymous No.195898]

The funny part is even Metric sockets are still sized as 1/4", 3/8" 3/4" etc. drive.

[Anonymous No.195924]

I work as an millwright with both metric and imperial measurements every day (factory has euro and us made machinery).

The only advantages of imperial is that 12 can be divided many ways easily (by 2,3,4,6). That's it. That's all. That's the only advantage. Every other possible advantage deluded minds have conceived is a figment of the imagination. NOW, the biggest, completely insurmountable disadvantage of imperial is that sometimes (but not always) as size decreases, numbers increase (3/8 is smaller than 1/2). Not only is this totally counter intuitive, it's not even consistently counter intuitive. Sometimes a bigger number mean a bigger part, sometimes it doesn't (3/8 is smaller than 9/16).

This is all not to mention that imperial is a DERIVATIVE of metric. You heard that right. Your precious imperial system is a derivative, a shadow of the metric system. In the US, UK and Canada an inch is legally defined as 25.4mm and has been this way since WWII. The imperial system you are defending isn't centuries old, it's younger than the metric system. The imperial system isn't based on the human body, it's based on an arbitrary number of metric units.

[Anonymous No.195926]

>>195924
>You heard that right. Your precious imperial system is a derivative, a shadow of the metric system. In the US, UK and Canada an inch is legally defined as 25.4mm and has been this way since WWII. The imperial system you are defending isn't centuries old, it's younger than the metric system. The imperial system isn't based on the human body, it's based on an arbitrary number of metric units.
Can't tell if troll of dumb

[Anonymous No.195928]

>>194317
>image shows the Ford, GM, and Chrysler logos

Ford was never in financial trouble, didn't take bailout loans, has been making money hand-over-fist for the past decade, and manufactured several of the best-selling vehicles in Europe during the 00's. They shouldn't even be in this image.

GM's car division was never in trouble and continues to have massive marketshare. The asian market in particular continues to suck GM's cock at every opportunity. However, their financing division (GMAC) was massively invested in the housing market at the time crash, and this damn near sank them, necessitating them taking the bailout loan. Tl;dr: GM's acceptance of bailout money had nothing to do with their cars, so the image's statement doesn't actually apply to them. That logo should be removed.

I have no defense for Chrysler and they really deserved to go bankrupt, but it looks like they're on track to pay back their bailout loan anyway.

[Anonymous No.196079]

>>195885
Made my day.

But seriously, why are there still Philips screws when Pozidriv is far better.

[Anonymous No.196124]

>>196079
Security Hex Pin is best.

[Anonymous No.196125]

>>196124
Flathead here, Security Hex Pin is a fag.

[Anonymous No.196165]

>>196125
>"Security" screws

all of my hate, ussally can find a small enough flat head to wedge in for secure torx

[Anonymous No.196275]

>>196125
>washerless

You probably could have just used a rubber ball to open that.

[Anonymous No.196563]

>>196124
No, just get out.

Hex is ok, I prefer it in larger applications such as 3//16 as up. Smaller and I'd rather have Torx.

[Anonymous No.196564]

>>196079
If I could easily but Pozi screwdrives, (as well as Pozi bits in bulk) here in 'Merica I might like them.

As it is Pozi in America is just a half stripped Philips.

[Anonymous No.196567]

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[Anonymous No.196652]

(part 1 of 3)
First of all, America switched over to the Metric system a long time ago.. Problem is, people don't want to change.

The story of the Metric conversion is long and sad.

1866 The use of the metric system made legal in the United States by the Metric Act of 1866 (Public Law 39-183). This law made it unlawful to refuse to trade or deal in metric quantities.

1964 The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) made the metric system its standard "except when the use of these units would obviously impair communication or reduce the usefulness of a report."
-being the first government entity to begin using the Metric system

1968 Public Law 90-472 authorized a 3-year U.S. Metric Study, to determine the impact of increasing metric use on the U.S. This study was carried out by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS).

1971 The U.S. Metric Study resulted in a Report to the Congress: A Metric America, A Decision Whose Time Has Come. The 13-volume report concluded that the U.S. should, indeed, "go metric" deliberately and carefully through a coordinated national program, and establish a target date 10 years ahead, by which time the U.S. would be predominately metric.
-First time we actually said we would go Metric.

[Anonymous No.196653]

(part 2 of 3)

1974 The Education Amendments of 1974 (Public Law 92-380) encouraged educational agencies and institutions to prepare students to use the metric system of measurement as part of the regular educational program.
-The law that lead to the mandatory teaching of the Metric system.

1975 The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-168) passed by Congress. The Metric Act established the U.S. Metric Board to coordinate and plan the increasing use and voluntary conversion to the metric system. However, the Metric Act was devoid of any target dates for metric conversion.
-The second time we failed to convert after saying we would.

1979 The Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) requires wine producers and importers to switch to metric bottles in seven standard [liter and milliliter] sizes.

1980 The Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) requires distilled spirits (hard liquor) bottles to conform to the volume of one of six standard metric [liter and milliliter] sizes.
-The combined effort to switch over the drunk and rowdy.

1991 President George H. W. Bush signed Executive Order 12770, Metric Usage in Federal Government Programs directing all executive departments and federal agencies implement the use of the metric system. The Executive Order is also available as an appendix to: Interpretation of the SI for the United States and Federal Government Metric Conversion Policy
- All government entities are required by law to be metric.

1994 The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA) was amended to add a requirement for metric units on most consumer products.

1996 July All surface temperature observations in National Weather Service METAR/TAF reports are now transmitted in degrees Celsius.

[Anonymous No.196656]

(part 3 of 4 longer than I expected)

So the big question is why hasn't the US people adopt the Metric system? This is only my opinion, so take it as that simply an opinion. I believe the main problem with the American people in this situation is the level of industry, and technological boom of the turn of the 19th century. From early 1800's to late 1900's the American industry was in a constant state of flux. The metric system was first made prominent in 1840 when it was adopted by the French. It wasn't until much later that English speaking countries even considered it. In the early 1900's through late 1900's the United States was making a power play on world economics, excluding the 20's for reasons I need not to explain, this was most evident during world war one and two where mass production was on the rise. It wasn't until the 1970's that we made a real commitment too the metric system, which was far too late for a country that had blossomed into a production machine. There was simply too much to change at this point, the auto industry, electronics, housing, and all other forms of assembly was being done in the Imperial system. For a company to switch over would be a definite loss in profit, considering that all of the machines they were using would become obsolete or require adjustments, for companies that made all of their money making fittings, changing all of their equipment just to make stuff no one in the country uses would be a nightmare. The car industry, would not be able to convert either, because to convert they would need to buy metric parts or produce them their selves, so they either had to change all of their machines or buy parts from out of the country, boosting production prices sky high simply to change the size of things on a small negligible scale. These options were just not possible at the time.

[Anonymous No.196657]

(part 4 of 4 finally)

Earlier I heard someone in this thread mention that the lower end countries in the world even changed, such as North Korea and Libya, I'd like to apply my example from above. These countries do not produce the amount of product the US produces on a regular basis, so the loss of money for them is not substantial, not to mention these countries would import parts any way since they are made so cheaply elsewhere in the modern world, with a world that is already full of metric the cheaper option for them is to go metric. So you cannot use the argument that even these countries can do it, since they are in the beginning stages of development on a world scale when it comes to economics.

Although I have given the United States a large amount of justification for not converting, I believe it is only a matter of time before metric parts become the standard in industry. Though I doubt people will ever stop referring to things in feet, inches, miles, and lbs.

Personally I grew up with both systems, I switch between the two rather smoothly and have little to no problem converting between.

Also, posting limits are stupid.

[Clyde !!+17g380jpAu No.196669]

I like imperial for fixing things around the house, and cars. However as a mechanical engineering student I love metric when designing things since it makes sense. MAKES SENSE.

From a design stand point metric is amazing, whilst everything else sort of leans toward imperial(I mean inches are easier to use than centimeters because of the fact centimeters are too small partitions of a meter. If decimeters were used that might change something.

Just my two cents.

[Anonymous No.196897]

>>196275
You're an idiot.

[Anonymous No.196916]

>>196669
> the fact centimeters are too small partitions of a meter. If decimeters were used that might change something.

Yeah, and the Fahrenheit scale is a total failure because deg. F is inconveniently small, right?

If that's really a problem to you, then round shit to the nearest 10cm. Or 25mm, if you like inches. Or something.

[Anonymous No.196940]

IMO one of the beauties of the Imperial system is the fact that there is no sliding conversion.

An example would be height, lets say 5'10" now in metric that could be 1 meter, 78 centimeters, or 178 centimeters. Does anyone really say 1 meter/78 centimeters? Or is it simply consolidated to 178 centimeters? Cause no one says I'm 70 inches tall.

Really for practical purposes if the decimeter had taken off then it would work well as a replacement for foot/inches.

>most of the time I use Imperial.
>All of my measuring devices have both, so I use which ever gives me the best accuracy.

[Anonymous No.196944]

>>196916
>Yeah, and the Fahrenheit scale is a total failure because deg. F is inconveniently small, right?

Actually I think Celsius has poor resolution for everyday use. 0F=-18C 100F=38C

For scientific use it makes a lot of sense since the total scale is much much larger...(But scientist use Kelvin anyway.)

[Anonymous No.196953]

>>196940

Ok, so the metric USA will measure shit in decimeters. While the rest of the world doesn't use the unit that much (textile industry seems to be an exception, to a certain extent), nothing really prevents you from using it.

> Or is it simply consolidated to 178 centimeters?

Yes. Or if you want to express it in meters, then it's 1.78m. Mixing both meters and centimeters won't make it any easier to understand.

[Anonymous No.196956]

>>196944
Not sure if trolling or stupid.

0c = water freezing. It can't get more simple than that. And don't go starting with the 'well, 0F is brine saltwater freezing... because y'know, it's SO common for people to be using water completely saturated with salt. After all, that's what comes out of our fucking taps, right? Idiot. Even ignoring all of the scientific reasoning as to why Celcius is a million times better... the freezing aspect alone should be enough to wipe Farenheit off the face of the earth.

[Anonymous No.196962]

>>196944

It's just a familiarity thing, nothing more.

Besides, both systems allow you to use decimals (or fractions) in case the basic division is somehow insufficient.

[Anonymous No.196966]

>>196956

And how often do you experience 0C ... well I suppose it depends on where you live, but pretty much all winter long where I'm at. Now what about the temperature range I'm comfortable at...in Celsius it's 10 degrees variance (15C to 25C) In F it's 20 variance (60F to 80F).

Considering most of the year the outside temperature variance is up to 100F it makes more sense to use a measure that expresses that scale more easily.

[Anonymous No.196967]

>>196956
>0c = water freezing

0K all atomic movement stops.

Seriously why aren't you using Kelvins...?

[Anonymous No.197026]

>>196967
Who's not using kelvins?
I like my room temperature at around 283ºK. Yes, that's 10ºC or 50ºF.

[Anonymous No.197044]

>mfw i know how to convert between the two for any measurement
>mfw it's not hard
>mfw deal with it

[Anonymous No.197050]

>>196652
>>196653
>>196656
>>196657

Thank you for your post.
I'm not sure if I share your view, but I'm not american, so I may not have your insight.

>>196967
Add Kelvin to my wish list.
Metric, Kelvin and French Revolutionary Time FTW.

PS: To people who say a centimeter is too small: I think it doesn't really matter. I like it the way it is, but I think it wouldn't be a problem if it was as long as an inch either. You just have to get used to it. An inch on the other hand is too long to be the smallest unit in my opinion. I don't think pica and point are used all that often.

PPS: A decimal system simply is easier to use. You can deny it, but you know it's true.

[Anonymous No.197054]

>>197050
Kelvin and Metric, ok sure.

But fuck FRT.

[Anonymous No.197060]

>>197054
Sure it's crazy because nobody uses it, but it's a decimal system and therefor superior in my eyes.

[Anonymous No.197061]

>>196967
Because we're regular people, not astrophysicists.

[Anonymous No.197076]

>>197061
I'm sure you are capable if using Kelvin.

[Anonymous No.197081]

>>194144
My old Neon used metric and imperial fasteners.

Then again, it was made at least partially in Mexico.

[Anonymous No.197088]

if you buy the little China-made metalworking machines (mills and lathes) sometimes you get bolts that have a head in one system and threads in another....

also those machines often use metric carriage screws (for the handwheels that move the tables around) but then (for the US market) they often try to "convert" them to English by,,,,, mislabeling them. So a handwheel that is marked in increments of .0025" is really smoething like .00254"
>:>|
itd be easier to use if theyd just left the damn metric tag on there

[Anonymous No.197091]

>>194131
Amerifag here and i really wish we would switch to metric system, so much easier to understand and use...