Thread: imperial vs. metric

Personally, as part of the construction trade, I prefer the imperial system. I am just starting to understand the temperature in Celsius but most other things I refer to Imperial
It is much easier to do the math in metric for the lack of fractions but being old school, I have no problems with it. I think the younger generation finds it easier but I can't visualize what 7315mm is but I know 24 feet when i see it
Our trade will never change as long as sheet goods are still 4' x 8'
JMHO
Mike

When fellas are boasting about their little fellas is it in inches or mm?! Same goes for razors...

Sorry couldn't help myself.

Originally Posted by Mcbladescar

Personally, as part of the construction trade, I prefer the imperial system. I am just starting to understand the temperature in Celsius but most other things I refer to Imperial
It is much easier to do the math in metric for the lack of fractions but being old school, I have no problems with it. I think the younger generation finds it easier but I can't visualize what 7315mm is but I know 24 feet when i see it
Our trade will never change as long as sheet goods are still 4' x 8'
JMHO
Mike

So long as we share the continent with the USA and they don't change to metric we will always use a mix of metric and imperial in construction. It is just more economical to manufacture materials in imperial measure than do metric for domestic consumption and imperial for export to the USA. OTH materials sourced from overseas are likely metric dimensioned. It's good to be ambidextrous.

Yea, my Nephew bought our old home and the thermostat the is in Fahrenheit only which drives him nuts. Me, I don't mind either way.

Bob

Been trying to convert my brain over to the metric system for the past 60 years and the results........brain failure!

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

When fellas are boasting about their little fellas is it in inches or mm?! Same goes for razors...

Sorry couldn't help myself.

Hey, in mm the number is much bigger

Originally Posted by dimab

This alone doesn't explain it: you guys are the only ones still using it, and why would it make a German manufacturer selling in Europe use fractional inches?
I think traditionalism and conservatism are to blame here. Metric system was introduced by the French during their revolution. Razors in their present form were manufactured at least 50 years before that, so the tradition has been formed already. Besides, Brits were pretty much predominant in the world razor market during 100-150 years after that, and they were still using Imperial system at the time. Nowadays there is absolutely no reason for that except for the aforementioned tradition.

i think this is the answer!

i'm going to start to include metric measure in my posts

It is ironic that the country that fought a war to liberate itself from British imperialism may be the last bastion of imperial measure.

Originally Posted by Mcbladescar

Our trade will never change as long as sheet goods are still 4' x 8'
JMHO
Mike

I know a U.S. contractor that got screwed on that.......twice! He had bid a job paneling a commercial building that had been stripped down to the studs. When he inspected prior to bidding he thought the studs were on 12" centers. They got started and none of the paneling was breaking on center. It turned out that the building had been built by a Swede, three studs to the meter! The second time he had spent considerable time and energy to set up importing high end wood paneling from Europe. Things had gone way too far before he realized that he could only get the paneling in metric sizes.

There is also the difference between Imperial measures and US Customary measures. Classic example is the difference between the US Gallon/3.8 Liters and the Imperial Gallon/4.6 Liters. That difference carries on thorough cups and quarts etc. . It can play hell with recipes and calculating how much paint you need.

Bob

I had a heck of a time finding a chart of the vapor pressures of CO2 in psi related to Degrees F the other day.

Finally found it on a home brewing site.