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Would you embrace the Metric system in the US?

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August 28, 2020, 07:50 PM
oddball
Would you embrace the Metric system in the US?
No.

U.S.A.



"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
August 28, 2020, 07:51 PM
220-9er
quote:
Originally posted by mutedblade:
Two types of countries. Those that use the metric system and those that have put a man on the moon.


And most of the engineers did it with slide rules too.


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August 28, 2020, 07:52 PM
.38supersig
quote:
Originally posted by bald1:
I still fondly NOT remember having to use Whitworth tools on my '58 TR3A. Not US standard or metric.. WHITWORTH. Eek Frown Mad Red Face


If you think that was fun, Ford used all three of those measurement systems in the same engine. The 2.8l V-6 from the '80s had a Standard short block. All external fasteners were Metric. The super bonus plus of it all was the solid lifter valvetrain was Whitworth. I had a metric shit ton of swear words and a 3/8" Whitworth wrench.

The fun of it all is that the U.S of A. entered the Treaty of the Meter in an attempt to make trade easier with the world and harder with the British. They adopted the standardized inch after the metric system (not to be confused with the Jeffersonian Decimalized System of Measurement). It prevented a conflict of the English and Dutch measurements used in trade between states.

As for me, all of the blueprints that I draw are in decimalized inches. Big Grin



August 28, 2020, 07:54 PM
Anubismp
I would but I think its mostly because I dont smart good and metric is easier.
August 28, 2020, 07:55 PM
craglawnmanor
One question: So how would I order my gallon of beer at the drive-thru draft beer store??


_______________________________________
Flammable, Inflammable, or Nonflammable.......
Hell, either it Flams or it doesn't!! (George Carlin)
August 28, 2020, 08:02 PM
TMats
I was more open to the idea 25 years ago. Now I’m just another “nope.”


_______________________________________________________
despite them
August 28, 2020, 08:29 PM
flashguy
quote:
Originally posted by bald1:
quote:
Originally posted by sns3guppy:
How many are aware that the standard foot ("US Survey Foot") is changing and the end of 2022?

You probably won't notice the difference, but the US will be using the "International foot" from that point forward.


Another clusterfuck in the making.

Conversion number between foot (International) [ft] and foot (US Survey) [ft (US)] is 0.999998. This means, that foot (International) is smaller unit than foot (US Survey).
For a very long time now, the inch has been defined as 2.54000000000... cm. The old definition differed only at about the 7th or 8th decimal place.

Personally, I am comfortable with both systems, so it doesn't really matter a lot to me.

flashguy




Texan by choice, not accident of birth
August 28, 2020, 08:39 PM
bronsht
I can go back and forth but my mind is old so it takes me longer as I stare into space to think it out. I do dose my coffee beans at 14 grams per espresso shot every morning, but that is a whole other story.
August 28, 2020, 08:42 PM
mcrimm
So I need double the sockets, double the combination wrenches and then guess which one I need to twist a nut on one of my thingies.

Goes with common core math.



I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown
...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
August 28, 2020, 08:46 PM
Brother
No, I like the US system, always have.
August 28, 2020, 08:46 PM
darthfuster
I would coexist with it.



You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier
August 28, 2020, 08:48 PM
Bisleyblackhawk
Nope...I’m too old and set in my ways to learn something new...past 9MM, 5.56 or 7.62 Big Grin


********************************************************

"we've gotta roll with the punches, learn to play all of our hunches
Making the best of what ever comes our way
Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition
Plowing straight ahead come what may
And theres a cowboy in the jungle"
Jimmy Buffet
August 28, 2020, 08:50 PM
recoatlift
No on the metric.
I spent a few hours organizing my American hand tools. Mostly New Britain, Sparta, Blackhawk, SK Wayne and KD Tools.

I only have a 10 piece Metric set & I’m certain it’s Chinese made.
August 28, 2020, 08:51 PM
Oat_Action_Man
Although I definitely see the benefits of the metric system, I'd say no. Only thing I could get behind is volume. Standard volume measurements are just fucked up.

I have a good idea of rough conversions for length and weight from metric to imperial, but temperature is problematic for on the fly conversion.

The thing I absolutely cannot get behind is how European cars calculate fuel efficiency. I am baffled by their use of the inverse of our system. Like I can't figure out how far I can go or estimate how efficient the car is when I'm driving a European car. It baffles me.


----------------------------

Chuck Norris put the laughter in "manslaughter"

Educating the youth of America, one declension at a time.
August 28, 2020, 08:51 PM
sns3guppy
quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

Explain please. I no longer read Popular Mechanics and have missed this exciting news!


Like I said, most will never notice, and I don't think it will have any impact on the SAE measurements that we all use. A 7/16 socket or box end wrench isn't going to change. It will have an impact, however minor, on large scale measurements, particularly geological or geographical, and in survey work.

Whether it means that rulers and yardsticks will be altered in future, I don't know, but the truth is that the lines on a measuring tape or ruler already take the precision out, such that any change won't be discernible.

We use metric for fuel and for our loading; everything is in kilograms, largely because we're operating internationally. We still have to order fuel or report fuel in pounds and gallons, too, as well as litres and kg. Internationally, everyone uses feet for altitudes, except the Chinese, who still use meters (which is a pain in the butt).

It's a pain to have SAE and metric for cars, though nearly everything is metric any more.

One of the aircraft I work on uses an older British Whitworth, which is really a pain in the butt (to say nothing of a tool problem).

I still have to use standard miles and nautical miles, and wind comes in knots and meters per second. Even the air pressure is metric, abroad; we get inches or mercury, with milibars used elsewhere, including some of the US military bases where we go.

I'd much rather keep the measurements we have. Metric is a lot easier to add and subtract, but I'm comfortable with feet and inches and sixteenths and so on.

Most everything in the house has metric parts. Coke and rootbeer comes in two litre bottles.

When I was younger, in school, there was a big push with metric; we had to learn it, we were told, because we'd all be using it shortly. Then again, we were told the same thing about learning Esperanto, and it used to be that French was the international language. Now? English. Fine with me.
August 28, 2020, 08:58 PM
KenS
in engineering we use both as a matter of convenience.

but horsepower and ft-lb sound so much cooler than kilowatt and newton-meter when talking about engines. kilowatts are for electricity, horsepower is for American muscle cars.

ken
August 28, 2020, 09:06 PM
hudr
quote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
When I was in grade school in the 60's, they told us the US would be joining the 'metric world' and started teaching us the metric system.
It's 2020 now ...

I think there are a lot of others like me that resist it.


I was told the same in the 70’s.
Dad said he was told the same in the 50’s
August 28, 2020, 09:11 PM
lkdr1989
Somehow Metres Per Second does quite ring like Feet Per Second.




...let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one. Luke 22:35-36 NAV

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16 NASV
August 28, 2020, 09:17 PM
Scoutmaster
quote:
Originally posted by mcrimm:
So I need double the sockets, double the combination wrenches and then guess which one I need to twist a nut on one of my thingies. . .


I already have that.




"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it....While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it"
- Judge Learned Hand, May 1944
August 28, 2020, 09:20 PM
JasonEuc
Yes, in a heartbeat.

Mechanical engineer here, and I’ve no problem with “knowing” metric units except kPa and N.

Plus, at work, we design for the USA but also the rest of the world. Much wasted efforts because of the disharmony.